IRVINE, Calif.—

“With this landmark partnership, I am pleased to launch ASM into the foodservice industry,” said Sonny King, ASM chairman and chief executive officer. “Advantage Waypoint allows ASM to provide our clients with unparalleled service in the foodservice industry nationwide.”

Advantage Waypoint LLC is comprised of the eight companies that currently form a working alliance under the name of Waypoint including Apex Foodservice Group, Benchmark Sales, Dougherty Brokerage Company, Food Sales West, FSI Southwest, Innovative Concept Group, Inter-Mark Sales, and Midwest Venture Partners. A ninth company independent of the current Waypoint alliance, C Mascari & Associates, will also join Advantage Waypoint LLC.

Advantage Waypoint LLC is headquartered in Tampa, Fla. and led by Bud Taylor, chief executive officer, former president of Innovative Concept Group. Advantage Waypoint LLC will have its own officers and board of directors.

“By unifying nine outstanding companies and partnering with ASM, Advantage Waypoint LLC will become the first sales and marketing company to provide national coverage for food service clients,” said Taylor. “We look forward to building upon the current success of these great companies.”

IRVINE, Calif.—Integrated Marketing Services was ranked sixth in the 2011 Promo 100, an annual list of the top 100 U.S. promotion agencies.  Promo magazine, a division of Chief Marketer Network, uses domestic net revenue to fashion its list. 

On two separate Promo 100 lists highlighting agencies with promotional marketing specialty in retail and on behalf of retailers, Integrated placed first.

“It has been a wild ride going from one of the best kept secrets in the world of promotions agencies to a blue-ribbon competitor in our space,” said Gary Wagner, president of Integrated’s Shopper Marketing Division. “As we’ve grown into a large scale agency with a comprehensive suite of retail-based services, we have not lost sight of the basic premise we set out with 11 years ago. Specifically that marrying winning creative with the ability to apply insights derived from data sources and firsthand retailer knowledge would generate the most compelling, shopper-centric programming that excites all parties involved.”

Integrated Marketing Services is Advantage Sales and Marketing’s full-service promotion agency specializing in shopper marketing, event marketing, in-store demos and custom publishing while focusing on influencing buyer behavior and driving sales.

 “We are proud to have moved up four notches from last year’s overall rankings and to top both lists of agencies specializing in retail marketing,” said Jill Griffin, President of Integrated’s Experiential Marketing Division. “Of course we owe this ascent to our client and retailer partners who have shared our vision of a better way to practice shopper marketing and one-to-one consumer interactions, as well as the associates whose passion and collaborative spirit have fueled it.   From the hallways of our California and Connecticut offices to every field office in between, to the thousands of stores in which we are engaging consumers every week – our dynamic and entrepreneurial Integrated culture is as responsible for our success as anything.”

The rankings will appear in the August/September issue of Chief Marketer magazine, which hits newsstands this week.

“The turn-out alone to the Color of Hope charity event was outstanding. We had a dramatic increase in attendance from previous years,” said Kevin Kraning, Vice President, Walmart Team. “By that measure alone, the event was a huge success and the growing support for the Arkansas Children’s Hospital is a true inspiration.”

With more than 1,200 guests including ASM’s Bentonville-based team and several ASM client partners, the Color of Hope charity event raised nearly $344,300. The Will Golf 4 Kids charity golf tournament had more than 1,000 participants and raised $460,000.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s mission is to enhance, sustain and restore health and development of children by providing cutting-edge clinical services, teaching and research. ACH is committed to working with others to achieve high quality, cost-effective, fully accessible services for Arkansas’s children, without regard to race, religion or inability to pay.

“Thank you to ASM for its participation, support and leadership in this year’s event,” , said Steve Collins, Mars Vice President, Walmart Global Sales. ”Over the many years I’ve been associated with ASM, I have always admired the company’s leadership, people and partnership. I am proud to have ASM join this worthy cause as it reflects the culture of the company and what it represents.”

Michael Adamson

Advantage Sales and Marketing appointed Michael Adamson to Vice President, Human Resources, effective June 22. Adamson reports to Chief Executive Officer Sonny King.

Adamson is responsible for overseeing talent acquisition, talent development, employee relations, rewards and recognition, benefits and corporate communications for the entire organization.

“Michael has more than 30 years of Human Resources experience with a global outsourcing company that will be an invaluable asset to our organization,” said King. “I am delighted to have such an accomplished senior HR executive with deep experience at a large outsourced services provider join the ASM team.”

Prior to joining ASM, Adamson served as Account HR Lead at Accenture—a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. He led and managed HR strategy, operations, recruitment, performance management, employee engagement, analytics and communication for more than 4,000 employees across 10 countries for one of Accenture’s largest clients.

Adamson also previously served as HR Infrastructure Senior Director where he led all aspects of HR Shared Services including strategy, operations, talent management, technology and management.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to build upon the successes of ASM’s HR team and look forward to working with ASM’s entire associate base,” said Adamson.

Adamson holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Arizona.

“Shooting straight to the top ten of the Promo 100 the very first year we applied for consideration is an incredible accomplishment for the entire Integrated Marketing Services organization,” said Tanya Domier, President.  “The decision for four business units to go to market as one formidable Integrated Marketing Services agency is already paying dividends and helping deliver the industry recognition we have earned over the past decade.”

Integrated Marketing Services is Advantage Sales and Marketing’s full-service promotion agency specializing in shopper marketing, field events, in-store demos and custom publishing.

