Marking its entry into a new product category, Counselor Top 40 supplier Logomark (asi/67866) has announced the launch of MyLogomark Marketing Hub, a software program that allows distributors the ability to create custom catalogs, marketing materials and custom packaging options. The supplier, a traditional hard goods company, announced its intention to enter the printing and packaging category at an event it hosted in June in Newport Beach, CA.

Trevor Gnesin, CEO of Logomark, said his company is launching this new product and service as a way to help the ad specialty industry compete even more effectively with other advertising mediums. “This technology platform will change the way brand managers view promotional products, placing them at the absolute forefront of effective advertising campaigns rather than an afterthought for allocating remaining marketing dollars,” said Gnesin.

Distributors in attendance at the launch event were intrigued by the new offering. “Logomark has shown great initiative and foresight in developing the new technology that will provide distributors with a fully integrated platform for the design and production of custom packaging and other collateral materials,” said Larry Cohen, CEO of Top 40 distributor Axis Promotions (asi/128263). “While we have always had the ability to make custom packaging, it has usually required using a third-party manufacturer and the cost was usually high, especially for low quantity items.”

Logomark said it made a “huge financial investment” and spent two years to develop this new offering. Ultimately, it’s a technology product that provides distributors with the ability to create printed materials and custom packaging for every item in Logomark’s product line.

“Although the notion of using custom packaging to enhance the deliverable of the products we sell is not new, it has traditionally been an expensive and dysfunctional process, making it difficult to achieve,” said Mike Emoff, CEO of distributor firm Shumsky (asi/326300). “What Logomark is launching is a bold move within an industry where the distributor sales teams are relatively slow to change. It will be interesting to see how many distributors embrace this and how soon other suppliers follow suit.”

Logomark’s entry in to the printing and packaging space will be rolled out gradually between now and next year. It will be beta tested between August and December 2014, and the company is expected to widely launch the program in early 2015.