Research

The Industry Is Changing? How's For A Yes And No Answer?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007AUG
Our legwork reveals research bits you can use By Rick Ebel Everybody says the industry is changing. Now how could they come to this conclusion? Everybody also says promotional products is a unique industry—like no other...Full News Article

The Numbers For Face Time
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007JUL
Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Let’s face it. Tradeshow spending is again on the rise, and this, researcher Kate Maddox tells the Center for Media Research, is because CMOs and their minions are increasingly attracted to the face-to-face dialogue tradeshows provide...Full News Article

Matter Of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007JUN
Our legwork reveals research bits you can use The Secret Of Offering Really New Products: Pretend Your Organization Is A Rock Band By Rick Ebel Suppliers know what distributors want...Full News Article

I Can Get It For You Retail- What A Deal!
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007APR
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use I Can Get It For You Retail—What A Deal! By Rick Ebel Had a great dinner the other night at our favorite restaurant...Full News Article

Stuck With What You Got?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007MAY
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Stuck With What You Got? By Rick Ebel Awhile back, a recently cashiered Secretary of Defense was proclaiming that you go to war with the army you’ve got...Full News Article

Matter Of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007MAR
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Contests That Generate Sales? What A Concept! By Rick Ebel Like statistics that raise eyebrows? Try these. Salespeople account for 12 percent of the nation’s full-time work force, a fact that explains why American industry spends a trillion dollars on its sales force each year...Full News Article

Matter of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2007JAN
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Safety In Numbers? Only If You Have Them. By Rick Ebel Nowadays it seems everything in marketing is about metrics...Full News Article

Promotional Items Elicit Customer Response
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006DEC
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Promotional Items Elicit Customer Respose By Rick Ebel Two strangers, Ed and Fred, run into each other at a bar and soon learn they are in the same business—sort of...Full News Article

Matter of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006NOV
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Guidelines For Employee Incentive Programs: Your Cup Of Tea? By Rick Ebel A pamphlet on employee motivation research published by PPAI a few years ago notes this finding: Employees like awards and incentives...Full News Article

Matter of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006OCT
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Supplier And Distributor Views On Loyalty Efforts: Are We Reading The Same Book? By Rick Ebel You may not have noticed, but PPAI is sort of an anomaly in its field...Full News Article

Matter Of Facts
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006SEP
Matter Of Facts Our legwork reveals research bits you can use Can Big-Picture Thinking Elevate $18 Billion In Sales? By Rick Ebel With a record $18 billion in sales in 2005, industry distributors posted their best year since 2000...Full News Article

What Big Spenders Are On Your Account List—And For How Long?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006AUG
Some things seem to be eternal. Just ask Neil Young: Hey, hey, my, my. Rock and roll will never die. However, the same probably cannot be said for your customer list...Full News Article

Partners In Personal Prosperity: You And The Direct Mail Biz
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006JUL
Aside from the fact that they are all fund-raisers engaged in protecting pets and strays, what do Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Humane Society of the U.S...Full News Article

The Typical End Buyer: Someone You’d Want As A Customer?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006JUN
OK, class, this month’s lesson will seek to answer three very important questions. 1. Who is the Typical End Buyer for promotional products? 2. Would you want the Typical End Buyer as a customer? 3. And would Typical EB want you for his or her source of promotional items? For our text, we will use the latest and best piece of research available...Full News Article

Your Customers Are Loyal, You Say? Loyal To Whom?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006MAY
You wouldn’t believe how furious distributor Smith is with ace salesperson Jones. Then again, maybe you would. For years, Smith has been relying heavily on orders from the XYZ Co...Full News Article

As For Viral Marketing, Referrals Ought To Be Contagious
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006APR
Consider your sales training incomplete if you’ve never been exposed to this marketing aphorism: Everyone knows at least 250 other people...Full News Article

For Suppliers Doing Great—Compared To What?
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006MAR
Some sage once remarked that all comparisons are odious. Maybe he or she was right. After all, if you are content with a five-percent sales gain until you compare it with the 10-percent spurt averaged by other companies in your product category, this revelation would certainly be unpleasant—if not downright offensive...Full News Article

The Power Of Negative Research
By: Rick Ebel Issue: 2006FEB
As just about every PPAI member knows, the Association conducts significant research on the capabilities of promotional products...Full News Article