The distributor is indispensable... So we built you a Wingman. 

The PromoEQP Companion is a browser extension created and designed specifically to serve the distributor network of PromoEQP. In a simple, non-invasive, click-to-open design, PromoEQP’s Companion is available to provide you with the information you need from PromoEQP.

• The Monthly Discount Code...
• Supplier policies and benefits...
• Support and PromoEQP updates... 

All one click away -- wherever you’re working online.

It’s designed to bring your attention, never to demand it.

The Companion is a membership benefit, available at no charge to the PromoEQP distributor network. Just inside of the soft-launch period more than 180 distributorships, and nearly 200 users, have installed the PromoEQP Companion.

The official launch: Thursday, November 5, 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT

Cheryl, Nadia, Ian and I will walk through how the Companion works and what it does for you. Type your questions in, and we’ll answer them live. The session is recorded, so if you can’t make it, you won’t miss it.

• Click HERE to RSVP for the Launch Event on November 5th

• Click HERE to learn more about the PEQP Companion

Thanks again...

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

Full EXPO Plans coming November 15th

January 11–14, back home at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in fabulous Las Vegas. This year PromoEQP arrives with a dedicated breakout meeting room, another round of HAPPY HOUR(s), and scheduled supplier and ProDev panels.

Details are coming. For now, mark the calendar.

The Expense That Evaporates, the Asset That Compounds
A guest piece by Antony Villeger, European Partner to PromoEQP

_____________________________________

Introducing Antony Villeger

Antony Villeger is PromoEQP’s European Partner. He has spent 29 years in the European branded products industry. He is the former president of 2FPCO, France’s federation for communication through branded objects, known today as L’Objet Média. He is the owner and principal of SAMM Trading, and the founder and CEO of the FABS Network.

FABS is the network Antony built for distributors ready to ascend to the next step of business. It is a community-rooted ecosystem that removes the friction in buying, engaging and promoting branded products. Pairing data with Brand Experts, FABS helps its distributors operate as agency-level partners, choosing desirable products that make brands memorable.

______________________________________

There is a budget paradox in our market. 

One way to understand this paradox came to me from my life as a business owner, not from my reading.

In accounting, there are two great families: expenses and investments. An expense is consumed within the fiscal year — it is spent, and it disappears. An investment creates an asset — something that remains, that holds value over time, that keeps producing effects long after the year you paid for it.

Now, for your buyer’s communications budget: 

Which lines are expenses, and which are investments?

A $100,000 display campaign stops the second they cut the budget. Not at the end of the month: that second. The next action doesn’t trigger, the next banner doesn’t load, and nothing remains. No trace, no residue, no asset. The attention bought evaporated with the budget that bought it. That is the very definition of an expense.

Now take the same $100,000 and put it into well-designed, well-chosen objects that are strategically placed in the right hands. What happens when the “budget” is spent? Nothing stops, because the object remains. On desks, in kitchens, in bags, in pockets. They keep working the next day, the next month, the next year. The industry’s research explains why in one word: 78% of consumers keep promotional products because they find them useful.¹ Useful things don’t get thrown away. They get used.

Now compare the lifespans. 

In studies of advertising attention, a social media post holds the eye for about 1.7 seconds. A TV spot lasts 20 seconds. A quality In-Hands or Promotional Product stays six months to two years in the environment of the person who received it.²

1.7 seconds. 20 seconds. Two years.

Attention is a resource that depletes.
Connection is a resource that compounds.

One is an expense. The other is an asset. And marketing departments devote four-fifths of their budgets to the expense — and six cents on the dollar to the asset.³

Put differently: 

Companies are renting seconds of distracted attention at a premium, when In-Hands or Promotional Products offer ownership of years of daily presence.

Sources

1. ASI Global Ad Impressions Study, 2026 edition.
2. Comparative studies of advertising attention by medium, 2015–2024.
3. eMarketer, US Ad Spending 2025: digital advertising passes an 80% share of total US media ad spending (approx. $422 billion) for the first time in 2025. The six-cent figure compares the $27.1 billion US promotional products market (PPAI Sales Volume Report, 2025) with that total ad spend.

Antony Villeger

1. The 2026 PromoEQP Strategic EQP Catalog is now available exclusively through SAGE
2. Visit Service Partners in Distributor Login
3. PEQP Facebook Group | PEQP LinkedIn | PEQP YouTube | PEQP TikTok

2026 Regional Wrap-Up

Where PromoEQP has been

PPAS Connect 

The PPAS Golf Classic filled the morning at Grapevine, and the PPAS Connect Networking Reception closed out the day. It was a full day with the people who make this industry what it is.

