PromoKitchen Podcast

In this PromoKitchen podcast. Mark Graham, Kate Plummer and Jeremy Picker riff about the impact of promo on world events (and the other way around).

We spend a lot of time reminding end clients why promotional products are an effective marketing strategy. However, we often find ourselves fighting an uphill battle when we see some end clients dismiss our medium as trinkets and trash.

But what happens when our medium is “too effective”, when it moves audiences in ways that are uncomfortable for some people? We have seen examples of this in the past few weeks with the use of branded merchandise as a rallying force at the US Capitol on January 6. Or Facebook’s encouraging its employees from wearing company merchandise lest they be the subject of attacks. Or Shopify’s decision to take down Trump’s MAGA store.

Our industry has evolved considerably over the years. Thanks to advances in technology - like print on demand, just in time inventory, e-commerce, no minimums, Direct to Garment printing - our industry has been able to respond to current events with unprecedented speed. The result is a new relationship with our medium that allows us to break out of the confining trinkets and trash category. A big part of this discussion is how we feel about our new role in world events.

Chef Kate Plummer talks with Sous chef Andrea Pereira of Rocket Science Branding and Jarid Taylor of Brandigenous about being Indian and Indigenous and how identity gets built and communicated.

They cover everything from land acknowledgements, to being a minority business and how they answer "So where are you from?"

Chef Kate Plummer talks with Sous chef Andrea Pereira of Rocket Science Branding and Jarid Taylor of Brandigenous about being Indian and Indigenous and how identity gets built and communicated.

They cover everything from land acknowledgements, to being a minority business and how they answer "So where are you from?"

In this episode Kate Plummer, Clearmount and Johanna Gottlieb, Axis Promotions chat with Juan Martinez, Director of Innovation and Branding Strategy at Spector & Co. We talk about what it means to be behind innovation at Spector and about highlighting the creative in our industry.

Juan has been involved in the promotional product industry for over 25 years. During the past 20, he has been employed by Spector and Co. His proven track record includes skill and experience in diverse branding methods, technology research and development, product flow analysis, methodology implementation and staff management.

His background includes an Industrial Design University degree that he applied on the automotive industry as a start up drafting and engineering position back in Guadalajara, Mexico; once in Canada and during his 26 years of residence, he has been very active within the promotional product industry, most recently as part of the operations of Spector and Co.

Through all those years, he has been in charge of factory operations of a 200+ people team through 10 direct reports over 3 shifts as well as 2 major building layout reconfigurations. Leading the research and development department over the past 3 years, extensive improvements and new developments to branding methods and peripheral procedures have been put in place.

Most recently as Director of Innovation and Branding Strategy, he has actively continued to apply his hands on experience and career background to the extensive technology development efforts and new branding technology of Spector and Co.

He is an energetic, enthusiastic individual that is success driven and

passionate about what he does.

In this episode Kate Plummer, Clearmount and Johanna Gottlieb, Axis Promotions chat with Juan Martinez, Director of Innovation and Branding Strategy at Spector & Co. We talk about what it means to be behind innovation at Spector and about highlighting the creative in our industry.

Juan has been involved in the promotional product industry for over 25 years. During the past 20, he has been employed by Spector and Co. His proven track record includes skill and experience in diverse branding methods, technology research and development, product flow analysis, methodology implementation and staff management.

His background includes an Industrial Design University degree that he applied on the automotive industry as a start up drafting and engineering position back in Guadalajara, Mexico; once in Canada and during his 26 years of residence, he has been very active within the promotional product industry, most recently as part of the operations of Spector and Co.

Through all those years, he has been in charge of factory operations of a 200+ people team through 10 direct reports over 3 shifts as well as 2 major building layout reconfigurations. Leading the research and development department over the past 3 years, extensive improvements and new developments to branding methods and peripheral procedures have been put in place.

Most recently as Director of Innovation and Branding Strategy, he has actively continued to apply his hands on experience and career background to the extensive technology development efforts and new branding technology of Spector and Co.

He is an energetic, enthusiastic individual that is success driven and

passionate about what he does.

Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Amanda Delaney are at it again! In this heart-warming and hilarious installment of our Growing Up Promo series, they sit down with Josh Goodelman, Lead Janitor (aka Vice President) of New York based supplier Liqui-Mark, as he shares stories from the early days of how his grandfather's turned father's retail pen business entered the world of promo. Josh also talks about what pivoting looked like for them when the pandemic hit, how the competition has helped shape him into the leader he is today, and why he's not done growing up (promo) just yet.

Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Amanda Delaney are at it again! In this heart-warming and hilarious installment of our Growing Up Promo series, they sit down with Josh Goodelman, Lead Janitor (aka Vice President) of New York based supplier Liqui-Mark, as he shares stories from the early days of how his grandfather's turned father's retail pen business entered the world of promo. Josh also talks about what pivoting looked like for them when the pandemic hit, how the competition has helped shape him into the leader he is today, and why he's not done growing up (promo) just yet.

