media release

Date: October 6, 2016
Contact: Liz Novak, Director of Marketing and Communications, +913.345.1005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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IAPD Announces Marketing Excellence Award Recipients

Overland Park, KS — The International Association of Plastics Distribution (IAPD) is pleased to announce the following recipients of its annual Marketing Excellence Award:
Gold — Redwood Plastics Corporation
Silver — Cope Plastics, Inc.
Bronze — Asahi/America, Inc.
The recipients were honored at the opening general session at the 60th Annual IAPD Convention today in Phoenix, AZ, USA, by IAPD President Kevin Short and IAPD Vice President Mitch Opalich. ​

Redwood Plastics Corporation engaged in numerous activities that helped promote plastics as well as the company’s own expertise via various platforms. Many Redwood employees are ambassadors for the brand on social media and online. They share and write content in support of the company and its campaigns throughout the year. Redwood Plastics Corporation engaged in two successful campaigns this year: a materials campaign titled “Take the Guesswork Out of Switching to Plastics” and a first responders campaign titled “When Seconds Matter, Wood Doesn’t Hold Up.” The company promotes the benefits of performance plastics through lunch-and-learn presentations, on blogs, via their website, through articles and on social media. A key part of the company’s message is to promote the environmental benefits in addition to the other benefits of switching to performance plastics from other materials. Redwood Plastics Corporation’s newest product offering is 100 percent recyclable. ​

Cope Plastics, Inc. actively promotes performance plastics, its business, its environmental achievements and IAPD. In October 2015, the company launched an online store for selling remnants of stock shapes created from their manufacturing processes, plus it launched its first finished part for sale, Water Jet Bricks. Cope Plastics, Inc. engages in comprehensive integrated marketing campaigns that include video messaging, social media, articles in trade publications and direct mail. They also offer plastics engineering seminars, in which representatives from the company teach engineering departments the mechanical materials along with proven applications that work in their industries. Cope Plastics, Inc. also has a robust recycling program that increases its scope year after year. ​

Asahi/America, Inc. actively promotes its products and corporate news via press releases to media, posting on social media and through in-person events. Its employees promote the benefits of performance plastics via magazine articles and social media marketing. Representatives from the company promote the benefits of performance plastics throughout the year at trade shows and annual and regional water conferences across a wide range of industries: aquarium, water/wastewater, landfill, semiconductor, mining, oil and gas, pharmacy, railroad and food and beverage.

“IAPD is proud to honor the accomplishments of these three companies with the IAPD Marketing Excellence Award. Everything these companies do evangelizes plastics, which goes hand-in-hand with IAPD’s mission to grow the performance plastics industry,” said Susan Avery, CAE, IAPD Chief Executive Officer. “This award shows companies of all sizes that they don’t need a huge budget and a sophisticated marketing agency to promote themselves. I hope this award program helps all IAPD members investigate all the low and no-cost promotional opportunities available to them via their IAPD membership.”

Awards are based on a point system. Companies accrued points by engaging in various marketing activities during the eligibility period of August 1, 2015 – July 15, 2016. Point values varied based on the relative ease or difficulty of the activity. For example, companies could earn points for issuing press releases, writing articles for IAPD or other industry publications, blogging, having a social media presence, presenting IAPD e-training webinars and including IAPD logos in their email signatures and/or on their websites. Although points were awarded for activities that require monetary investment, such as sponsoring events and exhibiting at trade shows, the award criteria was created with all companies in mind and includes numerous low or no cost ideas for IAPD member companies to promote themselves.

Any IAPD member company is eligible to apply for the IAPD Marketing Excellence Awards.

About IAPD

The International Association of Plastics Distribution (IAPD) is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2016. Established in 1956, IAPD brings together distributors, fabricators, manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, recyclers and service providers in an environment which encourages a free flow of ideas and information that help members build their businesses. Every program and service we provide is designed with the simple goal of helping our members increase profitability. Membership in IAPD is an affordable business investment. IAPD provides training, connections with customers and suppliers and information about developments that impact the industry. What makes IAPD unique is a commitment to educating customers and other key end-users about plastics. In other words, IAPD works with members to build the demand for plastics. Central to this effort is the reinforcement of the value of distribution. For more information, visit www.iapd.org.
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This release and more are available in IAPD’s Press Room.

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