Special thanks to our supplier partners HPG, PCNA, High Caliber Line, and Orbus for standing alongside us, and to PromoEQP Distributors: Rudy Granaghan of Saguaro Supply Co. and Peter Mobley of Geogram LLC, who won their way into the PromoEQP foursome.

PromoEQP at the SAAC Show.  

From a booth on the SAAC Show floor to sponsorships of the SAAC Young Professionals Happy Hour.

Relive the event HERE  and learn more about SAAC www.saac.net

TAILGATING with PromoEQP & MiPPA 

It was a night of Food | Drinks | Networking | Socializing with one of the most vibrant and remarkable Regional Associations in the Industry: Michigan Promotional Professionals Associations

Click HERE to learn more about this incredible work being done by the incredible folks at MiPPA.

Special thanks to Sydney and the entire MiPPA team!

Casino Night at Blackhawk

PromoEQP, in support of RMR (Rocky Mountain Association) hosted a HAPPY HOUR(s) Event at the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk!

Rocky Mountain Region Promotional Product Association (RMR)

HAAPY HOUR(s) with the Texas Swing

Featuring a catered Socializing and Networking event for Distributors and Strategic Supplier partners, PromoEQP went on the road to celebrate Texas in San Antonio & Austin. Stary tuned to Nadia’s updates on social media — but these events have set the table for all of PromoEQP’s upcoming events.

Learn more about BOTH Texas Regional Associations

PPAS | HPPA

END of Monthly Update

Wednesday, OCTOBER 21st, 11am ET

Roadside Attractions Episode 3, Earning the Right to Meet, is out.

Buyers can tell the difference between a distributor who wants their business and one who understands it. Rod’s episode is about closing that gap before the first meeting ever happens.

SHOP TALK is where you bring your real accounts, your real questions, and the meetings you’re still trying to earn.

Send your questions ahead to roderick@rodsroad.com. Rod takes submitted questions first.

What I learned on my corporate vacation.

Lessons from Kitzbühel, Austria

Last week I was in Kitzbühel, Austria, for GXN, the Global Executive Network conference. It’s one of the few rooms where suppliers, distributors, and the organizations that serve them meet from all over the world.

PromoEQP was in that room because of you.

Fourteen years ago, we started as a way for independent distributors to compete on fair terms. Today, you have made us something so much more. Because of the distributor network, PromoEQP has now been able to expand in capabilities to ensure that YOUR VOICE is heard in conversations with leadership across our industry, both in the US and abroad.

I spent the week with people like Drew Holmgreen (PPAI), David Natinsky (SAGE), Ashish Mittal (ASI), and a collection of international supplier partners. This unique position allowed for me to speak about what independent distributors bring to the benefit of the entire Branded Merch marketplace -- and why there is nothing more important than protecting the Buyer / Distributor relationship.

Make no mistake, PromoEQP does not profess or present as an unelected representative for all distributors. We do however realize that our position and loyalties to the distributor uniquely allow us to bring YOUR interests into rooms that for too long have acted without your interest.

None of that happens without the distributors who built this network. You made PromoEQP a voice with real reach, here and overseas. We take that seriously, and we will always use that voice to put yours in front of the market.

Thanks again... 

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

Meet the PEQP Companion: 

Live Walkthrough, November 5 at 2pm ET / 11am PT

Serving distributors means being there wherever and whenever you need us. That’s why we built the PEQP Companion.

It’s your business wingman: the Monthly Discount Code, supplier policy updates, and program news, available whenever you need them, wherever you are online. It never gets in your way. And it comes with your membership at no additional charge.

On November 5, the PromoEQP team will walk through how the Companion works and what it does for you. Come watch, bring questions, and see it in action.

Learn about the PEQP Companion: www.promoeqp.com/companion

Where PromoEQP is Setting Trends and Sharing Ideas

END of In Common, October 2026

Last month was about what PromoEQP will disrupt. This month is about what it never will.

A distributor who fails to serve a buyer fails to exist. A systemic structure that picks winners and losers by keeping the market uneven, regardless of the buyer's interest, MUST be challenged.

PromoEQP has challenged industry standards every time equality in the market demanded it, and it will keep doing so.

Responding to market inequality does not mean abusing and damaging the industry. To do so would be a disservice to the distributors and suppliers whose service and relationships deliver for the buyer.

Only one thing in our industry is sacred... the relationship between a distributor and their buyer.

