The Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI) of Trevose, PA, has named the most influential business leaders in the promotional products industry with the release of the 2015 Counselor® Power 50 list, topped this year by 4imprint CEO Kevin Lyons-Tarr.A record 12 new people made this year’s list, another sign of the growing influence of e-commerce on the $21.5 billion ad specialty industry, according to Counselor Editor Andy Cohen. “Many of the newcomers on this year’s list are e-commerce players, and even the person at the top of the rankings heads a distributor firm that is the biggest pure digital and mobile player in the market today.”
Lyons-Tarr climbed from No. 2 in 2014 to No. 1 in 2015 in large part because of the explosive growth of the North American division of online seller 4imprint. “Lyons-Tarr is espousing the business model of the future in the promotional products industry,” said Cohen. “He’s leading the way in the market for e-commerce, social network marketing and a digital-first approach that others are trying to emulate.”
The high-ranking executives were recognized at a celebratory dinner Monday during the ninth-annual U.S. ASI Power Summit, held November 1-3 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort in Dana Point, California, and attended by entrepreneurs, multinational CEOs and small-business owners throughout the ad specialty industry. Speakers included Mark Rolston, co-founder and chief creative officer of argodesign, a renowned designer with a 25-year career of creating for the world’s largest and most innovative companies, and Michael Lee, director of global marketing for e-commerce giant Alibaba.com.
“The men and women on the 2015 Counselor Power 50 list are the most influential executives in today’s ad specialty market,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “They’re the ones who dream up the great ideas – and then stop dreaming and get the job done. They inspire me – and they should inspire all of you, too. Their innovative approaches to business are changing the way we all do business.”
The top-ranked executives on the 2015 Counselor Power 50 list are:
- Kevin Lyons-Tarr, 4imprint, asi/197045
- Norm Hullinger, alphabroder, asi/34063
- Marty Lott and Jeremy Lott, SanMar, asi/84863
- Bill Schmidt Sr. and C.J. Schmidt, Hit Promotional Products, asi/61125
- Greg Muzzillo and Vera Muzzillo, Proforma, asi/300094
- Marc Simon, HALO Branded Solutions, asi/356000
- Gene Colleran and David Nicholson, Polyconcept North America
- Gene Geiger and Jo-an Lantz, Geiger, asi/202900
- Rich Witaszak, Staples Promotional Products, asi/120601
- David Woods, AIA Corporation, asi/109480
MORE INFO