The first live ASI Power Summit in four years, held at The Langham hotel in Pasadena, CA, from October 22-24, offered a wealth of informative sessions and robust networking among promotional products’ top leaders. Day 1 kicked off Sunday night with a networking reception and dinner in the hotel’s gorgeous Horseshoe Garden. Day 2 featured several well-received sessions, including a keynote from Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers Badan, a panel featuring five Power 50 leaders and an information-packed Sustainability Power Hour. Here’s a look at the rest of the day’s events.

Economic Trends To Shape Business Strategy in 2024

Contrary to popular belief, COVID didn’t bring about a recession, argued former White House Director of Economic Policy Todd Buchholz. Instead, the country went through a “cessation.” And, he added, “from an economic point of view, it’s easier to recover from a cessation than a recession.” Once the world reopened, things bounced back much more quickly than some expected, but because so much money was pumped into the economy during the pandemic, interest rates have remained high.

Former White House Director of Economic Policy Todd Buchholz unpacked inflation and possible recessions in his ASI Power Summit talk.

That was just one of many insights Buchholz shared during a forward-looking morning session relaying economic trends that business leaders should use to shape their strategy in 2024. Among the biggest trends he disussed was an increase in labor unrest and strikes. High inflation has workers negotiating for higher wages to make ends meet, he noted.

ASI Vice President Michele Bell interviews former White House Director of Economic Policy Todd Buchholz after his session.

The “homebody economy” that flourished during COVID – like kitchen remodelers and home-exercise companies – has dipped now that people are going out. And cruise ships and travel companies are picking back up again.

Though the economy is growing “at a fairly fast clip” right now, Buchholz said, the country is on the cusp of a recession in 2024, pointing out that although people had more money in their bank accounts after COVID than before, high inflation has started to cut into those balances, and “consumers are starting to struggle.”

Buchholz suggested pivoting to advertising that stresses cost savings and discount retailers. There’s going to be a focus on economizing and store brands, he said, as consumers strive to stretch their dollars and maintain their current lifestyle.

Businesses that survive the weakness in the economy can use that time to grow – borrowing money when interest rates drop again, acquiring companies that are in a weaker position and poaching talent, Buchholz said. He advised to think of the contentious political landscape and tough economic times as an “opportunity for innovation and prosperity” and a “chance to make a better life.”

How AI Can Transform the Promo Industry

ASI Executive Creative Director Jake Krolick and independent strategist Rachel Joy Victor cover AI’s past, present and future.

Artificial intelligence has countless applications in the promotional products industry, according to Rachel Joy Victor, an independent strategist and designer in emerging technologies who spoke with ASI Executive Creative Director Jake Krolick during a Power Summit session on the buzzy tech. The pair showed a quick demo of what it would look like if an integrated AI system provided “contextual, just-in-time information” to support a distributor working with a client.

The AI bot could, for example, pull customer profiles from a company’s internal systems to help the distributor figure out the client’s preferences and needs based on previous orders, then quickly offer up relevant product recommendations and inventory availability – saving the distributor time and effort.

To protect consumer data and internal company knowledge, Victor suggested working with a version of ChatGPT that’s an offline, closed system. She also noted that generative AI will provide better responses when given more context: “It’s not a system that intuitively knows what’s in your mind,” she said. “A lot of it is the specificity of knowing what you want and how to convey what you want. It’s about being a better prompter.”

Allowing for experimentation – and the possibility for failure – in these early days of AI is a great way to figure out how the technology can enhance your business and create unexpected efficiencies. “AI can stoke creativity,” Krolick said. “It allows you to test-run a bunch of ideas rapidly and then build them up to scale.”

What Resonates With Young Buyers?

Springboard Market Research Principal Joyce Ng and ASI Senior Vice President of Events, Media and Marketing Services Andy Cohen discuss next-gen buyers and employees.

How do “next-gen” (ages 16-30) consumers feel about promo? What motivates young employees? Joyce Ng, principal of Springboard Market Research, answered these questions by sharing survey data from that target age group. For example, 60% of young consumers would choose an experience over an item if given $100 to spend. “If you’re worried about this,” said Ng, who has experience in product management for Reebok, Mattel and Quaker Oats, “don’t be, because branded merch helps people recall a wonderful experience.”

Ng also shared that 70% of next-gen consumers say “good” branded merch has a positive effect on their view of the advertiser. Another finding: 69% of Gen Z and young millennials have a more global mentality and rated it as important when making a purchasing decision. Take that into account when building your teams and marketing strategy, Ng advised. “I would really encourage you to reach out and diversify your creative.”

