The term “industry famous” was made for Fred Oesen. When you think about someone in the promo marketplace who’s so well-known, so well-respected, so charismatic that the first reaction people have when hearing their name is to break into miles of smile, you know it’s someone special. And so it is with Oesen, a personality so formidable in the Canadian promo industry (and the U.S.’s as well) that everyone who knows him has a “Freddy story.” Forget about Justin Trudeau; in promo, Oesen is the Prime Minister of Canada – albeit one whose party affiliation would be “cocktail.”

ASI Media's Michele Bell talks with Fred Oesen, the recipient of this year's Counselor Lifetime Achievement Award.

A former president of the Promotional Products Professionals of Canada (PPPC), a proud member of its Hall of Fame and a former Vice President of ASI Canada, Oesen spent 42 years in the promo business until he retired in 2017. But that didn’t stop Oesen from doing what he does best – supporting industry friends and mentoring those new to the promo world, giving crucial business advice or often just lending an ear over one of his beloved scotches. 

One for the Road

Born in Germany, Oesen emigrated to Manhattan with his family when he was three years old, and then crossed the border into Canada the following year. They moved in Canada often, living in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and back again – so much so that Oesen attended 12 different grade schools. When you change your surroundings so frequently at a young age, you sharpen skills to adapt. Those skills would help Oesen later in life: the ability to make people feel at ease, to forge connections, to build loyalty.

Titans of their respective markets – the Canadian and U.S. promo businesses – few people mentored and motivated more industry pros than Fred Oesen and the late Fran Ford, also a Counselor Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

But Oesen put down roots when he moved to Toronto in his early 20s, becoming an independent sales agent in the burgeoning Canadian promo market in 1972. He had numerous lines, including Parker Pen – the success of which led the company president to offer him the position of Canadian Manager of the Premium Division. “In 1974, I became manager of Parker Pens promo business in Canada, and automatically became a member of the Ontario Chapter of SAAC (Specialty Advertising Association of Canada) at 26 years of age,” Oesen recalls. “I was the first person in our industry to call on distributors in person in Canada. Previously, personal contact was limited to the annual hotel room shows.”

Elected to the Ontario Chapter of SAAC in 1975, Oesen became president of the Chapter in 1978. “I was elected to the National Board of SAAC but had to resign my position in 1979 when David Campbell and I started Canada’s first National Rep organization: Can-Am Reps. For five consecutive years I drove from Toronto to Vancouver and back calling on distributors.”

Oesen later had the pioneering idea of country-wide, multi-line representation and was co-founder of Task Force Marketing/Team Task Force, the first organization to offer U.S. suppliers a chance to visit major markets in Canada though biannual seminar tours and networking events. “All Task Force suppliers shared their confidential distributor sales with us,” Oesen points out. “That enabled us to accurately rank all distributors and create our Annual Awards Reception to honor distributors by sales volume exclusively with Task Force suppliers. This was usually the largest single event at every PPPC show.” So robust was the business Oesen built, ASI purchased it in 2007, retaining Oesen to run it as vice president of ASI Canada. 

Luck, Fate & Free Spirits

A world-class raconteur – few people can hold court with Oesen’s gusto and swagger – his bar tabs are the things of legend, unfurling in length like the national flag of Canada. And while there’s no doubt that Oesen has a prescient talent for networking, making connections and growing sales, there was more to promo that kept him so involved for over four decades. “It was really fate and circumstance that I lucked into this business,” he says. “The free-spirited, entrepreneurial nature of our industry drew me in and kept me in. I retired after 42 years of rewarding good times and making a lifetime of friends.”

With his lifelong “best buddies” from the Canadian promo market – PPPC Hall of Fame members all – Oesen holds court with Ian Ward (left), Dan Daniels (right) and Brad Milne (far right).

