"Life on the road may seems glamorous, but when you are your own booking agent, driver and roadie orchestrating a five-cities-infive-days, the appeal wears off quickly."
"Tabletop swing are both celebrated and reviled by us road warriors." says Deborah Mann, CAS, owner of D Mannding Results, Inc. (UPIC: DmannDMH). "There is no denying the power of whipping through an area of the country and seeing 100 or more people every day for a week, but they are exhausting in a way that other shows are not." Mann recently wrapped up a smaller-city, four-day tour and provided a snapshot of her experience.
SouthernPlus Honored for Excellence in Website Development
January 2010
"Irving, Texas, (January 29, 2010) Southern Plus (UPIC: southpls) of Hartwell, GA, won the PPAI Web Award competition sponsored by Promotional Products Association International (PPAI). Fifteen nominees and winners were recognized for website excellence during The PPAI Expo 2010 in Las Vegas.
"PPAI Web Award winners are recognized for such attributes as the quality of the images, search capabilities, visual design and overall functionality," said Steve Slagle, CAE, PPAI president and CEO. "The winners worked very hard to earn this special recognition and their commitment to excellence is a tribute to this industry."
Southern Plus was presented the 2010 Web Award in the category of Functionality/Usability. PPAI Awards Committee members judged the entries according to criteria specific to each of the competition's five categories.
Promotional products are an essential element in the marketing mix. Adding your message to a tangible product turns an ordinary message into a marketing experience your audience can see, touch, hear, smell and even taste. Promotional products are the only way to make a sensible—and memorable—impression. For more information about the PPAI awards program, contact the special events department at Awards@ppai.org.
For more information about Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) or to learn more about the proven power of promotional products (including research and case studies), visit the PPAI website at www.ppai.org or contact PPAI at 972-258-3041 or PR(&,ppai.org.
PPAI—the promotional products industry's only international not-for-profit trade association—offers education, tradeshows, publications, business products and services, mentoring, technology and legislative support to its more than 7,500 global members. Promotional products are more than a $19.4 billion industry and include wearables, writing instruments, calendars, drinkware and many other items, usually imprinted with a company's name, logo or message. PPAI created and maintains the UPIC (Universal Promotional Identification Code), the industry's only free identification system and universal company database."
"HARTWELL, Ga.-Southern Plus introduces Mr. Bendy, the newest face at the company. "Mr. Bendy came along to assist me at one of the major shows this past year," says Brannon Craig, national sales manager for Southern Plus. "Since we were giving away free totes, I needed help handing them out to the attendees, which he did without complaint. He greeted our customers with open arms and great enthusiasm, showed new products to all that passed by our booth. Showing flexibility to do anything I needed, I knew right then that he had to work full time for us.
Mr. Bendy is now featured on the company's website www.southernplus.com illustrating how to use various products in everyday life and providing ideas of how to sell and use the products, with all photos hyperlinked to more info. "He will be traveling around the country in 2010 presenting our line at various trade shows and may even make some sales calls," says Craig. "We welcome Mr. Bendy to our sales team and know he will be a great asset to our company." See what Mr. Bendy is up to by visiting www.sourhernplus.com/bendy_products.php or adding Ben Bendy as a friend on Facebook."
Southern Plus as quoted in Promo Marketing, April issue:
April 2009
..."The coolers and totes must be fun and fashionable," said Grethe Adams, president of Southern Plus, noting that bright patterns or a punch of color helps them stand out.
...As Adams noted, for her company's new Contour Tote, easy mobility is one of its most exciting features. "It folds down to a small pouch so you can carry it with you wherever you go," she concluded.
Press Release - March 2009 (published in PPB)
March 2, 2009
Southern Plus is first (again) with newest Technologo vCat website technology.
