PPB July 2019

Promoting Our Profession Beyond American Shores Why do I do it? It’s quite simple: I love the experience. by Rod Brown, MAS T his past spring, I spent a week traveling in Stockholm, Sweden, with PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE. He and I were invited to attend the Swedish Product Media Association (SBPR) Education Day. Paul was a featured PPAI speaker and I was asked to be the category expert, or as I like to call it, “the color commentator.” It was exciting, informative and, frankly, just a great time. Inmy numerous overseas travels to various industry events and vendor factories, I have enjoyed combiningmy career and profession with opportunities to explore foreign countries (amonth before the trip to Sweden I had been in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the PSI show). I havemademany professional and personal friends along the way and, in the process, I’ve increasedmy overall understanding and knowledge of our global industry and hopefully shared some information and stories about my 40 years as a U.S.-based distributor. After returning from this last trip, Paul asked if I’d articulatemy thoughts on what drives me to explore the world of promotional products in various areas of the globe. My reasons, desires and conclusions extend beyond a distinct ROI. Here’s some background. My first trip to Asia was in 1979, before I ever got into the business. I was trying my hand at importing furniture. I didn’t make anymoney onmy first attempt, but I managed to cover all my costs for amonth-long trip to Hong Kong, Korea and Taipei.The trip ignitedmy excitement for travel and entrepreneurial adventure. My next trip was to Hong Kong when I was working for distributor Jack Nadel International. It was aWRAPV incentive trip (a consortiumof suppliers that sponsored fantastic travel incentive trips). A few of us added on to our journey and traveled to Beijing. Beijing, in 1985, was an entirely different world than it is today.The Asian Tiger had not yet blossomed, and Tiananmen Square was completely different, but that is another story. After formingmy own distributor firm in 1988, my travel to Asia picked up and in the early 2000s I mademany trips to attend trade fairs in Taipei, Hong Kong and Canton along with various vendors and agent partners. We went to some amazing places, ate unusual foods and visited workshops and factories; some were in dismal condition, others in better shape. I loved it all. However, the lure of substantially lower unit costs must be weighed against the risk. You can do 10 deals that are perfect but the last onemay cost you the profit from the previous nine. I began to learn the perils of being a “spot buyer” vs. a “supply-chain buyer.” I can still hear Gemline’s CEO Jonathan Isaacson saying, “Without the promise of ongoing buys, you are vulnerable to loss—you have no negotiating power. You are only as valuable as the next order coming down the line.” We did have some great relationships that developed frompersonal trips and have had some success in our direct import efforts, but being a spot buyer as opposed to having a healthy supply chain is a risky business at best. Some of themarkets, particularly in Canton and Yiwu, are overwhelming in terms of size and selection.The Yiwu market, in particular, is an eye-popping and leg-weary experience. Certainly the markets aremesmerizing and thought- 20 | JULY 2019 | INNOVATE