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by Dan Perkins
2008
has been an extraordinary year for
Carol Philp, founder and president
of CPI Creative, a
Pittsburgh-based design and promotional
marketing firm. It is a year in which
Philp has played a prominent role in
Major League Baseball (MLB) and a
year in which Baseball has given her
prominent recognition. Effective this
month, CPI Creative is recognized as one
of America’s Best Diverse Suppliers® by
two MLB organizations: the Office of
the Commissioner of Baseball, which
is also known as the Central Office,
and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Since
2006, MLB has supported the development
of the America’s Best Diverse Suppliers®
(ABDS) Program, a platform offered
exclusively by
diversityinbusiness.com that allows
major organizations to recognize and
promote their most successful diverse
business relationships. The ABDS
Program also serves as a central
resource for organizations seeking
exceptional diverse suppliers who have
earned the endorsement of major
organizations. Only suppliers that
receive the endorsement of organizations
participating in the program can claim
to be one of “America’s Best Diverse
Suppliers®.”
Since
2006, Baseball has allowed its World
Series Champions to recognize up to
ten diverse suppliers through the ABDS
Program. This year, MLB expanded its
support for the program by inviting all
of its member organizations to recognize
their most successful Diverse Business
Partner. Eleven organizations,
including the Central Office, responded
with relationships that they felt
warranted recognition as one of
America’s Best Diverse Suppliers®.
“Baseball
is committed to helping its Diverse
Business Partners grow within the
industry and beyond,” said Clayton
Judge, director of diversity
initiatives at MLB. In fact, Judge is
the senior executive who endorses Philp
and her company on the Central Office’s
ABDS Program web page. “Utilizing CPI
has been extremely helpful to our
business and we are thrilled with the
service that we receive,” said Judge in
his ABDS statement.
CPI
Creative is well known at the Central
Office, which handles the marketing,
administrative and operational
activities of the League. Deidra
Varona, director of international
licensing at MLB, has worked with CPI
Creative for over five years. In her
ABDS endorsement she said, “Carol Philp
and her staff have consistently produced
high-quality corporate gifts and
promotional products for our
international events. They are experts
at identifying event appropriate gifts
and customizing them with team and or
event logos.”
Most
suppliers dream of receiving such
praise, and Philp is no exception. “We
are deeply honored to have been selected
by the Central Office for recognition as
one of America’s Best Diverse
Suppliers,” said Philp who was surprised
to learn that she is the first and only
Diverse Business Partner to be
recognized by two MLB organizations in
the same year. “We work very hard to
satisfy all of our clients, but it is
wonderful to have our efforts recognized
simultaneously by both the Central
Office and the Pirates,” said Philp.
While some
might regard an endorsement from the
Central Office as the pinnacle of
success in servicing Major League
Baseball, Philp cherishes equally the
recognition she and her team have
received from their hometown club, the
Pittsburgh Pirates, who were just as
strong in their endorsements of her
company.
Philp's
relationship with the Pirates flowed
from her success with the Central
Office. In 2006, the Central Office
awarded CPI Creative the opportunity to
design and manufacture a souvenir cup
for the 2006 Baseball Classic,
the inaugural tournament that pitted
players from MLB against the competing
teams from various nations. CPI
Creative won high praise for creating a
design that depicted the slogan
“Baseball spoken here” in seven
different languages (see below).
That same
year, Philp and her team endeared
themselves to the Pirates organization
with their work on behalf of the 2006
All Star Game at PNC Park. For that
event, CPI Creative supplied
leather-trimmed duffle bags that were
distributed as gifts to VIPs who
participated in the Client Batting
Practice Program (see above).
One of the
distinguishing features of MLB’s
Diverse Business Partners Program,
which is the most advanced supplier
diversity initiative in professional
sports, is the common practice of
rewarding exceptional performance with
even greater opportunities. CPI
Creative’s success with both the Pirates
and the Central Office has resulted in
expanded opportunities. Winifred
Torbert, director of diversity
initiatives for the Pirates, noted in
her ABDS endorsement of the company that
the Pirates’ relationship with CPI
Creative “evolved from small special
promotional item orders to full game day
promotional orders.”
The
Pirates also contracted CPI Creative to
provide promotional items for the club’s
highly successful ladies night program,
called The Lady Bucs Club. The
club offers women the opportunity to get
together for fun and activities at PNC
Park once a month for the entire year.
Philp, who loves to see women involved
in cooperative ventures, said she is
excited to have her company contribute
to the success of the Lady Bucs program.
For Philp,
the double-endorsement serves as
powerful validation of a business that
grew up out of necessity more than by
design. In 1994, a newly divorced Philp,
faced the challenge of running a
household and raising three sons on her
own. She was looking for a career
path that would not only provide an
income, but would also allow the
flexibility to be available for her
family. Her background in owning retails
stores and knowledge of products
provided a bridge to the promotional
product industry. “I had to do
something,” recalled Philp as she sat to
talk about the evolution of her business
with diversityinbusiness.com.
Although the idea of a marketing firm
was not the first thing to come to her
mind, Philp knew her strengths would
lead her to creative endeavors. Through
a combination of learning experiences
and affirming connections, Philp
succeeded in launching CPI Creative.
She was soon joined by her son and
several “extremely talented” graphic
designers, as Philp describes them.
If you
spend time with Philp, you quickly sense
her ability to focus almost exclusively
on you and your needs. It’s a gift,
rooted in her nurturing personality,
which she has cultivated to great
effect. In addition to MLB, CPI
Creative has serviced such industry
stalwarts as Lockheed Martin,
Weight Watchers International and
FDIC.
“CPI
Creative answers our needs and provides
unsolicited solutions, a true mark of a
valued supplier,” said Torbert in her
ABDS endorsement. That sentiment was
echoed by Varona at the Central Office
who said, “We continue to rely on CPI
for our events. Their product sourcing
and development capabilities are
unmatched.”
Such
strong endorsements led
diversityinbusiness.com to reach out
to Philp when it came time to select our
Distinguished Leadership Award, which
was presented to Wendy Lewis,
senior vice president of diversity and
strategic alliances at MLB in July,
during All Star Week in New York.
(Click
here for story.)
Baseball
thrives on the creative contributions of
its marketing partners. Four of the
fifteen companies recognized as
America’s Best Diverse Suppliers® in
2008 are businesses specializing in
advertising and promotional marketing.
Although MLB is comprised of thirty-one
organizations, including the Central
Office, at the end of each season, there
is only one champion. This year, Carol
Philp and her team at CPI Creative have
the distinct pleasure of knowing what it
feels like to be in a league of their
own.
THE END
Click the images below to see what the
Central Office and Pittsburgh Pirates
have to say about CPI Creative.
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