As the dotcom recession slipped into our rear-view mirror, who was to know that Amazon would mature into the place to buy almost anything.

A three-wall mural on the F.W. Webb wholesale store in West Harlem, New York is now complete. The west Harlem location opened in June. The exterior mural by renowned local graffiti artists Tats Cru took two and a half weeks to complete and covers three sides of the building at 2350 12th Ave. It visually represents F.W. Webb with images of plumbing and heating fixtures and PVF. It also highlights some of the brands that the location stocks.

I’m always curious to hear about how distributors and others within our industry are utilizing social media. For some, it’s a new territory that they’ve yet to fully explore because there’s no internal team member with the time and knowledge to do so.

Wherever we turn, people are telling us that working from home and shopping on the Internet are becoming the new norms. Is that true? Not yet, but COVID-19 has required many of us to work out of our homes and forced us to navigate the virtual mall — the Internet.

BNP Media, one of the country's leading B2B media companies, announced the launch of BNP Engage (www.bnpengage.com), a creative agency uniquely designed to serve B2B marketing needs.

Brands encounter a major challenge when it comes to managing localized marketing through retail websites. While some are household names perpetuated through longevity and national advertising, their message isn’t always consistently communicated on a regional or local level.

The American Supply Association recently hired association veteran Merrill Drew as its new director of marketing and communications.

We have heard it a thousand times, marketing is now a dialogue; it is no longer just simply post and pray. When we post to our websites, Facebook or Instagram, we can see how many people visit, who they are and which of our products and stories they like.

Manufacturers need their value chains to flow smoothly — not only in terms of operations but also in terms of brand messages. In an industry where commoditization is the norm, products and brands won’t stand out if they aren’t attached to a differentiated story.

Kristina Howes will be responsible for driving the marketing strategy for the company.