Must Read | Hall of Fame “I had a superpower that other people didn’t.” That superpower? Creative marketing. her expertise, they could employ her. After a few other inquiries, Bodek and Rhodes, a supplier in her own backyard of Philadelphia, convinced her to interview for a job. In classic Sokalski fashion, she turned the interview around on the company’s CEO. Sokalski had contacted 50 of the supplier’s customers and asked them to name Bodek and Rhodes’ three biggest strengths and three biggest weaknesses. The CEO knew all three strengths but only got one weakness correct. “Will you let me help you change those two weaknesses?” Sokalski asked. “Because a marketing director does not just send out press releases. We want to help change the company to better meet the customers’ needs. Will you let me change it?” The response was, “When can you start?” Suddenly, rather than the services that ASI offered, Sokalski had a product to market, and she implemented the strategy she had adopted with projects at ASI: “If it’s not a wow, it’s not a go.” She wanted people reading what the company wrote, opening what they sent and listening to what they said. If the idea didn’t wow anyone, it wouldn’t see the light of day. While impossible to attribute directly to her, Sokalski says the company achieved a 22% increase in business the year she was hired as director of marketing communications. “I got a hell of a bonus that year, is all I can say,” Sokalski says. Sokalski spent nearly two decades with Bodek and Rhodes before starting her own multi-line marketing firm for promotional products, The Scarlet Marketeer, which she ran until 2021. Few people have seen the industry from more sides than Sokalski, who worked for ASI, served as vice chair of marketing on the PPAI Board (along with many other roles with the PPAI Board of Directors and PPAI committees) and worked on the supplier side of things. She received the 2018 PPAI Woman of Achievement award, the 2016 PPAI PPAI: 111248 | ASI: 35375 | SAGE: 50327 | UPIC: ACCENTS | DC: 101273 Made & Printed in the USA Quick Turn Arounds Low Minimums www.americanaccents.com | 888.287.7883 Scan for pricing! •20+ stock shapes available •Digitally die cut; no additional fee! •Available in 12 pt or 24 pt thickness •1 or 2-side print available •Digitally Printed with 4-Color Process 50 piece minimums! CARDSTOCK BOOKMARKS Great for bookstores, school events, fundraisers, trade shows, & more! 68 • JANUARY 2023 • PPAI
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