Marketing & PR Committee
Promotes the industry to customers and prospects; guides members in growing their companies’ revenues; creates resources including research, training, sales aids, media campaigns and articles for TRSA’s magazine, newsletter and website; proposes marketing strategies for TRSA products and services.
Click Here To Preview Agenda for March 27, 2012 Meeting
Current Projects
Certification Programs
The committee provides marketing strategy for the Clean Green and Hygienically Clean certifications, which textile services companies earn by documenting their pro-environment business practices and proving their clean laundry does not contribute to spreading bacteria. Under review are proposed advertising and publicity campaigns that will build awareness of the certifications and the industry in the hotel/lodging, restaurant/F&B, healthcare and food manufacturing sectors.
Promoting Reusables vs. Disposables
As the industry describes its “green” virtues to customers and the public, the committee is documenting the steadily lessening environmental impact of textile services operations per pound of laundry and promoting these gains. Research is assessing the consumption of natural resources of the manufacturing, use and disposal of reusable products such as garments, napkins and towels compared with the same impacts of disposable counterparts. Results of these studies will be provided to trade media serving the industry’s customer base, among other audiences.
Involvement with Other Associations
TRSA is a member of the Association for the Healthcare Environment, National Restaurant Association and American Hotel & Lodging Association, reflecting members’ interest in growing their revenues in these markets. The committee is using these membership connections as market intelligence to shape the industry’s promotional messages to these sectors, identifying key attributes of professional textile services that appeal to their specific needs and examining each one’s changing requirements for products, cleanliness, timeliness and cost-effective service.
Sales Aids
Resources are provided to members to help them explain the industry’s best practices for serving industrial, hospitality and healthcare markets. Top priority is building awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of shop towels, a steady target of disposables marketers’ advertising and publicity. Members are advised via TRSA periodicals (Textile Services magazine, TS Weekly e-news, www.trsa.org) about how to improve their sales and service techniques and given tools for outreach to customers (such as industry generic brochures).
Training Resources
Operator members’ interest in TRSA as a source of these resources is gauged and Associates (industry suppliers) are surveyed to determine their interest in contributing their expertise to new seminars, webinars and manuals. Committee members are involved individually in gathering data and managing production of resources for training industry sales and service professionals. The research on operator and Associate interests is shared with other TRSA leaders to guide development of such resources for industry professionals in other fields, i.e., general management, plant operations, fleet, etc.
Attracting Consumer Media
A new undertaking for the committee involves determining what benefits members would derive from a limited or extensive campaign to get publicity in mainstream broadcast or print media. What should we promote? Do we advertise? Campaigns could use consumer channels to reach business decision-makers such as industrial members’ longstanding efforts to sponsor auto racing to improve sales to the automotive market.
Members
Alan Maness (Chair), Milliken & Co., Spartanburg, SC
Internal (Marketing) Subcommittee
Graham Emery, West Sanitation Services Inc., Torrance, CA
Karen Harrington, GOJO Industries, Inc., Foley, AL
Barbara Herman, SanMar Corp., Grand Terrace, CA
Dan McCoy, Darman Manufacturing Co. Inc., Utica, NY
Kevin Stewart, VF Imagewear, Inc., Nashville, TN
Rod Stutler, Gurtler Industries Inc., South Holland, IL
David Watterson, Mountville Mills Inc., Logansport, IN
External (PR) Subcommittee
Scott Swiess (Chair), Iron City Uniform Rental, Pittsburgh, PA
Melanie Boyle, Cintas Corp., Mason, OH
Carter Bray, Ecolab Textile Care Div., Saint Paul, MN
Mike Carter, Century Place Inc., Charlotte, NC
John Walroth, Washing Systems, Cincinnati, OH
Clean Green Task Force (with members of Environmental Affairs Committee)
Mark Lewis (Chair), Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply Inc., Jessup, PA
Steve Kallenbach, American Dawn Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Jerry Martin, Prudential Overall Supply, Irvine, CA
Donald Mathews, Alsco Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
To Be Assigned
Rob Cline, Big Sky Linen & Uniform, Billings, MT
Steve Florence, Starr Textile Services, Foley, AL
Justin Shamion, Colmac Industries Inc., Colville, WA
Bill Terrell, Pinnacle Textile, King Of Prussia, PA
Staff Liaison
Ken Koepper
kkoepper@trsa.org
877-770-9274 or 703-519-0029, ext. 109
