Gemline has a long history of being one of the promotional products industry’s premier suppliers. Gemline has always been at the forefront of trends, and they were one of the first companies to move away from big book-style catalogs. 

Saadia Bryant, Gemline’s VP of Marketing, Product & Design, walked us through Gemline’s marketing philosophies and how they’re evolving from print to digital marketing materials. We’ve called out three key insights from our talk below.

You can also check out the Going Digital video interview series and route through all of the tools in Gemline’s digital toolbox.

Insight 1: Tools to Help You Sell

From your website to emails, to your digital catalogs and flyers, every piece of marketing content you create should make it easier for you to do your job. Your digital tools should empower your sales team and your customers and help you sell products. 

As Saadia explains, suppliers should find ways to enrich their website with marketing and sales tools like catalogs, flyers, and other helpful assets. Distributors can then take advantage of those assets by incorporating them into their own initiatives. 

“We look at our website as our hub of activity,” Saadia said. “You can either download tools or customize tools for your use that will make it easier for the distributor to do business with their customer.”

Insight 2: Focus on Lookbooks and Niche Catalogs

Gemline led the pack when it came to marketing beyond full-line catalogs, and now they focus on lookbooks and niche catalogs. Smaller catalogs with specific purposes offer a strategic sales advantage. Gemline uses them to target audiences who will be motivated and inspired by the product selection.

In addition to providing lookbooks and niche catalogs, Gemline is committed to providing customized materials to customers. The customization tools on their website allow distributors to add their own branding to Gemline’s catalogs and flyers. Distributors can even build their own materials using Gemline’s entire product line.

“Our internal team uses the tools to help them customize the materials they need for their distributors…The digital aspect of it allows for our sales reps to create marketing pieces to help fulfill those needs.”

Create a niche catalog action plan with these tips.

Insight 3: Interactive Campaigns for the Win

Gemline puts their catalogs to work by making them interactive. They combine high-quality lifestyle images with video and external links to their website to create a seamless sales experience. One moment, you’re flipping through their Spring 2021 Lookbook, the next you’re watching a video of their products in a real-world setting, and then you’re clicking “add to cart.” 

Find more great outstanding examples of interactive campaigns.

Follow Gemline’s and other leading suppliers’ digital evolutions in our Going Digital interview series. You’ll find full interviews, insights, examples, and all the resources you need to complete your own digital transformation. And stay tuned for our upcoming deep dives into Logomark and alphabroder’s journeys.