Every resource, every pricing program, every event, and every element must exist to serve that relationship. Nothing can be allowed to threaten that relationship. If that relationship is broken, the damage doesn't stay with one distributor. It becomes a crack through the entire industry, and it doesn't close.

This is where PromoEQP draws its hardest line.

The real statement goes beyond "no rebates." PromoEQP rejects the narrow thinking about revenue that has taken hold across our industry: the belief that the fastest path to growth is placing yourself between a distributor and the buyer they earned. Any attempt to insert into that relationship gets rejected and challenged openly.

That includes the wave of new technology being rushed into our industry. Too much of it is built to watch the distributor, harvest what they do, and bypass them the moment an opening presents itself. Some of it is built to reach the buyer directly and call it innovation. Either way, the distributor pays for a tool that works against them.

That isn't progress. It's a shallow grab at revenue by people who couldn't find a way to earn it.

Technology built for our industry has one job: make the distributor stronger in front of their buyer. The resource that respects this passes the test and earns our respect.

Stay responsive. Stay nimble. Stay focused on the buyer. That is the only way forward for our industry.

Click HERE to read the full PromoEQP Mission Statement

Next month... The distributor is indispensable. And with it, the full picture of PromoEQP at EXPO.

Thanks again...

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

Buyers can tell the difference between a distributor who wants their business and one who understands it.

That difference is built before the conversation starts. Where is the company moving? Did they just close a round of funding? Who stepped into leadership, and what did they inherit? Are they restructuring, merging, or expanding into something new?

Every answer is a reason to reach out, and a better question to ask when you do. Research shows interest. Understanding earns the next conversation. The distributor who walks in knowing the buyer's business is the one chosen to help build it.

The more you know, the better the conversations become.

You know that there has been a lot of work happening behind the PromoEQP dashboard. 

Now it's time to pull back the curtain, a little.

PromoEQP Companion is a browser extension built by PromoEQP for PromoEQP distributors.

When a supplier shows up in your research, your email, or a site you're quoting from, Companion recognizes them and brings up your PromoEQP pricing and benefits right there. 

You don't need to switch tabs or remember to look it up. It also puts this month's EQP discount code one click away, and it keeps you current on ProDev sessions, webinars, and events without adding another email to your inbox.

It works for you and answers to you. It never faces your buyer.

Free browser plug-in now available for:
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Safari

Install it on whichever browser you work in, log in with your PromoEQP credentials, and pin it to your toolbar. That same login carries forward to every new PromoEQP resource we release.

September 21 was a great day in Dallas. The PPAS Golf Classic filled the morning at Grapevine, and the PPAS Connect Networking Reception closed out the day. It was a full day with the people who make this industry what it is.

Our thanks start with Cassondra Franze and Mike Hicks, who led the day from start to finish. A major shoutout to Jessica Del Rio of SAGE and Amy Mazur of Storm Creek. They organized the day and brought the whole association into it, and their work is what made it an incredible event. 

Thank you as well to our supplier partners HPG, PCNA, High Caliber Line, and Orbus for standing alongside us.

And to Rudy Granaghan of Saguaro Supply Co. and Peter Mobley of Geogram LLC, who won their way into the PromoEQP foursome: thank you for making the day what it was. We'd happily tee it up with you again.

Now our focus turns to PPAI EXPO.

January 11–14, back home at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in fabulous Las Vegas. This year PromoEQP arrives with a dedicated breakout meeting room, another round of HAPPY HOUR(s), and scheduled supplier and ProDev panels.

Details are coming. For now, mark the calendar.

Holiday gifting is a chance to thank customers, recognize employees, and keep a brand present after the year ends. 

But in Q4, a great gift idea is only as good as the plan that gets it into someone’s hands on time. Product availability, decoration, approvals, packing, and shipping all have to fit between the order date and the day the gift is meant to arrive.

Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.

For promotional products distributors, the goal is not to create panic about deadlines. It is to give clients a clear path from idea to delivery. 

These three tactics can help you protect the client experience when inventory and production time are under pressure.

A client may say they need gifts “by the holidays,” but that is not a usable deadline. A package for a December employee meeting, a customer gift intended to arrive before office closures, and a New Year kickoff kit all have different timelines.

Tactics

• Confirm the date the recipient NEEDS the gift
• Put every stage of the order on the calendar
• Build in a buffer!!!

A gift that looks perfect in a presentation may not still be available when the client approves it. In Q4, inventory is part of the recommendation, not a detail to check after the sale. This is where a distributor earns trust: not by promising that nothing will go wrong, but by making sure one inventory change does not derail the entire program.

