PPB March 2018

Konica Minolta Marketing Services PPAI 724995 Lawrenceville Marketing PPAI 339947 Let’s Get Personal PPAI 720999 Lit Promotional Items PPAI 723774 LMD Power Marketing PPAI 724178 LT’s, Inc. PPAI 282714 Mach One Merchandise PPAI 723307 Made 2 Inspire PPAI 713630 Making Sense Santa Fe PPAI 722463 MAO Createur d impact PPAI 724449 Mason Marketing Group PPAI 722573 Matrix Marketing PPAI 667464 Maxx Sunglasses PPAI 723234 Milwaukee Screen & Stitch PPAI 723945 Mimeo PPAI 724547 MLM Custom PPAI 723776 Momentum Ink PPAI 720811 More Goat PPAI 724975 Mudlark PPAI 720374 Nifty Promotions PPAI 682476 Nitsom Promotional Manufacturing Corp PPAI 721432 Northern Vinyl Supply PPAI 724574 NoteDeco PPAI 723014 OB Factory PPAI 720516 OMW Marketing PPAI 721472 Orange Sunshine Graphics PPAI 337010 P3G, Inc. PPAI 722993 PACIFIC PRINTING, INC. PPAI 614386 Paradise Awards PPAI 558406 PerfectImage PPAI 384879 PJ PROMOTIONS PPAI 700315 PNP/Brilliant Impressions PPAI 654568 Polid, Inc. PPAI 598572 Premier Awards PPAI 286922 Primary Source PPAI 108436 Prime Business Solutions PPAI 230001 Proforma InMotion PPAI 722817 Promo11us.com PPAI 616693 promoMike PPAI 722567 Proomoos PPAI 725123 Quali-Graph, Inc. PPAI 485828 Quills Tees, Inc. PPAI 694927 RACE MEDIA GROUP PPAI 589871 Rhinoferoce, Inc. PPAI 217278 Richard Reames Trophy Company PPAI 441381 Risaveena, Inc. PPAI 725228 RnB Marketing Solutions PPAI 720087 RON PEDERSEN & ASSOCIATES PPAI 438295 Roy F. Fowler Company PPAI 723992 Rushing Media/ Reimagine Marketing PPAI 723540 Safeguard Business Systems by Francis PPAI 695856 NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT How did your company get its start? A few years ago, I was prepping for a hike with some friends in Virginia. I wanted to take bottles of water and some sandwiches, but I couldn’t find a good portable (waterproof) cooler suitable for an all-day hike. So, I created a makeshift cooler out of a daypack and double lined it with plastic trash bags—I filled that with our lunch and ice. This seemed like a good idea until the trash bags broke and ice-cold water flooded down my back. That was frustrating, to say the least. I couldn’t believe that there were no really good portable coolers on the market. So, once I was back home, I set out to design a soft-sided, waterproof and portable cooler that could carry ice and be comfortable enough to take on both long hikes and relaxing days at the beach. I tried lots of ideas, but none worked well. A few days later, I was kayaking and using a dry bag and I realized that if I could insulate a dry bag, it would make an awesome cooler. Several months, dozens of prototypes and many days of field- testing later, the first functional ICEMULE was born. At that time, I was a marketing executive for a bank in Charlotte. In 2012, my wife and I decided to move to Florida and I started the ICEMULE Company. In 2013, after spending over a year in product development, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to introduce the product line. The Kickstarter was fully funded and we launched into retail and online selling in late first quarter 2014. What led your company to enter the promotional products market? Over the past couple of years, we’ve been getting tons of inbound calls from promotional products and corporate incentive agencies whose customers have requested ICEMULEs. The business was growing completely organically and was becoming large enough that I decided it was time to get serious about it. We joined the Promotional Products Association of Florida first, and they were terrific about helping guide us toward additional organizations we needed to join. What’s your favorite thing about being in the promotional products industry? The experience so far has been remarkable. Not only has our profile grown, along with sales, but everyone we’ve met in the industry has been extremely helpful. This isn’t always the case in every industry, and I have been very impressed by that. The people we’ve met in this industry are just really good people, and extremely professional and generous. Also, it’s always interesting to get a call or email from a distributor whose customers have requested our products. These calls are accelerating and it’s a good proxy for understanding the growth of our brand awareness that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Why did you join PPAI? Initially, I joined to attend The PPAI Expo in January because we had been asked to attend for several meetings at the event. I honestly had not educated myself about the organization’s benefits and services. Then I received the new member materials and I am now really digging in. In my career, I’ve been a member of several professional organizations and PPAI provides much more value than most, by far.— James Khattak James Collie CEO and Founder ICEMULE Coolers St. Augustine, Florida PPAI 725398 | MARCH 2018 | 93 CONNECT