Counselor^® magazine today announced the winners of the 2020 Promotional Campaign Awards, celebrating distributor and supplier creativity in client promotions, self-promotions, videos and social media.

“Instead of letting the pandemic and stay-at-home orders deter them, many of our winners found a way forward, putting their irrepressible spirit to work creating attention-grabbing campaigns across multiple platforms,” said Michele Bell (@ASI_MBell), ASI’s vice president of editorial and special events. “We’re thrilled to showcase the suppliers and distributors who proved just how innovative the promo industry can be.”

Profiles of the five winning campaigns appear online and in the September issue of the award-winning Counselor magazine, which is published by the Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI).

Below are the winners of the 2020 Promotional Campaign Awards:

• Best Distributor Self-Promotion, for Chicago-based Monarch & Company (asi/275403), for its “Pun Intended” campaign, which featured a funny, punny calendar sent to top clients in January and an at-home baking kit for use during the pandemic. Partner and COO Anna Nguyen and her team adapted to people transitioning to working from home by posting the calendar pages on Instagram, offering them as Zoom backgrounds and transforming the product into a printable version. The word scramble cookie decorating kits also played off a pun, with recipients encouraged to “Bake It Happen.”
• Best Supplier Self-Promotion, for Mosinee, WI-based Maple Ridge Farms (asi/68680), which worked off its March Madness promotion to stay in touch with clients after the coronavirus forced the cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournament. Executive VP Jodie Schillinger and the team pivoted, using their initial direct-mail self-promotion as a platform from which to launch an empathetic, heartfelt outbound call campaign to package recipients, which helped the supplier increase year-over-year revenue 72% between mid-March and the end of July.
• Best Client Promotion, for Miami-area distributor Wizard Creations (asi/362568), the branded merchandise provider for this year’s Super Bowl host committee. President/founder Luke Freeman and his team created high-quality merch for a wide array of events and initiatives tied to promoting Super Bowl LIV and Miami, which hosted the game. Orders included wrapping cigarette racing boats for an international beer company and producing 50,000 units of a kit that featured a pouch, sunglasses and lip balm for a big electronics retailer.
• Best Use of Video, for St. Louis-based supplier Incentive Concepts (asi/62536), which teamed up with Broil King to create a live video that delivered timely information and lively interaction, leading to a big sale. The video tapped into stay-at-home cooking and the start of the grilling season. Andy Hudson, director of marketing, and his team used the video to raise awareness about the grills while introducing viewers to a new custom logo program that allows companies to offer full-color, full-panel decoration on specific grills.
• Best Use of Social Media, for Grand Island, NY-based supplier Starline (asi/89320), which produced dozens of eclectic Facebook Live videos throughout the pandemic, including product videos shot at the beach, kitchen, a bourbon-stocked bar and even a 46-degree lake. Brian Porter, senior VP of sales and marketing, said the marketing and sales teams found creative ways to continually engage with clients in a fun yet educational way without overstepping boundaries, including Porter’s portrayal of Tiger King’s Joe Exotic, which earned over 4,300 views.