Tactics:

• Verify availability before presenting a short list
• Present a first choice and an acceptable substitute
• Reduce complexity when time gets tight

Tactics

• Create one shared order tracker
• Confirm the details that commonly hold up shipments
• Check progress before the deadline becomes critical

Holiday gifting deadlines do not have to turn every order into a rush order. Distributors can help clients choose a meaningful gift -and- deliver it reliably by working backward from the date it matters, confirming inventory with a backup ready, and managing approvals, production, and shipping as one coordinated project.

The earlier those conversations happen, the more choices the client has, and the less likely a thoughtful holiday gift is undermined by a preventable delay.

You got this!

Brandon Pecharich, Mark8media

https://www.mark8media.com/shortstorybigpicture/budgetsuseitorloseit | https://www.facebook.com/mark8media

1. The 2026 PromoEQP Strategic EQP Catalog is now available exclusively through SAGE
2. Visit Service Partners in Distributor Login
3. PEQP Facebook Group | PEQP LinkedIn | PEQP YouTube | PEQP TikTok

Where PromoEQP has been:

Regional Association Wrap-Ups

PromoEQP at the SAAC Show.  

From a booth on the SAAC Show floor to sponsorships of the SAAC Young Professionals Happy Hour.

Relive the event HERE  and learn more about SAAC www.saac.net

TAILGATING with PromoEQP & MiPPA 

It was a night of Food | Drinks | Networking | Socializing with one of the most vibrant and remarkable Regional Associations in the Industry: Michigan Promotional Professionals Associations

Click HERE to learn more about this incredible work being done by the incredible folks at MiPPA.

Special thanks to Sydney and the entire MiPPA team!

Casino Night at Blackhawk

PromoEQP, in support of RMR (Rocky Mountain Association) hosted a HAPPY HOUR(s) Event at the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk!

Rocky Mountain Region Promotional Product Association (RMR)

HAAPY HOUR(s) with the Texas Swing

Featuring a catered Socializing and Networking event for Distributors and Strategic Supplier partners, PromoEQP went on the road to celebrate Texas in San Antonio & Austin. Stary tuned to Nadia’s updates on social media — but these events have set the table for all of PromoEQP’s upcoming events.

Learn more about BOTH Texas Regional Associations

PPAS | HPPA

END of Monthly Update

September 23rd, 11am ET

Keeping the conversation going...

In August, over 40 distributors participated in this PromoEQP EXCLUSIVE event. For over an hour Rod engaged in distributor discussions and questions -- covering topics from Spec Samples, to Lead Creation, to the remarkable impact of a distributor's personal connection.

On Wednesday, September 23rd, we are doing it again!

Submit your questions to Rod directly: roderick@rodsroad.com 

All submitted question were addressed FIRST in the call. Additionally, Rod personally emailed and connected with distributors who submitted their question.

PromoEQP is positioned to expand in ProDev resources -- but only with your participation (and this is legitimately an event worth making time for).  Submit your questions directly to Rod, and RSVP below to be a part of the exclusive to PromoEQP event.

Roadside Attraction, featuring Rod Brown, Episode 2

The Haptic Advantage. 

Digital advertising has diminished the word "impression" to simply be a record of an ad being rendered on a screen. The actual English meaning of the word is to communicate something that stays with you -- saying that something "made an impression" is, by definition, something that doesn't get forgotten.

Hear how Rod explain how making an impression with a classic coffee mug became a strategy to create conversations.

From the summer slowdown to "I need a vacation!"

Welcome to September in the Promotional Product Industry.

PromoEQP Facebook Group Highlights

Where is PromoEQP Showing Up?

PromoEQP's next Regional Association Event:

END of In Common, August 2026

That phrasing intentionally invites questions that deserve a direct answer.

The promotional products industry is not broken. 

For as long as the distributor remains the face of buyer relationships — building trust, carrying the risk, and delivering on promises for the companies they serve — our industry will retain the promise of being something remarkable.

My issue is with small and self-serving behaviors that get built on top of the industry and threaten to mute what makes it remarkable.

Where does PromoEQP openly disrupt?...

• Pricing structures that put an independent distributor at a structural disadvantage before a buyer conversation has a chance to begin.
• Resources marketed at distributors that are engineered to bypass them and go directly to the buyer.
• An industry "common sense" that frames distributors as a cost to reduce rather than the competitive advantage they are.

Those behaviors are the target. They get disrupted without apology.

The difference between disruptive and destructive is not subtle. 

Disruption challenges the structures that disadvantage the distributor, the supplier, and the buyer. Destruction is the move made by those who failed to compete fairly and choose to resort to tearing down a foundation they couldn't earn their place in. PromoEQP has always understood the difference, and fourteen years of operation is the record of that understanding.

