As an energetic marketer, former business owner, and part-time yoga teacher, Steve Cohen, Boundless Brand Consultant since 2009, is one of the most seasoned members of the team. With a career dating back to the 1970s, Steve successfully pivoted when faced with issues like overseas outsourcing, closing his family’s business, and learning new technology.
It’s been quite a ride, but at 76 years old, Steve wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s briefly considered retirement, but for Steve, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of working with vibrant clients in campus housing and student life. In this tell-all interview, Steve Cohen shares how he stumbled into promotional products as a second career and offers tips he learned from working with student housing companies.
Steve’s Remarkable Journey Into Promo
Steve’s story starts in the 1950s, a booming time for his family’s business. They distributed and purchased wholesale textiles and home fashions like sheets, towels, and blankets. The family business sold to major retailers in the heyday of brick-and-mortar retail and saw great success.
In fact, Steve used his BS in Marketing from Penn State to put his family’s business on the map. He invented the concept of selling sheet sets in the United States. Before Steve’s lightbulb moment, shoppers had to buy flat sheets, fitted sheets, and pillowcases separately. Steve cleverly realized bundling was the way to go, and he quickly earned his first customer with the H.E. Butt company in Texas (now known as HEB).
The family business was booming, but everything changed in the mid-90’s. Department stores and American textile manufacturers were buying each other out, which meant Steve had fewer clients and products to sell. To make matters worse, retailers went overseas to buy their supplies, effectively putting Steve’s company out of business.
Pivoting to Promo, Steve Style
Steve understandably had a sense of loss after closing the family business, but he wasn’t down for long. “I had nothing to do,” he said. “I was about 50 years old then, and most of our money was in inventory. So I really had to do something.”
Steve spent a lot of time brainstorming. “I had nothing to do. I was just looking for something,” he explained. And then he had a lightning bolt moment. “I always liked the marketing end of our business. I liked the creativity,” he said. In the past, he created supermarket displays and liked that. Maybe he could make a career in the promotional space after all.
Steve saw an embroidery company for sale and, while he wasn’t sure how embroidery machines worked (or how to fix them), he was eager to jump in and sell products. “I know how to market. I know how to sell product. I know how to create product. I know how to work with people's brands. I know a lot of it instinctively,” he said.
He had the marketing prowess, but Steve knew he needed more technical skills. He purchased Adobe Illustrator (back when it came on a disc) and taught himself how to create logos. He even worked for three days at a screen printing company and an embroidery company just to learn how the processes and machines worked before setting out on his own venture.
Founding the Dakota Shirt Company
Steve coined his new business the Dakota Shirt Company, which he admits was a made-up name that he thought sounded cool. At first, he grew the company by cold calling industry contacts and requesting meetings—and plenty of people agreed to hear him out. Before he knew it, the Dakota Shirt Company was knee-deep in work. “I was working with the defense department, helicopter manufacturers, all different kinds of clients, casinos, racetracks for a while,” Steve said.
The Dakota Shirt company enjoyed years of success, but Steve’s heart wasn’t in the finicky day-to-day tasks. He wanted to focus on what he enjoyed: marketing. “It was built up. I got really tired. I hated doing accounting work, the back office stuff. I just didn't want to deal with the paperwork. I wanted to deal with marketing branded product designs and selling,” he explained.
Marketing Mastery in Student Living
It was time for Steve to make another crucial pivot. He sold the Dakota Shirt Company and joined the Boundless team to focus exclusively on relationship-building and marketing.
He didn’t set out to work in the student living niche, but after taking on some work with a friend at the University of Pennsylvania, Steve quickly found his niche. “The student living business is really a property management company. And they manage apartments that are off campus of various universities throughout the country,” he explained. “These are for students that don't live in the dormitories that want to live off campus, but they're close to campus.”
Property management companies tap Steve for all kinds of items, including employee uniforms, padfolios, and even swag and tents for college leasing fairs. Steve also sourced gifts for students to receive when they moved into their apartments.
Part of this included T-shirts promoting the property, but many companies opted for low-quality, scratchy T-shirts no one wanted to wear. Steve used his experience in textiles and design to encourage clients to order soft T-shirts instead, even though they cost a little more.
This decision turned everything around. Before he knew it, properties were competing to see who could produce the new “it” T-shirt of the summer and get their names out on campus. Steve put in the work to earn property managers’ trust, and today, he works with five major national accounts with around 200 individual properties.
Steve’s Tips for Designing Effective Promo That Connects
Steve finds the student living niche incredibly rewarding, but he’s honest: it isn’t for everyone. “It’s not as easy as it looks. It's a major, hands-on business for anybody who wants to work in the student living industry. You have to be prepared to work. “If you just want to be an order taker, don't be in property management.”
While Steve’s experiences come from working in student living, he shared universal tips that apply to promo in just about every industry.
Educate the Client
Steve quickly learned just how busy property managers are. They’re in charge of maintaining buildings and renters, and most lack the time or resources to market on their own. “They don't really have a marketing background, so they come to you with just basic ideas. We need shirts, we need water bottles,” Steve said. “ I have to identify what their branding guidelines are. I am the branding police for every one of the properties, and the owners of the properties respect that.” Steve is such a branding stickler that he refused to order t-shirt designs going against the clients’s corporate culture. Guiding the client to a professional graphic designer to fix it before submitting the order.
Some clients are marketing savvy, but Steve’s niche requires a lot of hands-on engagement and education. “You're going to be hands-on all the way, controlling the artwork, controlling the orders, making sure it's delivered on time, understanding their logos, understanding their culture,” Steve said.
Know Your Clients and Anticipate Their Needs
Steve juggles countless requests every day. Each property needs something different, and Steve makes it his mission to know exactly what each property requires. “We're all about Brand Love [at Boundless], and we maintain that brand for every single property. I know the colors of the properties. I know their logos. I'm in charge of their logos,” he said.
For Steve, staying on top of trends is crucial to delivering on client expectations. About twenty percent of Steve’s clients want eco-friendly options, which are becoming increasingly easy to source, thanks to manufacturers’ use of more recycled materials. Technological advancements in printing also make it a cinch to create full-color print wraparounds for stadium cups, which are one of Steve’s most popular orders. Steve also recommends sending little gifts to property managers to get your name out there, which prompts a lot of managers to place orders they would have otherwise forgotten about.
Accept Ambiguity and Change
Steve Cohen primarily works with property managers, not corporate marketing teams. “The hard part about it is there's a layer of marketing people that are corporate marketing people that I work with, and they give directions to me, or they give directions to their managers. But then the layer that I work directly with are the managers of the property,” he explained.
The problem is turnover. “I could be working with a manager today, and four months from now, that manager is gone,” Steve said. Communication is always tricky when someone leaves, and many clients rely on him to get their promo initiatives back on track when an employee departs without a transition period. “I have to be very prepared with what they need, so when a new manager comes in, they’re not starting from scratch,” he said.
Steve Cohen: A Lifetime of Marketing Mastery
Steve Cohen is in his prime at age 76. He leverages his marketing expertise to make a difference for his clients, but the job has also benefited Steve personally. “I'm 76 years old. I work with kids, 25 years old and 35 years old, and I love it. I just enjoy working with that age group. I enjoy it because it keeps me younger working with these communities,” he said. Steve’s journey was far from easy, but his experience proves that a scrappy outlook and willingness to learn are all you need to find a fulfilling career.
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