Case Studies
We have developed trusted relationships with our customers and they know who to call when their corporation has promotional product needs, especially if they are urgent and unusual. Who do they call? GGI!!
It always starts as a regular day at GGI WorldWide and then the call comes in. It could be at 8:00 am or 4:54 pm. We have a staff experienced in sourcing and the factory relationships to develop, source and deliver what our customers need in the time frames that their promotions require. "On time and on budget" is our company motto.
GGI is also experienced enough to know that not everything goes as planned. Production issues, strikes, customs problems and other unforeseen issues can arise. If this does happen, GGI has a solution to offer our customer before they even know that there is a production or delivery issue. GGI has been in business for 15 years and we know its not how many orders you can deliver without a "hiccup." It's the creative solution you implement when the occasional problem does arise. Our operations department is in constant communication with the factory while your order is in production. They follow the time frame from artwork to delivery tracking numbers to insure your 100% satisfaction.
Following are some examples of GGI's creative solutions to our customers needs:
Case Study #1 Press Conference Rush Delivery
GGI received an urgent request from our customer. It was late in the afternoon on a Wednesday; the CEO was having a press conference the following Wednesday at 10 am, announcing the naming rights of our newly commissioned baseball stadium. The request was for 3000 logo'd baseballs for all attendees at the event. The next morning we provided confirmation and pricing for delivery of the baseballs the following Tuesday, requiring artwork and placement of the order that day. We received the order; however, the artwork was changed from a one color to multi color logo. This now required one additional day of production and the order would not be completed and ready for pickup until Tuesday at 5 pm. Now the problem was logistics. Who do we select to pick up the order at 5 pm in Minneapolis and have it delivered to St. Louis the following morning before 10 am? GGI felt 100% confident of one option: GGI employees would fly up to Minneapolis and rent an UHaul and drive the baseballs straight back to St. Louis overnight. Another option was to see if our customer might have any trucks in the area that were available to pick up this shipment and drive it straight back to St. Louis. Yes, they did! One truck and 2 drivers later GGI received a phone call at 7:30 am reporting that the truck just pulled into the corporate headquarters. Since there were only two companies totally committed to making sure these baseballs were delivered for the CEO's press conference on time, we felt we only had 2 guaranteed delivery options-either GGI employees or our customer's drivers. And in this case, our customer's drivers came through with flying colors. Another successful rush order.
Case Study #2 To South America and Back - A Day Trip
We developed a custom swimsuit for our customer and after many changes by the customer the final sample was in production. Then we received an urgent phone call that this item had been selected for the front cover of the catalog. A model would be wearing the suit on a beach in Malibu, California, and they needed the swimsuit by the end of the week. The final all over printing of the swimsuit and stitching was just being completed and there was no possible way that FedEx or any other international carrier would be able to even guarantee pickup, much less delivery, by the end of the week. GGI found an economical flight to Columbia, South America, and flew the sales rep (always have your passport ready) to the factory to pick up the swimsuit sample and bring the suit back into the states. The swimsuit made the photo shoot and was front and center on a beautiful California beach.
Case Study #3 "You Guys Rock!"
GGI often helps our clients promote new products and one day we received an urgent request for a new product roll out. "We need item ideas and the only clue I can give you is "Watermelon." This was quickly followed with; "The CEO is involved in the selection, I need to present this by 9:00 am tomorrow and I have to leave to go to my son's baseball game, so call my cell if you have any questions." Our team worked tirelessly on this presentation and had it ready by 10:00 pm. We then called a courier service and had the presentation and samples delivered to our requestor's home by 11:00 pm. The next day at 11:00 am, the president of GGI was called and told, "You guys ROCK! I looked great in front of our CEO, he loved all of your ideas." We were immediately put into rush pre-production on 11 items. GGI is required to sign Confidentiality Agreements when we are part of these types of new product launches as we have product knowledge before the item is actually launched at retail and must hold this information in confidence.
Case Study #4 50,000 Pieces - Domestic Production - Delivered in 3 Weeks
Our customer was supporting a large Made in America promotion. The CEO requested 50,000 USA made hats to be delivered within 3 weeks (by the way Memorial Day fell in here) to over 1000 locations. This task was very daunting, however, our customer trusted our ability to produce and deliver this promotion. This was an "all hands on deck" project. First we had to find as many navy blue domestic made hats in stock as possible; the surprise was that this quantity was very low, less than 15,000. Next we had to contract with a domestic factory to produce the balance of hats required; production capability was 8000 every 3 days. In the meantime we had to find production in the USA for embroidered patches; our production capability here was around 5000 patches a day, once we had approval of the pre-production patch. Next we had to contract with our sewing factory to apply the embroidered patches to the hats. This was a 24/7 production schedule. We shipped the first 15,000 stocked hats into the facility and we aired in the patches each day as they were produced. We shipped the newly produced hats in every 2 days and we started shipping to our customer's locations within one week. The continued delivery was completed within the time frame requested by the CEO. Whew.
Case Study #5 We Need A Refrigerator NOW
You just never know. It was 4:56 pm and a breathless request came in: "Ree, I need a refrigerator and I need it delivered tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. Can you help me?" To date this was our most unusual request. It seems that our customer had just signed a sponsorship agreement with a local sports celebrity and they wanted to present him a refrigerator full of St. Louis's finest brew the following morning. We told the customer we would call right back and we did. Within minutes we had arranged guaranteed delivery of a side-by-side refrigerator the following morning. The customer was ecstatic. We had to ask though. Why didn't the customer just try a local supplier of refrigerators, the same as we did? She said it was too much of a rush and they knew GGI would come through for them. Our only concern was that the item had to have a custom logo; luckily it did not.
Case Study #6 A Collector's Item
Our customer requested a unique holiday gift. From many options we presented to our customer, they selected a beautiful hand-crafted custom chess set. This item was in development for over 3 months as each of the pieces are completely custom, hand-crafted and hand-painted. This item is a show piece and was produced again for the next gift giving season.
Case Study #7 How Do You Change The Public's Habits?
Our customer was launching a new web based version of a reference tool that had been used by the public for decades. They needed items promoting its use delivered to 41 locations in the USA. The challenge was that the order quantity was 23,000 items and the delivery date was 12 days later. GGI sourced, produced and delivered to all the locations on time. Three months later for the same customer, with the same 12 day lead time, we delivered 10,600 more items in support of this customer's promotion. GGI has had a successful relationship with this long time customer because of our ability to deliver quickly.