Success in our industry has never been defined by the resources used in the process of business… 

Rather, success is defined by the person who does the work and earns their place. Every resource provider, every program operator, and every personality calling for a distributor's trust must demonstrate they understand this single fact.

Click HERE to read the full PromoEQP Mission Statement

Next month... The art of respecting the industry while remaining nimble and responsive to a market.

Thanks again...

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

Your prospects aren't ignoring you.

You're asking for too much, too soon. 

The first win isn't the sale. It's a few minutes of conversation.

Rod Brown spent decades figuring out how to turn a few seconds of attention into a few minutes of conversation. The answer isn't a better pitch or new digital approach. It's the physical thing that lives in someone's hands. 

Create a sense of reciprocity. Manufacture a small obligation to respond.

Demonstrate the power of the resources you are there to represent.

Welcome PromoEQP's NEWEST Supplier

As the end of the year approaches, many corporate clients discover they still have unspent marketing, event, employee-engagement, or departmental budgets. That can create a real opportunity for promotional products distributors, but the goal should never be to help a client spend money just because it is available.

Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.

The better approach is to help them put remaining dollars toward something purposeful: a program that improves brand visibility, supports employees or customers, advances an event strategy, or creates a stronger starting point for 2027. Strong budget decisions begin with clear objectives, priorities, and a way to measure the result, not simply a rush to exhaust a line item.

When a client says, “We have budget left,” resist the urge to immediately show them a long product list. Start by asking what the remaining money could accomplish before the year ends or what it could prepare them to accomplish next year.

Tactics:

• Ask outcome-focused questions
• Connect the product to a measurable purpose
• Help clients distinguish between “spend now” and “use now”

A client with unused funds is usually short on time, not ideas. The distributor who makes the decision easiest will have the advantage. Instead of presenting dozens of unrelated products, develop a concise program with a purpose, audience, budget range, and execution plan. Event-budget guidance similarly emphasizes defining objectives, prioritizing what matters, and tracking committed versus remaining funds before decisions are made.

Tactics:

• Present a small number of campaign-ready options
• Use tiered budget options
• Package products around a complete experience

• Create a simple one-page recommendation
• Recommend a practical measurement plan
• Protect the client from last-minute risk

“Use it or lose it” shouldn't mean rushed, random spending. It can be an opportunity to help a client turn unused 2026 dollars into a meaningful program that supports brand visibility, employee connection, customer relationships, or upcoming events.

For distributors, the formula is straightforward: begin with the client’s goal, present a focused program instead of a product dump, and make the impact easy to explain. When you do that, you help clients spend remaining budget with confidence and position yourself as the partner they call before next year’s budget is on the line.

You got this!

Brandon Pecharich, Mark8media

https://www.mark8media.com/shortstorybigpicture/budgetsuseitorloseit | https://www.facebook.com/mark8media

1. The 2026 PromoEQP Strategic EQP Catalog is now available exclusively through SAGE
2. Visit Service Partners in Distributor Login
3. PEQP Facebook Group | PEQP LinkedIn | PEQP YouTube | PEQP TikTok

Where PromoEQP has been:

Regional Association Wrap-Ups

PromoEQP at the SAAC Show.  

From a booth on the SAAC Show floor to sponsorships of the SAAC Young Professionals Happy Hour.

Relive the event HERE  and learn more about SAAC www.saac.net

TAILGATING with PromoEQP & MiPPA 

It was a night of Food | Drinks | Networking | Socializing with one of the most vibrant and remarkable Regional Associations in the Industry: Michigan Promotional Professionals Associations

Click HERE to learn more about this incredible work being done by the incredible folks at MiPPA.

Special thanks to Sydney and the entire MiPPA team!

Casino Night at Blackhawk

PromoEQP, in support of RMR (Rocky Mountain Association) hosted a HAPPY HOUR(s) Event at the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk!

Rocky Mountain Region Promotional Product Association (RMR)

HAAPY HOUR(s) with the Texas Swing

Featuring a catered Socializing and Networking event for Distributors and Strategic Supplier partners, PromoEQP went on the road to celebrate Texas in San Antonio & Austin. Stary tuned to Nadia’s updates on social media — but these events have set the table for all of PromoEQP’s upcoming events.

Learn more about BOTH Texas Regional Associations

PPAS | HPPA

END of Monthly Update

Exclusive to PromoEQP Distributors...

