Partner Pivot: serving clients from branded mugs to PPE
In November, we celebrated some outstanding partners that Grae’s teams have worked with over the years. As we all know, 2020 asked the events industry to reinvent itself. This Feburary we are taking it a step further and sharing how our partners have evolved in response to these challenges - in their own words.
Caden Concepts was founded more than two decades ago and exists as a full-service promotional products company. The organization serves as a resource for branded merchandise to companies across the country, providing innovative solutions and quality products.. and just like Grae, they are woman owned!
Below the Caden Concepts team shares more on their products and pivots in 2020, and what they are most excited for in the year to come.
Q: Let's go way back to 2019 and early 2020.. in your words, what was Caden Concepts up to then?
A: In 2019 and early 2020 Caden Concepts was working alongside our clients and partners to help enhance brand identity through high-caliber branded merchandise.
Q: How did that evolve in 2020?
A: In early 2020 we began watching the news. We anticipated that PPE would become scarce in the coming months and began to shift our sourcing expertise to sourcing PPE. We have donated PPE to over 50K OB offices and facilities in need. We are still selling and donating PPE to those who need it. What we thought would be a quick shift of business practices became a year-long venture!
Q: What was Caden Concepts' thorn and rose of 2020?
A: The pandemic definitely shook the world last year, but we have chosen to look at it in a different light. We saw tremendous growth in 2020 and it had a lot to do with the enhanced access the pandemic had granted us. We were able to hire new talent from around the country we may not have been able to hire previously.
Q: What do you hope the future holds?
A: We hope to continue to build upon the relationships we have created over the course of the pandemic and our venture into the PPE world. We have resumed our previous business customizing branded merchandise for our previous clients and for new clients as well. Now, we just wait until we have the opportunity to meet our clients and partners face-to-face once more!
Q: What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
A: The events of 2020 showed us that with the right technology, we can do business quickly and efficiently. We spent a lot of time in 2019 and previous years traveling to our clients, taking meetings across the country. While we love to meet with our clients and partners, we know that we can continue to grow our business for the remainder of the pandemic through the use of technology and we look forward to taking these learnings beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Whether you’re looking to make sure your safety measures are up to snuff as you return to in-person events or you need to send branded swag to attendees homes, drop us a line to see what we can create in partnership with Caden Concepts.