Brand-ecdotes: Bill Petrie

 Welcome to a super awesome new blog post series for Hasseman Marketing called:“Brand-ecdotes!” Each week we will talk to a branding all star about what make the Promotional Product advertising media so special!   This week we talk with Bill Petrie.  Bill (as you can see from the picture above) is a Branding Rock Star.  He is a veteran of the Promo industry and is currently the President of PromoCorner.  1.  What is your all time favorite Promotional Product and why?I’d have to say it’s “Van Halen-ized” Aurabox 2.0 from Origaudio. I travel quite a bit and bring a Bluetooth speaker with me everywhere I go. Outside of my family and work, music is my passion and by bringing the music with me, I can mentally transport anywhere. Plus, it’s got WAY cool Van Halen stripes. 2.  Can you name a Promo Product that you have that STILL reminds you fondly of an event, person, organization?  If so, can you tell us that story?I remember back in 2014 when I started brandivate – it was a time filled with both excitement and anxiety. The strangest thing about beginning my own business is that it didn’t feel real…until I received the first promotional product with the brandivate logo on it: a padfolio from Hit. Immediately, brandivate felt real, tangible, and concrete – and that’s the real power of promotional products: the ability to turn ideas into reality. Even though I sold the company to PromoCorner in 2017, I still keep that padfolio as it reminds me of the power of my own dreams. 3.  What is the current product you use all the time? Call me old school, but I still hand-write notes in meetings. As such, I’m a sucker for a great writing instrument such as this one from Goldstar. I’m picky when it comes to pens and always gravitate towards the ones that write really well. This one, writes REALLY well. Plus, it’s powered by pumpkin spice so you know you can’t go wrong. 4.  What is an idea/product that you think organizations UNDER use?In a mobile society, people live on their phones. As such, the best branding opportunity – the one that will kept, used, and remembered – is a high-quality power bank. While I’m partial to the TenFour from Origaudio, there are a number high quality power banks that will keep portable technology powered so you can share that picture with a distant friend, post a live video from a wedding a loved-one couldn’t attend, or simply just finish that game. 5.  What do you think is the best thing about Promotional Products as an advertising media?Promotional products (which I think is an outdated term, by the way) is really tangible, experiential marketing. The logoed backpack you take with you everywhere, the writing instrument you can’t bear to lose, the speaker that keeps you sane on the road, or that padfolio that instantly takes you back to when you started your business – all of those things make marketing tangible in ways more traditional forms of advertising simply can’t.

And…that’s the another edition of Brand-ecdotes!  Thanks to Bill Petrie for taking the time to jump in on this brand new project!  

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