RSVP below... send Rod your questions directly: roderick@rodsroad.com

Roadside Attraction, featuring Rod Brown, Episode 1 now available. 

When you lose an order, most reps disappear. Rod Brown shares the strategy that's kept his client relationships intact for decades — protect the lifetime value of the relationship, not just the reorder.

PromoEQP Facebook Group Highlights

Where is PromoEQP Showing Up?

PromoEQP's next Regional Association Event:

Where we were:

SAAC EXPO 2026

Special thanks, for an incredible event, go out to:

• SAAC... It takes an exceptional Regional Association could create an exceptional event. Learn more about the great work at SAAC by visiting: www.saac.net

• Bob Levitt (bob.levitt@saac.net), Lindsay Bons (lbons@idline.com) and the rest of the SAAC Board and Team!

• Cheryl (cheryl@promoeqp.com), Jorge (jorge@promoeqp.com), and Nadia (nadia@promoeqp.com) for the time and energy to represent PromoEQP at the event.

• All of the distributors who made the time to stop by and connect! The PromoEQP MISSION STATEMENT is defined by each of you... Thank you.

END of In Common, August 2026

Thirteen years of operating on a specific set of principles has defined PromoEQP through action, not just words. With the changes happening in the marketplace, it is time to finally put into writing what PromoEQP has demonstrated it stands for.

The PromoEQP Mission Statement, now published on the new PromoEQP.com, doesn't ask you to trust us. Rather, it lays out the three-part test we hold ourselves to:

Disruptive without being destructive:

• PromoEQP will actively disrupt industry behaviors that seek to harm and abandon the traditional distributor. What we will NEVER do is engage in a behavior that destroys the foundation of what makes this industry remarkable and necessary.

Responsive to the market while respecting the industry:

• Relationships in the industry are sacred — not transactional. Every order strengthens a connection, builds trust, and provides for a buyer's needs. Respecting that has been the cornerstone of PromoEQP from day #1.

The distributor is indispensable:

• The distributor is the buyer-facing representation of the industry – not a product for other companies to trade, bypass, or strip profitability from. Knowing and respecting that sacred truth is PromoEQP's Northern Star.

Click HERE to read the full PromoEQP Mission Statement

Our industry is at its best when success is measured on MERIT above all else. PromoEQP is dedicated to making sure that the field stays level so that YOU can serve your buyer.

Distributors require modern resources to support their business, and PromoEQP will always partner with resources that meet the distributor's needs AND can live up to these 3 ideals… What is not acceptable are the thinly veiled attempts to use new resources to bypass a distributor to get directly to a buyer. 

On that, PromoEQP will fight for the distributor all day, every day.

Thanks again...

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

What happens when a business decision impacts a personal relationship?

The promotional products industry has always been built on relationships. They shape supplier partnerships, strengthen client trust, and create opportunities that extend far beyond a single order. Yet every distributor eventually faces the moment when a business decision costs them a sale. How they respond in that moment often tells a client more about who they are than any successful order ever could.

Rod Brown has faced that same distributor test... and discovered the value of choosing the human response.

In Lose the Order. Keep the Client, Rod shares how he moved beyond that moment and turned a disappointing outcome into future business opportunities. More importantly, he shares the emotions, uncertainty, and thought process behind a decision every distributor will eventually face.

It's a lesson in professionalism, relationships, and the human side of selling that remains as valuable today as it's ever been.

Where PromoEQP will be:

PromoEQP will be wherever you need us during the SAAC Show.  

From a booth on the SAAC Show floor on Wednesday, August 12th.... 

To sponsorships of the SAAC Networking events: 

• Long Beach Line-up (Networking Party)
• Young Professionals Happy Hour (at the Networking Line-Up)  

While registering here: www.saac.net/event/saac-expo-2026

Use promo code: promoeqplovessaac

Where we have been...

Only one things can beat a good HAPPY HOUR(s)...

TAILGATING with PromoEQP 

PromoEQP went to the ballpark with MiPPA!

It was a night of Food | Drinks | Networking | Socializing with one of the most vibrant and remarkable Regional Associations in the Industry: Michigan Promotional Professionals Associations

Click HERE to learn more about this incredible work being done by the incredible folks at MiPPA.

Special thanks to Sydney and the entire MiPPA team!

Friday, May 22nd

• Social Gathering & Networking

• Drinks and Appetizers

• Suite Party in the Monarch Casino

PromoEQP, in support of RMR (Rocky Mountain Association) hosted a HAPPY HOUR(s) Event at the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk!