» Click here to view the magazine article highlighting the 2010 rankings. (PDF format)

“NEW has more than 2,500 members who represent more than 400 companies nationwide,” said Stephanie McFee, NEW Client Services Director. “Our organization strives to attract and advance women in the CPG and retail industries by providing them with education, mentoring, leadership and business development. We educate industry leaders about the benefits of gender diversity and directly support the career development of our members.”

NEW promotes gender diversity, career development and networking online and face-to face at national leadership conferences, educational workshops, and regional networking events in more than 15 American cities.

“In today’s workforce, women and minorities are the majority. NEW’s perpetual focus on the full spectrum of diversity management issues and the resources they provide are invaluable,” said Pamela James, Vice President, Human Resources. “We look forward to gaining deeper insights and best practices for supporting and advancing our diverse workforce as we enter our second year as a NEW sponsor and beyond.”

Workin’ the Network

NEW allows members to increase their professional networks by encouraging participation in regional committees, providing opportunities to attend national events and offering online communities and resources.

Timme Taylor, Business Development Manager on ASM’s Safeway team, has been involved with NEW for four years.

“It’s been an incredible organization to be associated with,” said Taylor. “The networking possibilities with other CPG colleagues and retailers are priceless.”

Timme has served on several NEW committees but is currently working on the Monthly Mixer Committee which plans events sponsored by the Regional Committees. These monthly get-togethers promote networking and strengthen relationships with the committee member’s professional circle.

“The event is open to NEW members and their friends who would like to connect with other professionals in the region,” Taylor explained. “There is no agenda— just networking, networking, networking. It’s great to have the ability to get to know other industry professionals who I otherwise probably would not have had the opportunity to meet.”

ASM’s Sponsorship

“ASM’s NEW sponsorship sends a resounding message to clients, customers and the CPG and retail industry,” said McFee. “Through our partnership, ASM is better able to expand and strengthen its business relationships and at the same time advance the leadership development of your members.”

Leadership Advantage Award Winners 2009

ASM honored eight associates for outstanding leadership at its second annual Leadership Advantage Awards ceremony held in February at the company’s Executive Leadership Forum in Newport Beach, Calif.

The Leadership Advantage Award is ASM’s most prestigious associate award. One award winner is selected from each business unit who demonstrates tremendous leadership and has had a great impact on key client or customer relationships. The recipient stands out among peers, inspires others and has achieved a significant accomplishment above and beyond his or her normal work responsibilities in the past year. Business leaders submit written nominations for the award and recipients are selected by a panel of senior leaders.

2009 Leadership Advantage Award Winners

Here’s an excerpt from the post:

“One company that’s taking this slow build approach with enterprise social networking is Advantage Sales & Marketing (ASM), a premier sales and marketing agency based in Irvine, Calif.  ASM’s Talent Development team has been piloting our social networking platform, Cornerstone Connect, to foster informal learning as part of its new ACES (Accelerated Career Excellence in Sales) sales and leadership development program.

ASM uses Cornerstone’s comprehensive software suite — including platforms for learning management, employee performance management, succession planning and compensation — to develop and manage its 20,000 employees.  The Talent Development team decided to pilot Connect for the ACES program when they realized that limitations with SharePoint wouldn’t allow them to be as strategic in fostering informal learning.”

» Click here to access the full blog post.

“My vision was to find ways to enhance our customer communication to facilitate effective meetings in real-time with today’s videoconferencing capability,” says Lewie Wake, ASM’s top tech expert.

Always ahead of the communication technology curve, Advantage Sales and Marketing is in the business of helping customers find top solutions to save time and money to help them do their business better.

ASM’s customer-focused videoconferencing initiative grew from Wake’s vision and the first phase wrapped up this month. The ASM Video Conference (AVC) solution will eventually extend communication conferences to individuals at their desktops and in remote locations. The project has been in the works for more than six months with completion slated for the end of this year.

Virtual face-to-face with AVC
In today’s challenging economic business climate where transportation and lodging costs are soaring, combined with ASM’s corporate responsibility of adding more “green” strategies to its business operations, AVC’s communication method effectively helps build relationships with all the elements of communication– voice, facial expressions and body language.

AVC provides instant access to ASM associates at up to 18 “hub” Advantage offices with the help of a video “concierge.” AVC has all the communication and relationship-building benefits of an in-person meeting without the costs and disruption associated with traveling.

“Our user-friendly AVC solution allows the user to view the faces of those speaking in video conferences,” explains Wake. “Participants can also share documents and materials with ease with this system.”

About ASM’s AVC
The AVC communication solution, created by Advantage Sales and Marketing, provides greater service excellence to our clients and customers by increasing our collaborative efforts while reducing our carbon footprint and the costs associated with travel. If you would like to learn more about our video conferencing capabilities, we invite you to stop by one of our 18 ASM hub locations or contact ASM Chief Technology Officer Lewie Wake at lewie.wake@asmnet.com.

About Advantage Sales and Marketing, LLC
Advantage Sales and Marketing (ASM) is a premier consumer packaged goods sales and marketing agency, committed to building brand value for our clients and customers. ASM’s cradle-to-cart—post-manufacture to consumption—customized sales and marketing solutions include headquarter sales, retail merchandising and marketing services, specializing in client and customer events, publications and assisted-selling services for the grocery, drugstore, club, convenience, natural/specialty, consumer electronic and home center industries. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., ASM has 66 offices in the United States and Canada. Visit www.asmnet.com today.