CA
County Bans Kids’ Meal Promo Items
Approving
the first local ordinance of its kind, supervisors in Santa Clara County,
CA, have banned restaurants from giving away toys and other promotional
items with high-calorie children’s meals. Passed in a 3-2 vote this week,
the limited ordinance targets any meal that contains more than 485 calories,
600 milligrams of sodium or certain percentages of fat or sugar. “This
ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes,” said Supervisor
Ken Yeager, in a meeting on Tuesday.
Because the ordinance
only applies to unincorporated neighborhoods like Stanford and
Burbank, the majority of San Jose-area restaurants won’t be affected
by the law. Hoping the fast-food industry will voluntarily begin
offering more healthy kids’ meals, supervisors have decided to
allow a 90-day grace period before the ordinance is enforced. Eventually,
the ordinance calls for a $250 fine for the first violation, $500
for the second and then up to $1,000 for subsequent violations.
“It’s just the way of government right now to try to protect us
from ourselves,” said Tim Appleby, owner of Apple Advertising (asi/122990).
“There are just too many regulations.”
Located in central
California, Santa Clara County has a reputation for passing attention-grabbing
ordinances. In 2008, the county’s board voted unanimously to require
menu-labeling for fast-food restaurants, placing Santa Clara alongside
San Francisco and New York City in efforts to curb obesity. But
while the county’s latest health-related ordinance is making national
news, it’s unlikely to have an immediate effect on many California
distributors, especially since only about a dozen restaurants are
located within the law’s target zone. “I don’t think it will affect
our industry very much,” said Chris Savage, vice president of Burbank,
CA-based The Corporate Gift Service (asi/168924). “From
my career in merchandising, I can say that these are very large
specialty orders and a lot of them are direct to China.”
Santa Clara County’s
supervisors will again address the ordinance in a May 11th meeting.
County leaders are urging other communities across the country
to adopt similar toy bans.
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BDA Buys
Evigna To Form Second-Largest Distributor
As first reported yesterday in a Breaking News Alert, Counselor Top
40 distributor Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA) (asi/137616)
has signed a definitive agreement to acquire fellow Counselor Top 40
distributor Evigna (asi/155460). Financial terms of the deal have not
been released, but the companies expect the deal to close in May. Evigna’s senior
executives will remain with the company in what will be known as BDA Detroit.
“It started pretty innocently,” said Jay Deutsch, CEO of BDA, making reference
to the deal. “We were introduced at ASI Chicago and realized we see eye-to-eye
on what clients need and what’s happening in the industry. Serious talks started
in late 2009.”
Per the agreement,
BDA will now add the approximately 80 Evigna employees to its
staff. With total revenues of nearly $250 million, the combined
companies will become the second-largest distributor in the ad
specialty market. Already, its list of clients includes Bank
of America, Dell, GlaxoSmithKline, ExxonMobil, BlueCross Blue
Shield, Ford and Jaguar. “For many years we have admired what
BDA has built and we have worked hard to emulate their success,”
said Marc Belanski, CEO of Evigna. “We’re proud to join the BDA
family and are confident this acquisition will benefit Evigna’s
distinguished clientele.”
Without offering
specifics, Deutsch said the deal will be “obviously positive”
in helping to increase BDA’s sales in 2010. Expressing optimism,
Deutsch said BDA enjoyed a “significant” rise in sales during
the first quarter of this year. “We are focused on doing the
best things for great clients,” Deutsch said. “BDA will continue
to look for opportunities to grow our business with the right
companies that fit with our culture.” |
Video
Report: Industry News Of The Week
Every
week, Counselor PromoGram offers a video news report
that highlights the industry’s top stories. Called Industry
Update, each episode details the most important trends and
news items impacting the ad specialty market.
In this episode,
we analyze a major distributor acquisition and reveal one Top
40 supplier’s quarterly financials. Plus, why is one California
county acting out against promotional products? Click
here to check out the trends and to watch Counselor
PromoGram’s Industry Update.
If you have
any news you’d like to see covered on Industry Update or in Counselor
PromoGram, please send it to newsdesk@asicentral.com. |
Survey:
Executives Optimistic About Growth
Leading
executives from several industries expect 2010 to be a year of job
creation and business growth, according to a recent survey conducted
by The National Association for Business Economics (NABE). About 70%
of survey respondents believe real GDP will expand by more than 2%
this year, while 24% are predicting real GDP will grow by more than
3% in 2010. The findings reinforce results of the latest Conference
Board study, which suggest economic growth is likely to continue
through the summer.
Helped by rising
labor demand, 37% of respondents plan to increase employment
over the next six months, up from 29% in January’s survey. The
net employment outlook index, which accounts for job additions
minus all cuts, jumped dramatically from 6 to 21 in the NABE
survey. In March alone, employers nationwide added 162,000 jobs,
the most in three years, according to U.S. government data. The
financial, insurance, real estate and service industries continue
to show the most positive employment scores.