In conjunction with RMR’s Casino Night, PromoEQP presented a gathering and networking event location PRIOR to the kick-off of the RMR Event. The night included bites and refreshments — AND a SOCIALIZING QUIZ that drew on attendees knowledge of the Industry, Pop Culture, and Colorado.

Rocky Mountain Region Promotional Product Association (RMR)

Featuring a catered Socializing and Networking event for Distributors and Strategic Supplier partners, PromoEQP went on the road to celebrate Texas. Stary tuned to Nadia’s updates on social media — but these events have set the table for all of PromoEQP’s upcoming events.

Back-to-school season is more than a retail moment. It is a reset point for families, schools, colleges, and the corporate clients that want to stay visible during a busy, high-attention time of year. For distributors, this is a strong opportunity to help clients choose products and plan campaigns that feel relevant to the end of summer break and the start of a new school year.

Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.

The best back-to-school promo programs do more than hand out items. They help brands show up in places where people are already paying attention: orientation events, parent nights, employee family days, campus activities, and community celebrations tied to the start of the school year.

Back-to-school is not one audience. It includes young students, college students, teachers, parents, school staff, and corporate clients trying to connect with all of them. The more clearly you define who the product is for, the easier it is to recommend something useful and memorable.

Tactics:

• Separate school-age, college, and family-focused use cases
• Focus on products people will actually carry or use
• Build event-specific recommendations

Back-to-school works because it naturally creates events, deadlines, and emotional momentum. Corporate clients can use that season to support employees, customers, students, or communities in a way that feels timely rather than forced. Your job is to connect the product to the right moment.

Tactics:

• Plan around the school calendar
• Use “fresh start” messaging
• Offer branded ideas for both visibility and utility

• Suggest mixed budget level back-to-school event ideas
• Bundle products into simple packages
• Help clients extend the campaign beyond one event

Back-to-school and campus swag are powerful because they connect with a season full of transitions, routines, and attention. For distributors, that means helping clients choose products that fit the audience, match the moment, and support a real event or campaign.

The best approach is simple: pick the right audience, tie the swag to a seasonal moment, and build around the event instead of the product alone. That gives your corporate clients something useful, timely, and memorable as summer ends and the school year begins.

You got this!

Brandon Pecharich, Mark8media

https://www.mark8media.com/shortstorybigpicture | https://www.facebook.com/mark8media

Welcome PromoEQP's NEWEST Supplier

Catch the REPLAYS!

1. The 2026 PromoEQP Strategic EQP Catalog is now available exclusively through SAGE
2. Visit Service Partners in Distributor Login
3. PEQP Facebook Group | PEQP LinkedIn | PEQP YouTube | PEQP TikTok

END of Monthly Update

While you've been placing orders, managing clients, and keeping pace with everything the industry throws at you, the login page has been getting sharper. Quietly. Consistently. On a near-daily basis.

These aren't plans. Every feature below is live right now, available the next time you log in.

Here's what matters about all of this.

Every feature above gets better the more you use it. A distributor who logs in regularly gets a "What's New" that's current and relevant to them specifically. A distributor who submits an RFQ through the system teaches the network how to serve them. A distributor who files a support request tells PromoEQP directly what needs attention.

Suppliers update their policies when they see distributors actively finding and filtering for them. PromoEQP builds new tools when the support queue makes clear what distributors actually need. The program responds to engagement — not as a concept, but as a rule.

The best part of being PromoEQP is building resources that YOU want and need. Today, we are able to do this at a speed and scale that we have never been able to achieve before.

So please...

Log in. Explore what's already there. Tell us what's missing.

Jeremy Chacon
jeremy@promoeqp.com
312-392-1064

What is Roadside Attractions? 

Roadside Attractions captures the stories behind the people, experiences, challenges, and lessons learned from decades inside the branded merchandise industry. 

These are not traditional interviews. 

They are conversations designed to preserve industry wisdom, celebrate meaningful journeys, and share lessons that can help others. 

Episode 1 Featuring Rod Brown 

• 30+ years of lessons. 
• Thousands of orders. 
• One story at a time. 

Rod’s experience represents the type of knowledge that rarely gets shared to a wider audience...

This August, that all changes for PromoEQP

When school is back in session, classrooms fill up, routines return, and one simple tool continues to support learning every day: the pen.

Back-to-school season isn't just a retail cycle; it's a reset moment. It's when routines are rebuilt, classrooms come back to life, and millions of students re-engage with the tools that quietly shape how they learn, think, and retain information.

And while technology continues to evolve inside the classroom, one of the most consistent learning tools hasn't changed in decades: the pen. Not because it's traditional—but because it works.