Denise is chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder of Fairware. Denise got the idea to launch Fairware when she noticed how difficult it was to source promotional merchandise that reflected the social and environmental priorities of many of the brands and organizations she admired.

Prior to starting Fairware, Denise spent seven years as the Director of Sustainability and Community for Mountain Equipment Co-op, Canada’s largest outdoor retailer. She is currently a board member of Promo Cares, an industry group with a mission is to inspire, educate and provide actionable strategies to encourage social and environmental responsibility in the promotional products industry and our communities.

Mesa, AZ-based Marshall Atkinson is one of the leading production and efficiency experts for the decorated apparel industry. He is the owner of Atkinson Consulting, LLC.

As a coach, Atkinson focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning, marketing, employee motivation, management, and sustainability.

He is a frequent trade show speaker, article & blog author, and is the host for the YouTube show for Jerzees “Adventures in Apparel Decorating”.

Atkinson has released four eBooks for the industry: “Top 10 Workflow Tips”, “Shop Basic Info Pack”, “Price for Profit”, and “T-shirt Texture Tricks”. His new book, “Moving Past Disaster” was released in May 2020.

For 2020, he has developed the first in a series of online learning courses. “6 Steps to Kill Your Production Downtime” is focused on eliminating costly production downtime with several easy to implement lessons.

The eBooks, online courses, as well as his shop coaching plans and several hundred industry blog articles, can be found on his website at https://atkinsontshirt.com/.

Marshall also co-founded a decorated apparel industry sales and marketing education company called Shirt Lab, with industry entrepreneur Tom Rauen.

Denise is chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder of Fairware. Denise got the idea to launch Fairware when she noticed how difficult it was to source promotional merchandise that reflected the social and environmental priorities of many of the brands and organizations she admired.

Prior to starting Fairware, Denise spent seven years as the Director of Sustainability and Community for Mountain Equipment Co-op, Canada’s largest outdoor retailer. She is currently a board member of Promo Cares, an industry group with a mission is to inspire, educate and provide actionable strategies to encourage social and environmental responsibility in the promotional products industry and our communities.

Mesa, AZ-based Marshall Atkinson is one of the leading production and efficiency experts for the decorated apparel industry. He is the owner of Atkinson Consulting, LLC.

As a coach, Atkinson focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning, marketing, employee motivation, management, and sustainability.

He is a frequent trade show speaker, article & blog author, and is the host for the YouTube show for Jerzees “Adventures in Apparel Decorating”.

Atkinson has released four eBooks for the industry: “Top 10 Workflow Tips”, “Shop Basic Info Pack”, “Price for Profit”, and “T-shirt Texture Tricks”. His new book, “Moving Past Disaster” was released in May 2020.

For 2020, he has developed the first in a series of online learning courses. “6 Steps to Kill Your Production Downtime” is focused on eliminating costly production downtime with several easy to implement lessons.

The eBooks, online courses, as well as his shop coaching plans and several hundred industry blog articles, can be found on his website at https://atkinsontshirt.com/.

Marshall also co-founded a decorated apparel industry sales and marketing education company called Shirt Lab, with industry entrepreneur Tom Rauen.

On Dec 4, Tee Hamilton, our dear friend and founding chef at PromoKitchen lost her battle with cancer. Tee touched the lives of so many people in the promotional products industry whether it was through her brilliant video work, beautiful illustration and design output or her advocacy for the creative professional in her industry education outreach.

Tee was an original in every sense of the word. She stood out in any room she walked into. She was admired and respected for the work she did. Was she misunderstood at times? Sure. But all great artists inspire a range of emotions in people and Tee was no exception.

This podcast is dedicated to celebrating Tee’s life. We have collected stories from a number of people who knew and loved Tee. We hope this episode will allow you to reflect back on the impact she had or possibly give you a chance to get to know her better. A big thanks to the entire promotional products community who shared their stories about Tee.

Before you listen to the stories, PromoKitchen is establishing the Tee Hamilton Creative Education fund which raises money to provide educational opportunities for creative professionals in our industry. Celebrating and supporting industry creatives was a passion of Tee’s and we are excited to help continue this important work in her name.

We are inviting our community to donate if you are able. You can do so at promokitchen.org/donate

One last thing, we all know Tee loved her music, especially punk rock. We debated having a Ramones mix as an overlay throughout these tributes but we figured it would be hard to hear peoples’ stories. So we decided on something a little bit more chill. In preparing this episode we laughed that Tee would probably hate the music we chose and that somehow she’d let us know. And that’s why we loved her so much!

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as we did.