This year, a small group of industry leaders, promotional marketing experts and internationally acclaimed promo specialists have come together to form the judging panel of the 2023 APPA Awards for Promotional Products Marketing Excellence:
Amanda Clay, Walker Clay (USA)
Amanda is the President of Sales for promotional products distributor Walker-Clay in the USA and a fourth-generation salesperson with over 20 years’ experience in the promotional products industry. Amanda has been awarded the New England Promotional Products Sales Person of the year (2019 - 2021) and won a Silver PPAI Pyramid Award (Marketing Programs) in 2020.
Andrew Bloom, APPA Life Member (AU)
Andrew established ASB Marketing in Perth in 1992 and recently sold the business in 2020. ASB Marketing have been APPA members for over 25 years and have been accredited with ten APPA Awards. Andrew is an APPA Life Member and served on the APPA Board for five years of which three of these were as President.
Angela Wagstaff, Allwag Promotions (UK)
Angela has been the chair of the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) for the past three challenging years and is set to take on the President role for the next two years. As Director of her own successful distributor business, Angela enjoys liaising with both the supply chain and end-user clients to create sustainable solutions that provide a generous return on investment.
Helen Brennan, Brand Addition (UK)
Helen is a European Purchasing Manager based in Manchester, England and has been employed at Brand Addition for 20 years. Brand Addition are a global provider of creative merchandise solutions with offices in the UK, USA, Ireland, Germany and China. While managing the UK and EU Supply Chain, Helen is also a Board Director at the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) where she supports educational development and contributes to all sustainability initiatives.
Jamie Marshall, Premier Print & Promotions (UK)
Patriotic Brit Jamie Marshall founded Premier Print & Promotions over 30 years ago. Premier has since grown to a multi-million pound, highly respected, award-winning promotional merchandise distributor serving both the UK and Europe. Premier are chosen suppliers to some of the world’s best known brands including Aston Martin, Manchester United FC, Snapchat and Sony. Jamie has also recently joined the board of the British Merchandise Association.
Louise Michaud, Geiger (USA)
Louise Michaud is an events specialist who works at world-renowned Geiger as a member of their leadership team. Geiger, one of the most recognisable brands in the world of promo, is the largest privately-owned distributor of promotional products anywhere in the world and employs more than 750 staff members (300 associates and 450 sales consultants).
Maria De Conno, Fig Tree Digital & Australian Marketing Institute (AU)
Maria, the founder and managing director of Fig Tree Digital, has more than 20 years’ experience in strategic marketing. As a marketer working within and alongside industries including banking, finance, not-for-profit, retails and more, Maria has grown her business to a full marketing creative and digital agency servicing organisations around Australia. Maria is Board Member and Deputy Chair of Australian Marketing Institute (AMI).
Simon Tebbutt, Lock Stock Marketing (AU)
Simon is the founder of Lock Stock Marketing, providing both a full creative capability along with a specialist retail consultancy that serves to bring brands and retailers together. Simon has an expansive and experienced marketing background- from client to agency, United Kingdom to Australia, retail to financial services and FMCG, to now leading the Shopper Marketing discipline. A move to Australia in 2004 saw Simon tackle all marketing disciplines – advertising, digital, in-store and catalogue – at Publicis Mojo, BMF and finally at M&C Saatchi.
Submissions to the 2023 APPA Awards are currently being assessed by the aforementioned panel of judges. Finalists will be notified late July and winners will be announced on August 31 as part of the APPA Awards Gala Dinner.
