Wanted: Ad Specialties By Rita Tiefert, FORM Assistant Editor If you're like a lot of distributors, you've tried to break into the ad specialties market by joining an ad specialty association. Unfortunately, those organizations want proof that you've already sold a large amount of promotional products. There?s a loophole, however: Distributors often can meet membership requirements by selling products in crossover categories, such as plastic bags, presentation folders, labels, plastic cards, binders and Post-it? notes. According to Mary Jensen, product manager for ad specialties at distributorship Print Technologies & Services, based in Carol Stream, Ill., most distributors have probably already worked with 10 Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) member manufacturers ?just by the nature of their business.? A 20-year ad specialties veteran, Jensen has collected enough information about the industry to last a lifetime. She?s known in her company for being able to locate unusual ad specialties, has files full of product catalogs and boasts a roomful of samples from ad specialties manufacturers. ?The vendor list gets pretty long working with ad specialties because [the market] is so product-driven,? Jensen says. It helps to choose a few reliable manufacturers and know their capabilities well, she says. Distributors can choose manufacturers located virtually anywhere, she adds, because the cost of freight on items such as pens tends to be less expensive than the freight on paper. In addition to finding unusual products, Jensen has other tactics for differentiating Print Technology?s ad specialties from her competitors?. For example, she tailors products to the client?s theme. When an oldies radio station needed prizes, she provided desk clocks that incorporated the station?s logo and a design resembling a jukebox. Jensen also brainstorms for unusual ways to decorate products. She once suggested decorating the backs of picture frames to make them more personal and increase the odds that they?d be considered keepsakes. For more information on this hot market, turn to the ad specialties article in the June 2001 issue of FORM Magazine.