Another award-winning trek out west reveals new products for partners and clients here at home!
We all love new ideas – and some of our best ideas come from getting out of our space and exploring another. Welcome to the idea behind PPAI Expo! The PPAI Expo – the official expo of the Promotional Products Association International – lets our Branding Experts at The Dunstan Group explore the best of the best in the promotional products industry. It also gave them a chance to pick up their third Pyramid Award — but more on that in a minute.
Founder and President Scott Dunstan and Director of Business Development Brian Young are ready to bring you the most up-to-date branded items and apparel after their latest annual trek to the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas in January.
“With the focus at home, more products are tailored towards that,” says Dunstan. He points out diffusers and calming incense products as among work-at-home favorites that caught their eye, along with Mission Belt’s (featured on Shark Tank) adjustable belts whose buckles can be fully customized, and everyone’s favorites: Socks!
“There’s a new option to deliver custom socks made right here in North Carolina,” added Dunstan with an obvious grin. “They’re really good socks!” How is that for a “homespun” favorite?
Adding to our return-to-hybrid-office experiences are items that can travel seamlessly between the two, like Sono speakers, or delivery options that can go anywhere, like new custom boxes that bring branding to your door, no matter where that is.
And speaking of showing “Love” for boxes, Dunstan and Young picked up their third PPAI Silver Pyramid Award in Business to Business Client Programs for their Hood Hargett Breakfast Club collaboration project, the Local Love Boxes. This project was truly a “labor of love” for The Dunstan Group and Hood Hargett Breakfast Club: It created a way to share some love (and branding) among members a full year into a pandemic that left the close-knit networking group meeting virtually.
“The award was awesome,” says Dunstan. “Industry recognition is pretty cool because developing relationships in the industry is almost as important as the relationships we have with our clients.”
The Dunstan Group’s two previous Silver Pyramid Awards were for their BrandBuilders Podcast.
Speaking of relationships, the lighter crowd at this year’s PPAI Expo meant an unexpected bonus: the team got to spend more time with each vendor and supplier to learn more about products, strengthen relationships, and make new professional contacts.
“It was good to get the industry update. It was good to be in the environment with people who had the same challenges as us, and share stories about how they overcame them,” says Dunstan. “When you’re in a room with people from all over the country who’ve had the same problems, it’s comforting to know you’re going in the right direction.”
This means that in addition to new ideas about branded items and apparel, Dunstan and Young returned to Charlotte with fresh strategies to get those products into your hands despite the obstacles they encountered in this unusual year. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say.
“The collaboration is the best part,” agrees Dunstan with a smile.