Retaining Workers in the “New” New Era of Work

ASI Media Editor-in-Chief C.J. Mittica (left) discusses hiring and engagement with (from left to right) Harper + Scott (asi/220052) CEO Michael Scott Cohen, Crystal D (asi/47759) EVP and COO Mike Irvine, and PromoShop (asi/300446) COO Kate Alavez.

Navigating the “new” new era of work can be a challenge, as companies seek to strike a balance between the flexibility many employees crave and the collaborative and collegial in-person environment where ideas and innovation often thrive. ASI Media Editor-In-Chief C.J. Mittica checked in with leaders from three companies that have made appearances on the Counselor Best Places to Work list over the years to share their best strategies for hiring and retaining top talent.

For Top 40 distributor PromoShop (asi/300446), which has a hybrid work model, employee engagement is all about “meeting every person where they are,” said Kate Alavez, chief operating officer. “My job from an engagement standpoint is not to make sure that every program reaches every employee, but that every employee finds something that resonates.” That could mean hybrid networking events, like tequila tastings where boxes are sent to employees’ homes so they can participate, or exercise and yoga classes. Each quarter, Alavez added, the company surveys employees to find out what kind of engagement activities they’re most interested in, and PromoShop builds out activities based on the responses.

Mike Irvine, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Crystal D (asi/47759), is admittedly old-school when it comes to remote work. And though the pandemic changed his mind on hybrid work, Irvine requires all new hires to come into the office five days a week for the first six months. “We have a strong culture at Crystal D,” he said. “You’ve got to be a part of it to be part of it.” Employees that join Crystal D wanting to be fully remote or hybrid often decide they’d rather be in the building after getting immersed in company culture, Irvine added.

Harper + Scott (asi/220052) employs a number of strategies to build engagement, from robust Slack channels to quarterly speaker series and weekly product-sample review meetings, said CEO Michael Scott Cohen. “I would love employees to come back as much as possible to the office,” said the Counselor 2023 Distributor Entrepreneur of the Year, adding that though Harper + Scott isn’t mandating that return, the firm is looking for ways to incentivize employees to come back – and to coordinate in-office days via Slack to ensure they don’t feel alone when they do.

Emerging Markets To Target

Kicking off the afternoon sessions, ASI Vice President of Editorial, Events and Education Michele Bell and ASI Senior Executive Director of Research Nate Kucsma delved into niche markets that show growth potential and opportunities for promo sales in their “Emerging Markets & Trends To Leverage Now” presentation. For example, in addition to the standard top markets in the U.S. promo market – education, healthcare and nonprofits – Bell and Kucsma identified the fastest-growing occupations through 2032: nurse practitioners (increasing 45%); physician assistants (growing 27%); and cybersecurity experts (growing 32%).

Regarding niche markets, Bell and Kucsma pointed to the nearly $80 billion U.S. pet market – which saw huge growth during COVID – as continuing to be a juggernaut and projected to hit $100 billion by 2028. The alternative medicine market – covering such things as acupuncture, reflexology and reiki, all of which grew in popularity as people embraced complementary healthcare regimes during COVID to promote self-care – is currently pegged at over $30 billion and has an anticipated growth rate through 2032 of 20%. Another market highlighted was the eSports industry, which currently has a much bigger following in Asia but is growing rapidly in the U.S., and is expected to climb 21.5% through 2030, reaching $6.7 billion.

As Kucsma pointed out during the presentation, “while it’s important to understand where the industry has been and how your company stacks up, it’s absolutely vital to make use of all the data that is available to you to understand where the industry, and business, is leading, so you can prepare for it before others can.”

Cybersecurity Tips From an FBI Agent

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ron Manuel shares cybersecurity takeaways.

Nearly half of all ransomware attacks happen to companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. It’s just another reason why all companies need to take cybersecurity seriously, said Ron Manuel, supervisory special agent leading the FBI LA Cyber Task Force. During his session, Manuel (whose jurisdiction in California totals $1.3 trillion in GDP) explained how any device connected to the internet can make your business vulnerable, and offered takeaways to help make companies safer. “Cyber risk truly is business risk,” he said, “and from my perspective, cybersecurity is national security.”

Team Building & Tower Building

Lots of fun at the end of #ASIPowerSummit day 2 building marshmallow towers. Dave Klotter and Pat Barry of Boundless have a future in architecture if this promo thing doesn't work out. pic.twitter.com/vNXWyfGSev

— C.J. Mittica (@CJ_ASIMedia) October 24, 2023

Day 2 wrapped up with a dose of thinking and a bit of fun. Attendees spent 20 minutes discussing business challenges, such as how their companies are adjusting to the fact that employees are in the office less than they were pre-pandemic. Tables then participated in a team-building exercise to see who could build the tallest and most creative tower using marshmallows, toothpicks and uncooked spaghetti. Winning teams had a donation made in their names by the Norman Cohn family.