Over the past decade or two, it has become increasingly common for marketing organizations to outsource the bulk of their writing, design, and fulfillment services to outside vendors.

From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense. It’s typically more cost-effective to bring in outside help only when needed rather than hire—and pay for—full-time staff. It’s largely a transactional relationship that lasts only as long as the project in question, and it works well for both sides.

Managing those relationships so that they continue to benefit both sides, however, requires some work. It’s natural to grow comfortable with the vendors you’ve carefully groomed over the years, steeping them in your corporate culture. They know you; you trust them. It’s comfortable. It’s…easy.

That’s when it’s time to take a close and critical look at the relationship.

Since ChatGPT was publicly launched in late 2022, businesses across all industries have employed the site and other AI-driven tools to assist in everything from content creation to data analysis, decision making, workflow automation, even legal compliance.

The latest trend is to use AI to help them understand spreadsheet-based reports. ChatGPT for Excel, a powerful AI-powered add-on for the Microsoft Excel application, leverages OpenAI's ChatGPT to automate tasks, extract insights, and streamline data management with features like AI-powered tables, data translation, and formula generation.

Event season is heating up. That means companies will be looking for shippers to help them get their materials to venues around the country.

There are many vendors to choose from. It’s a highly competitive field, and shippers will be negotiating aggressively and making lots of promises to get the business. That is the time to be highly skeptical and to do the necessary research before signing a contract or even making a handshake agreement.

Everyone knows that if an offer seems to be too good to be true, it usually is. Making an ill-advised decision has significant consequences, and making a bad decision about a shipper when your event is on the line could be disastrous.

Three years after the global peak of COVID 19 cases, and two years after it was declared “over” by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Government, the pandemic is still casting a shadow over the corporate world.

The post-COVID resurgence of in-person events has had a spillover effect on the branded promotional merchandise industry. Companies need giveaways to spread the brand, leading to increasing orders for branded promotional items ranging from apparel and office supplies to drinkware, electronics, and scores of other tools.

Unfortunately, the recent implementation of tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China—the primary suppliers of many promotional products—are expected to have a profound impact on the promotional merchandise industry. There have been hints that higher tariffs may be coming for select goods from Europe as well. Although there is a certain amount of gamesmanship and negotiating going on, causing delays in the implementation, it’s a virtual certainty that changes are afoot.