upfront
A NEW LOOK! Another way in which we’re celebrating our 15th year is with this totally redesigned premiere issue. Our new creative director, Richard Zoehrer, is responsible for the updated look. Complaints and harsh criticisms are to be directed at him; compliments and thoughtful gifts are to be sent directly to me.
— Peter Breen, Editor
Letters
As I write this, I’m looking at an original copy of the first issue of PROMO Magazine, dated December 1987. (What do you think its value would be on eBay?)
I know what you’re probably thinking: Why would I hold onto a copy of a magazine, other than LIFE or The New Yorker, for 15 years? There are two reasons:
- Target Marketing had the honor of being on the front cover of the first issue as “Promo of the Month.”
- I have been fortunate and privileged to know the co-founders, Kerry E. and Kerry J. Smith.
I met Kerry E. in 1980, when I first started Target Marketing and still had hair. At that time, Kerry had his own public relations agency in White Plains, and Target was one of his clients. Over the next few years, Kerry mentioned how there was a need for a publication dedicated to the promotions industry. So Kerry E., and Kerry J. (a recent graduate of Syracuse University) decided to take the plunge into the world of publishing and promotions.
A valuable business and life lesson I learned from these gentlemen was about “perseverance.” The motivational gurus of today sometimes loosely throw around this word, but the Smiths were the true meaning of it. They had the will to succeed.
They started PROMO out in a sun porch room attached to their home … burned hundreds of hours of midnight oil … from the first issue, which consisted of 20 pages … to an industry leader today. That’s the definition of perseverance.
Congratulations on 15 successful years.
Peter Costa | Target Marketing | Huntington, NY
