German trade magazines EAN and Sign both presented their annual awards at last month’s eroFame and the big US brands were well represented among the winners.
Pipedream picked up five awards this year, taking home Sign magazine’s Novelty Manufacturer of the Year, and EAN’s Best US Manufacturer, Brand of The Year (for Fetish Fantasy Series), Outstanding Hospitality (for its party) while CEO Nick Orlandino [pictured, left] was given his third consecutive Business Man of the Year award. “It’s incredible to watch our rapid growth and success on a global level,” said Orlandino. “As the awards continue to pile up, each one renews my commitment to building Pipedream into the largest brand in the world.”
California Exotic Novelties was also given five awards: four from EAN, for Company of the Year, Best New Product Line (for Embrace), Twenty Years of Excellence and Business Woman of the Year for Susan Colvin; plus Best Overall Marketing from Sign. Susan Colvin, CEO of California Exotic Novelties, said: “We are positively blown away! Winning four Erotix Awards is quite an honour. I’m excited and touched and humbled all at the same time.”
Doc Johnson received a Sign award for Best Adult Pleasure Products Brand, and Doc Johnson product development leader and COO Chad Braverman said: “It is an honour to be recognised as the preeminent brand in our industry.” Scott Watkins, vice president of sales and marketing, added: “The Doc Johnson brand has received overwhelming support from our global customer base and our brand recognition and consumer loyalty continues to grow throughout the entire European marketplace.”
Topco Sales picked up an EAN award for Best Doll Manufacturer (for its Cyberskin Reality Girls, Jenna Rose, Marica Hase, and Nicole Aniston). “We want to thank Matthias Poehl, Huda Najeb, and everyone at EAN Magazine for this honour,” said Lynda Mort, Topco’s director of sales and marketing.
Scala Playhouse was given three EAN awards: Best Product Design Concept (for its ToyJoy Cute range); Best Product Line (Lingerie Category for K!ssMe); and Best Industry Event (for its semi-annual trade fair). ToyJoy product developer Rick Zwaan said: “We’re really proud to win this award for this brand new toy line.”
Orion Wholesale was also given three EAN awards: for Wholesale Company of the Year; Best Sales Team; and Best B2B Onlineshop. And another firm grabbing a trio was Pjur Group for Best Female Product (Consumables Category for Pjur Med), Best PoS Activities and Best New Product Line Consumables Category for Pjur Serums). “We are proud and very pleased to receive these awards,” said Pjur Group CEO Alexander Giebel. “They are the reward for the work that we put into developing our products and PoS materials each and every day.”
Dutch-based Eropartner Distribution was given two EAN awards, for Distributor of the Year and Best Customer Care. “We are very proud of the two Erotix awards,” said Chris Bakker, commercial director and co-founder of Eropartner Distribution. “It is a confirmation that we are doing something well. We thank our customers, vendors and all partners who are supporting us. We have many spectacular plans in the near future and will continue to develop.”
Other winners of EAN awards included ABS Holdings (Most Innovative Business Strategy 2014) and BMS Factory (Most Innovative Company).
