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MARCH 2017
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THINK
R
ama Beerfas, CAS, chief
solutions specialist at
San Diego, California-based
Lev Promotions (PPAI 218331),
is a big fan of experiential
learning. After all, that’s how she
mastered sales and marketing
and discovered the promotional
products industry—on the job.
Armed with a degree in
hospitality management,
she spent 10 years in hotel
management. “I was in the front
office, but because I really loved
the properties I worked at, my
bosses kept having me do sales
and marketing,” she says. “Then
I spent three and a half years as
the administrator for a nonprofit
where I did a lot of the marketing,
including developing marketing
programs and events.”
When she was pregnant with
her first child, she knew she
wanted to stay home with her
baby. She had a freelance graphic
design business as well as a
crafting business on the side and
decided to keep those pursuits
while a stay-at-home mom.
“One of my clients was the
nonprofit agency I had previously
worked for, and they were having
an event and needed six t-shirts.
l designed and heatpressed them.
Six months later they called back
and said, ‘Do you do balloons?’
I said, ‘Sure, I do balloons’ and
I looked at my heatpress and
thought, it’s probably not a good
idea to try to heatpress on a
balloon. So I went online and
found Pioneer Balloon and I got
myself into this business.”
The promotional products
industry turned out to be a
perfect fit for her skills and
interests. “I still get to do my
creative thing and design
all sorts of weird things and
then I get to do the marketing
side of the business because
I’ve always had a marketing
focus—I’ve never been just a
product person. It’s always been
‘How can we achieve your goals
using products?’”
Beerfas dabbled in
promotional products for three
years. “In 2002 I dove in and said,
‘Forget the handcrafted business
and forget freelance design, I’m
going promotions full time.’ I
changed my company name
from Lev Designs (Lev in Hebrew
means heart—so her tagline
was Designs from the Heart) to
Lev Promotions.”
Engagement
Is Everything
One of the perspectives
Beerfas brought to her new
promotional products marketing
business from her previous jobs
is that hands-on experiences
lead to customer engagement.
This is even more true today, she
says, as people are overloaded
with information but seek
meaningful connections.
Beerfas points to one of
her most successful events
in the nonprofit arena as an
example. “The days of sending
a letter in the mail and saying
‘please donate’ are over. You
Rama Beerfas,
CAS, helps her
clients capitalize
on experiential
marketing at
trade shows
and beyond.
by
Julie Richie
Creating
Hands-On Hits
“I’ve never been
just a product
person. It’s always
been ‘Howcanwe
achieve your goals
using products?’”
Rama Bee r f as , CAS