Regarding lifelong friends, few have withstood the test of time with Oesen than his “partner in crime,” Brad Milne, a respected industry veteran in the Canadian promo market and PPPC Hall of Fame member, who’s been by Oesen’s side for decades. “Perhaps words befitting Fred’s contribution to our industry in Canada and the U.S. would be ‘Prince of the Promotional Products,’” Milne says. “An exuberant leader whose genuine love of people and unique relationship-building abilities have endeared him to thousands over the past five decades, anyone who’s had the opportunity to meet Freddy has witnessed how instinctively, inclusively and authentically he creates infectious laughter, memories and unwavering support. Through his tenure in the industry, he’s attracted and helped grow hundreds, if not, thousands of cross-border distributor and supplier businesses.”

Carol de Ville – president/owner of the Brantford, Ontario-based distributor The Branding Company, a PPPC Hall of Fame member, and Counselor’s Woman of Distinction in 2020 – concurs. “Fred always wanted to see everyone succeed in this spectacular industry in which we’ve all made our careers, help them set the bar for achievement and celebrate in their successes,” she says. “He’s been an incredible advocate for the industry and the people in it, and touched the lives of thousands and thousands over the years – and continues to do so.”

The Ripple Effect

Unsurprisingly for someone known for his gregariousness, Oesen cites three things that make the promo industry better than any other in his mind: “People, people and people,” he says. “Their creativity, work ethic, spontaneity and sense of humor, and how they work hard and play hard. As the industry has grown exponentially and technology has dictated how we do business – plus two years of virtual isolation – the face-to-face personal nature of our industry has been somewhat eroded. Hopefully a resurgence of trade shows and basic human nature will correct that.”

Oesen shudders to think what his career, and his life, would be like had he not met industry pioneers like Steve Slack, Fran Ford and so many others who influenced him the way so many others say Oesen has influenced them. He is, you see, the personification of “the ripple effect” – where one extraordinary person’s life can touch and influence so many others.

Taken during a 1991 trip to Aikens Fishing Lodge in Manitoba, Canada, Oesen and some of his closest industry friends – Garry Moore, Promotional Products Inc.; Dean Nicolson of Kayjet; Dan Nadon, Inland Advertising; Brian Shippam and Norm Dalman from Shippam Inc., and distributors Neil Meacham and Jacques Plante – gathered for a weekend to remember.

“Fred is one of the few mentors I’ve had the privilege of developing a friendship with when I first entered the promotional products industry in 2010,” says Kathy Cheng, owner of Toronto-based supplier Redwood Classics (asi/81627) and Counselor’s Woman of Distinction in 2016. “When we first met, he was my contact for ASI Canada. Little did I know, Fred wasn’t just my ASI Canada contact, but instead, the Godfather of the Canadian promotional products industry. With his charm, infectious energy, and depth of industry legacy knowledge and experience, Fred’s advice and recommendations always came from a place that was in my best interest. He’s one of the hardest working professionals I’ve met, with an unparalleled love and enthusiasm for the promo industry. Fred embodies the saying: ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’ By allowing me to tap into his knowledge and experience, he’s played a hand in accelerating my development in the industry and my journey on ‘never working a day’ for the rest of my life.”

Dovetailing on Cheng’s comments, Oesen notes that some of his proudest moments have been the thrill of introducing a supplier to the promo industry and helping them grow their business and to succeed. “It’s more gratifying than words can express,” he says. “Faro and St. Regis spring to mind but there were a number of others where I was able to help several dozen existing suppliers dramatically grow their industry sales. When I retired, I received many lovely farewell notes, but my favorite was from a distributor in Saskatchewan. He was frustrated and struggling in his first year. He was ready to quit but decided to attend one of our Team Task Force Seminars. After the event, he and I had a long chat. His note attributed his staying in our industry and building a successful distributorship to the chat we had. In reality, my success depended 100% on the success of the suppliers and distributors I worked with.”

For someone who has led such a rich and colorful life, filled with so many experiences, successes, stories and adventures, Oesen admits his only regret is that since retiring he’s had too few opportunities to connect with industry friends. “My time in the industry was magical,” he says. “If you want to succeed in this business you have to be in the business,” he says. “Join all the industry organizations, attend the shows and events, subscribe to publications and utilize electronic support systems. Most importantly, care about your customers and colleagues, and nurture personal relationships. That’s where you’ll find the success – and the fun.”

Oesen with his twin daughters, Amanda (left) and Amber, cracking into some lobster.