Think of it as Pinterest for promo, said Ben Pawsey.

The vice president of marketing at HPG (asi/61966) is describing a new digital marketing tool, Storyboard+, that the Top 40 supplier has launched to support its distributor customers’ efforts to sell more merch that end-clients will love.

Ben Pawsey, HPG

Powered by patent-pending technology that HPG developed in-house, Storyboard+ empowers users to upload a logo and see it virtually decorated – in an instant – onto an array of desired products, which are featured in attractive images on a digital storyboard. Distributors can then share these cloud-based storyboards with clients to help them see clearly what their logo will look like on everything from drinkware and bags to writing instruments, yoga mats and much beyond.

“The goal of the tool is to save distributors time and increase their conversion rate,” explained Pawsey. “If every product in every client pitch has the client’s logo on it, it’s easier for them to say ‘Yes’ immediately, rather than have the virtual be the follow-up afterward. We all know how important response time is in this business and these tools are designed to empower distributors to be faster than ever.”

Pawsey noted that Storyboard+ is completely automated and available for distributors (and multi-line reps) to use 24/7. He noted that HPG debuted a beta version in January, took feedback, and has been busily building out features and offerings – work that’s ongoing. “Our primary focus now is on adding more products to the tool,” Pawsey said. “There are 400 on there now and we want to get well past 1,000 by the summer.”

This example of how a storyboard can look features the ASI Show Chicago branding on a range of products. Distributors can create similar boards for their clients using HPG’s Storyboard+.

According to Pawsey, a key differentiator for Storyboard+ is the realistic rendering of logos it delivers on product images.

“We’re not simply dropping a PNG on a blank product image,” he said. Rather, Storyboard+’s tech “analyzes and then manipulates the logo, colors and textures, identifies the primary color in the logo, and matches it to the nearest product color we have. There are also hundreds of stock art examples to scroll through, custom to each product.” 

Additionally, Pawsey noted, HPG has added data layers to the tool, so if distributors want to render the storyboards with or without SKU/price/MOQ they can choose to toggle those details on or off. 

Storyboard+ was something of an outgrowth of HPG’s Catalog+. Launched the prior year, Catalog+ allows users to upload a logo in any file format and see it rendered onto every product on every page of every HPG catalog in minutes, Pawsey explained.

“Distributors and multi-line reps ran over 150,000 catalogs through the tool in 2021,” Pawsey said. “We generally had an overwhelmingly positive response from distributors. So, the question became: ‘What’s next?’”

Storyboard+ was the answer. Adoption has been swift among distributors, Pawsey asserted. “We currently have about 500 users per week,” he said.

Based on reported 2020 North American promo product revenue of $169.8 million, HPG ranked 10^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the 40 largest suppliers in the industry.