The Promotional Products Association of Florida (PPAF) has announced finalists for its two membership-focused competitions: the Brandy Awards and the EXPO Idol. The winners of both will be announced on Friday, Aug. 27 at the PPAF EXPO, being held Aug. 26 and 27 at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Launched in June, the Brandy Awards recognize the best in promotional branding with three categories: Best in Class, Best Self-Promo and Social Good. The finalists for Best in Class are Madden Branded Goods (asi/259280), Purple Frog Graphics (asi/302597), Safeguard Business Systems (asi/316203) and The Marketing Bar (asi/258231). The finalists for the Best Self-Promo are Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000), Kool Stuff (asi/244827), Perfect Imprints (asi/293567), Purple Frog Graphics and The Marketing Bar. The finalists for the Social Good award are Kwixar (asi/246952), Purple Frog Graphics, Stumpies Marketing Group and Top 40 supplier Vantage Apparel (asi/93390).

PPAF is also introducing EXPO Idol, a riff on the singing competition American Idol. In the promo version, suppliers entered one of their best product ideas for an initial screening by distributor voters. The suppliers that advanced through the first stage gave a show-preview webinar presentation on their product on Aug. 19. Eight finalists have advanced to the final competition, which will be held Thursday, Aug. 26 at the kickoff of the PPAF EXPO. Finalists will give an eight-minute presentation providing real-life case studies about their product and why it should be named Product of the Year. Distributors at the event will vote, and the winner will be announced Friday, Aug. 27.

Finalists of EXPO Idol are: Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480), The Bentcil Company (asi/39850), The Chest (asi/44830), Vu Line Direct (asi/94226), IMAGEN Brands (asi/93990), Hirsch Gift (asi/61005), Soardist (asi/88083) and AAA Innovations (asi/30023).

Distributors interested in attending PPAF’s EXPO can register at ppaf.com/expo.