ASI Reports Strong Momentum for ESP Web and ESP Orders

Over 400 indicate immediate interest for revolutionary new service

TREVOSE, PA – January 25, 2010 – The Advertising Specialty Institute reported today that momentum is strong and growing for its all-new ESP Web and ESP Orders.

More than 400 attendees at ASI’s first trade show of the year in Orlando participated in ESP sessions during education day and inside the ASI booth on exhibit days, including 250 who registered for the upcoming service before the end of the show.  For a sneak-peek video of the revolutionary new ESP Web and ESP Orders, click here.

In development for almost a year, the new ESP Web runs on standard Internet browsers – including Explorer, Firefox and Apple’s Safari – for instant access anytime to products, supplier data, ESP Orders and customer information.  

ESP Orders is a total order management system, available with ESP Web, that allows distributors to create sales orders, purchase orders and invoices electronically and without rekeying any data.  All order information is replicated automatically, dramatically improving efficiency and providing more time for selling.

“The product is awesome,” said Philip Myers, owner of Myers Printing (asi/278937).  “We’re a Mac-based company and are really excited to be able to run ESP Orders and ESP Web without any additional software.”

“We are looking forward to implementing ESP Web and ESP Orders at our company,” said Barry Steinberg, president of The PromoTouch (asi/301441).  “Integration of these programs with our current financial system will significantly enhance our service levels and streamline our order processing.”  ESP Web integrates with ASI’s Profitmaker and QuickBooks.

“Being new to the ad specialty marketplace again – I was last in it from 1991 to 1997 – I plan to sit at the feet of the masters constantly and learn new success paths each day,” said Lee Van Kirk, founder and CEO of Van Kirk & Associates (asi/350981).  “Especially here with the new ESP.”

Demonstrations of ESP Web and ESP Orders are planned for all ASI Shows, including ASI Dallas (Monday, February 1, through Wednesday, February 3) and ASI San Diego (Wednesday, February 24, through Friday, February 26), in the training room at the ASI booth and in select “power session” rooms. 

“We listen to what our members need and we’re delivering, and we’re delighted with the positive early responses,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI.   “Taking ESP to a revolutionary new level of performance makes distributors and suppliers more profitable, more mobile and more efficient than ever before.”
  
ESP is the industry’s leading sourcing and marketing program, with 2.5 million promotional product searches conducted in a typical month.  Over 32,000 distributors use ESP today to access nearly every product in the industry from 3,500 qualified suppliers, and to market their products to end-buyers.

There are no additional costs to current ESP Online users who upgrade to ESP Web, and special pricing is available for ESP Orders.  ESP Web will begin rolling out to all ESP users at the end of March. 

To learn more about ESP Web and ESP Orders, visit espweb.asicentral.com.  Users of ESP for Macs (previously announced), can visit espmac.asicentral.com.  For more information and to be among the first to receive ESP Orders, contact Dan O’Halloran, executive vice president, distributor services, at [email protected].

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute is the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, with a membership of over 26,000 distributor firms (sellers) and supplier firms (manufacturers) of advertising specialties.  Supplier firms use ASI print and electronic resources to market products to over 22,000 ASI distributor firms.  Distributor firms use ASI print and electronic resources, which contain nearly every product in the industry from more than 3,500 reputable suppliers, to locate supplier firms and to market services to buyers.  ASI provides catalogs, information directories, newsletters, magazines, websites and databases, and offers e-commerce, marketing and selling tools.  Visit ASI online at asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, the CEO’s blog and the ASI Social Network.