PPB December 2019

PPAI’s Brand Masters Advertising Week Panel Explored Customer Connections On September 24, PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, moderated a brand masters panel discussion, Experiential Branding: How To Ignite Consumer Love, on the Ad Shapers Stage at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City as part of the annual Advertising Week. PPAI has a long-time association with the week-long event which draws marketing, advertising, technology and brand professionals from across the globe for seminars and workshops featuring some of the brightest minds in the business. Bellantone, far right, was joined on stage by, from left, Sharon Byers, chief development, marketing and communications officer, American Cancer Society; Andrea Cherng, chief marketing officer, Panda Express; Megan Robles, senior marketing manager, KeVita (PepsiCo); Jason Eano, managing director, The Annex – Havas; and Joan Bluestone Landorf, executive vice president and partner at distributor Axis Promotions, for a strategic discussion on experiential branding and how ideation, inspiration and innovation inform the brand experience and create unmatched consumer loyalty and even love. The panelists shared the stories of their organizations’ work with experiential marketing. Byers spoke on the American Cancer Society’s partnership with the NFL, Cherng on how her company brought the Lunar New Year to customers who may not have been familiar with the holiday, Robles on the probiotic drink company’s “Drink In Culture” brand campaign, Eano (pictured) on his group’s work within Havas to bring nontraditional marketers together with traditional marketers and finding ways to develop solution-oriented cultural programming, and Landorf on how her company, as a promotional products distributor, works with end users like those on the panel to extend the consumer experience. American Solutions For Business Volunteered For Adopt AHighway In September, employees from Glenwood, Minnesota-based American Solutions For Business and their families volunteered for an afternoon of ditch cleanup for Adopt A Highway. Justin Zavadil, ASB president and cleanup volunteer, says, “We have participated in Adopt a Highway since 2011. We take pride in our community and share a responsibility to keep it clean and safe.” Volunteers were split into small teams and assigned a stretch of highway. Each person was provided a hi- visibility vest and gloves for safety, and a garbage bag before driving out to their dedicated area. When they were finished, the group celebrated with a pizza party back at the office. | DECEMBER 2019 | 123 CONNECT