Promotional pens for schools remain one of the most widely used, highly retained, and cost-effective products in the promotional industry. In education, they move through classrooms, campuses, offices, and events at an incredible scale, creating repeated opportunities for both learning and brand visibility.

The Scale of the Back-to-School Pen Market

Back-to-school represents one of the largest demand cycles in the writing instruments category. Students account for approximately 55–60% of global writing instrument demand, while the U.S. student pen market alone is estimated at roughly $1 billion annually. Nearly 75–80% of demand sits within ballpoint and gel pens, the same categories that dominate promotional product assortments.

What makes this especially important for distributors and marketers is that education buyers aren't purchasing writing novelty instruments. They're purchasing them because they're needed.

Pens are among the few promotional products that naturally align with an existing behavior. The product already fits the environment; the branding simply travels with it.

Value Drives the Category

Back-to-school writing instruments are highly price-sensitive, but not purely price-driven. Most writing instrument volume sits below $1 per unit, making them ideal for large-scale distribution. However, buyers will often invest slightly more for:

• Better writing performance
• Enhanced comfort
• Smooth ink flow
• Additional functionality
• Elevated perceived quality

This creates a unique sweet spot for promotional pens: High volume. High utility. High visibility.

Even small investments can generate thousands of impressions throughout a school year.

Timing Matters: The Real Back-to-School Window

One of the biggest misconceptions about back-to-school is that it begins in August. In reality, approximately 67% of shoppers begin purchasing by early July. That means June is one of the most important planning windows for schools, distributors, and brands alike. If writing instruments aren't part of the conversation in June, they're often competing against decisions that have already been made.

Back-to-school isn't a single moment. It's a buildup. Writing instruments are one of the first categories to move.

Wednesday, July 29th

Only one things can beat a good HAPPY HOUR(s)...

TAILGATING with PromoEQP 

PromoEQP is partnering with MiPPA to offer a tailgating event at Nick Finks -- starting at 4pm -- leading up to MiPPA's Members Night Out at the LMCU Ballpark.

Food | Drinks | Networking | Socializing | PromoEQP Quiz Event.

RSVP to attend for this incredible night out!

Recent Recap…

Past Events…

Featuring a catered Socializing and Networking event for Distributors and Strategic Supplier partners, PromoEQP went on the road to celebrate Texas. Stary tuned to Nadia’s updates on social media — but these events have set the table for all of PromoEQP’s upcoming events.

Summer can feel quiet in the promotional products space, but that slowdown is actually an opportunity. When buyers are out of office, moving slower, or focused on vacations and events, distributors can use the extra breathing room to tighten operations, build better marketing assets, and prepare for the fall rush.

Today’s Short Story is a piece to help you achieve your long-term goals, aka the Big Picture.

The distributors who win in Q4 usually do the work in July and August. They clean up their systems, plan ahead on email, and keep their brand visible so they are top of mind when clients return and budgets open back up.

Slow periods are the best time to fix the operational friction that gets ignored during busy season. If your quoting, follow-up, proofing, or order tracking process feels messy now, it will feel worse when Q4 hits.

Tactics:

• Review your internal workflow from quote to delivery
• Standardize the most common requests
• Clean up your data and account notes

One of the biggest mistakes distributors make is waiting until fall to think about holiday marketing. By then, everyone is busy, inboxes are full, and there is less time to create thoughtful messaging. Summer is the right time to build your email plan for Q4.

Tactics:

• Draft your holiday sequence early
• Segment your audience by need
• Focus on planning, not just selling

• Maintain a light but steady content schedule
• Share useful, not just promotional, content
• Reconnect with dormant accounts

Summer slow periods should not be treated like dead time. They are preparation time. The distributors who use the season to improve systems, write smarter emails, and keep marketing active are the ones who walk into Q4 with more control and better momentum.

The message is simple: use the slow season to get organized, get visible, and get ready. That way, when clients come back to the office and start planning for the holidays, you are already on their radar.

You got this!

Brandon Pecharich, Mark8media

https://www.mark8media.com/shortstorybigpicture

https://www.facebook.com/mark8media

Welcome PromoEQP's NEWEST Supplier

Visit AZX at: www.azxpromotions.com
See the policy details at: dashboard.promoeqp.com/supplier-details/azx_sport

Catch the REPLAYS!

1. The 2026 PromoEQP Strategic EQP Catalog is now available exclusively through SAGE
2. Visit Service Partners in Distributor Login
3. PEQP Facebook Group | PEQP LinkedIn | PEQP YouTube | PEQP TikTok

END of Monthly Update