Southern Plus was selected by Technologo to be the first Supplier to launch its latest vCat technology, featuring a transportable, custom virtual catalog. This exciting new feature provides the ability to go to the Southern Plus website (www.southernplus.com ), select their “One-Click Catalog”, upload your client’s logo, and that logo will appear on EVERY item in the catalog. Once your client’s logo appears on every item, you can then email the catalog (link) to your client, for them to preview. They will be able to instantly see their logo appear on every item in the catalog, without having to upload the logo themselves. Test drive it yourself at the following link…
Technologo has sent out an email blast to the industry using Southern Plus’ website as their example vCat catalog showcasing this new marketing tool. “We were selected primarily because of our relationship with Technologo and our commitment to provide the best website and online marketing tools available in the industry.” Says Brannon Craig, National Sales Manager for Southern Plus. “We’ve worked very hard at making it easy to do business with us”. “Other companies will most certainly follow, incorporating this powerful online tool on their website, but for now, it is nice to be a leader and an innovator. Stay tuned…we have many more leading edge features coming soon to our website”, says Brannon.
Press Release - July 2008
July 31, 2008
Southern Plus is offering 8 new Eco-Friendly Products in September ‘08.
To capitalize on the growing demand for eco-friendly products, Southern Plus is significantly expanding its line of environmentally responsible products and is introducing 8 new “green” products in early September. This coincides with the release of their 2009 catalog. “Our customers look to us to for fashionable, colorful, and trend-right accessories and products, and right now the biggest trend is towards anything Green,” says Southern Plus’ President, Grethe Adams. “The message with these new products is: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle,” says Adams.
“Our green line will offer items that are either made of recycled material, natural/organic material, or material that can BE recycled. We hope this will offer our customers the variety needed to suit almost any demand or initiatives their clients may have. Look for these, as well as many other exciting new products from Southern Plus when our ’09 Catalog hits your mailbox in September.”
Press Release - July 2008
July 31, 2008
Southern Plus welcomes two new Midwest reps to their salesforce.
Southern Plus has added two new reps in the Midwest U.S.; Deborah Mann and David Hunzelmann. Deborah is based out of Chicago, IL and will handle IL, MI, OH and IN accounts. David is based in Pine Island, MN and will handle MN, WI, ND, SD, NE, MO, and IA accounts.
“They bring (combined) 28 years of experience in the industry and to the territory, and we are excited to have them on our team and representing our line in their respective territories”, says Brannon Craig, National Sales Manager of Southern Plus.
“Both David and I are thrilled to be working with Southern Plus. Not only do they offer a high quality, great looking and innovative line, their dedication to serving their distributor client base via cutting edge technology and outstanding customer service makes them an exciting line to work and grow with. Southern Plus won't stay the "best kept secret" for long”, says Mann.
Press Release - July 2008
July 30, 2008
Southern Plus launches One-Click Catalog on their website.
Southern Plus has just launched an online (digital) version of their catalog on their website, using Technologo’s new One-Click technology. This breakthrough technology enables the user to interact with an exact replica of Southern Plus’ paper catalog on their computer screen. You literally can click on the corner of the page and drag it across the screen to turn the page, as if it were a paper catalog. You can even save the digital version of the catalog to your desktop for quick and easy access, eliminating the need to search your file cabinet, book shelf, or desk drawer for the catalog.
The real magic happens when you click on any of the items pictured in the catalog…it instantly pops up a virtual sample of the item using the last logo you worked with; already skewed, colorized and placed perfectly on that item. Once a logo is uploaded (which takes less than a minute), every item in the catalog will have that logo on it when you click on it.
“We are constantly developing marketing tools that will help make a distributor rep’s job easier”, says Brannon Craig, National Sales Manager for Southern Plus. “Creating quick, high-quality virtual samples is one of the most effective ways of marketing to your clients”, says Craig. “In less than 5 minutes, you can create and send several virtual samples to your client, then follow up with a phone call to discuss. When your client sees an attractive, practical promotional product with their logo already on it, it creates a sense of ownership. This proactive selling approach has consistently created orders for our products, and has helped distributor reps dramatically shorten their sales cycle.”
“Let’s face it, with fuel costs rising most reps are searching for ways to work smarter. They seek ways to “touch” their customers often, but without having to drive to them. Using our One-Click Catalog to prepare and send virtual samples is one of many ways to accomplish this objective”, says Craig.
We invite you to come try the many user-friendly tools available on our website, www.southernplus.com. We promise that you’ll be glad you did.