With salaries
also improving, 26% of respondents reported higher pay trends,
while those showing a decline in wages dropped to just 6%.
For the third consecutive quarter, profit margins increased as
well, with just 11% of respondents reporting declines, compared
with 16% in January. The survey additionally showed businesses
are willing to invest in technology, especially computer and
communications equipment.
The NABE survey,
which includes executives from the private sector and
trade associations, was conducted from March 25 through April
10. |
Get
On Counselor’s Hot List
Are you doing something unique, hip, fun or trendy in the industry right now?
Do you know somebody who is?
Counselor is looking for nominations of people for its third annual
Hot List, which will be published in August – our Hot Issue. We're on the lookout
for anyone in the industry who is taking an interesting approach to business,
shaking up the status quo or simply networking like a maniac at all hours of
the night. We're in search of those people who are making the industry a unique
marketplace that's fun and energetic.
Send an e-mail to Karen Akers at kakers@asicentral.com explaining
in 50 words or less why your nomination should be recognized on Counselor's
Hot List in August. And, please make sure to include a picture of the person
you're nominating
|
Nominate
Your Company For The Best Places To Work Contest
For the third year in a row, Counselor is setting out to identify the
industry companies that employees simply love to work for. These are the distributors
and suppliers that have a loyal work force and that provide a work environment
which employees want to go to every morning.
Counselor will
be unveiling its second-annual Best Places To Work issue in September,
and it will undoubtedly include an elite list of industry companies.
Do you want your company to be considered? Getting involved is
easy – and it’s completely free to participate. The only necessary
qualification is that a company has at least 10 employees. To
nominate your company, or any others in the market that you think
deserve to be recognized, simply click
here. Also, there’s no risk to participating. Only
the honorees – those companies with the best scores from the
survey – will be published in Counselor.
So, don’t delay. Click
here to register your company to be considered
for one of the most exclusive lists in the ad specialty market: Counselor’s
Best Places To Work. |
Share
Your Story With Counselor Mag & Earn $100
Have you recently lost a client because he's had his budget cut, moved on to
another job or simply gone to a competitor? Share your story with Counselor magazine's
reporters and we'll have a team of experts offer you valuable strategies
you can use to regain that client's business. Plus, we'll feature you in an upcoming
issue of Counselor AND give you a $100 American Express Gift Card for
your efforts.
If you're interested,
please send an e-mail to acohen@asicentral.com and
tell us in 100 words or less how you lost a recent client (you
needn't reveal the name or company of the client) and any efforts you've
made to win him/her back. |
In The News BDA
(asi/137616) has been named the preferred premium vendor
for the NCAA, partnering to provide officially licensed co-branded
merchandise, consumer promotions and other initiatives.
Boundless Network
(asi/143717) has launched Boundless Network Europe with
the addition of regional offices and local customer support in
London, England and Cologne, Germany.
Custom Chocolate
LLC (asi/47919) has introduced a new product called
colorific chocolate bites, available in any combination of 13
colors.
Imprints Wholesale
(asi/62486) has recently added three new styles to its
Brightline collection, which features dye sublimated items with
antibacterial wicking properties.
Promoshop (asi/300446)
has announced that its subsidiary, ecopromos.com, has chosen
three organizations to receive 2009 allotted donations. The recipients
are: Heal the Bay, Cape Eleuthera Foundation and Winter Wildlands
Alliance. |
People
On The Move
Polyconcept
has promoted Michelle Armstrong to lead its product development group
in both Europe and North America, the latter of which includes suppliers
Bullet (asi/42424), Journalbooks (asi/91340) and
Leed’s (asi/66887).
|
ASI
SHOW
The
following are the dates and locations for The ASI Show
in 2010:
New York: May 4-6
Chicago: July 13-15
Plus, don't miss the ASI Advantages Roadshow, the industry's
#1 traveling show. Visit www.advantagesroadshow.com for
the complete schedule and go to www.asishow.com for
information on all ASI Shows.
|
Counselor® PromoGram® is
a trademark of the Advertising Specialty Institute. You were sent this
newsletter as a benefit of your ASI membership. Copyright 2010, ASI.
All Rights Reserved. |
If you'd like us to send Counselor PromoGram FREE to anyone else at your company (or to your off-site sales reps), go to www.asicentral.com/newsletters and complete the online form. |
Interested
in advertising in Counselor PromoGram? Send an email to ddienna@asicentral.com |
Click here to subscribe to Counselor® magazine. You must be a member of ASI to subscribe to this publication. The publisher has a right to refuse subscriptions to non-members. |
Advertising Specialty Institute®, 4800 Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053 |
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