Juice Marketing (PPAI 626763, Silver), PPAI 100’s No. 74 distributor, is a small marketing firm that makes a big impact.

The Kirkland, Washington-based company’s recent successes include securing an $888,000 project for a major client’s flagship event – more than tripling the previous year’s $236,000 spend, a 216% increase for just one event.

Additionally, the firm turned an $8,500 in-house custom hoodie gifting campaign into $177,000 in sales, resulting in a 20x return. Lee Fine, co-founder of Juice Marketing, says the hoodie was created “to produce something that had a very retail look and feel but highlights our customization capabilities.”

You have to be acknowledged, you have to be respected, you have to enjoy coming to work.”

Lee Fine

Co-Founder, Juice Marketing

The hoodie featured a custom label, embroidered detailing, colorful sleeve taping and was gifted to around 150 clients. The resulting success was a happy accident, according to fellow co-founder Robert Lederman. Referencing the impressive ROI, Lederman says, “We never had an expectation, but when it came out, we were pretty darn happy with it.”

Named one of PPAI’s Greatest Companies To Work For, Juice Marketing credits much of its growth in 2024 to launching an online marketing portal for branded merch, which streamlined and elevated client and vendor gifting.

  • The company also experienced 38% year-over-year revenue growth with its top client and 76% growth with another top five client.


Team Effort

The duo is certainly proud of their accomplishments, but don’t claim them as all their own.

“We’re nothing without the team here that does it because Lee and I always say if we’re the two smartest people in the room, our company is doomed,” says Lederman, a 30-year veteran of the promotional products industry who spent nearly two decades at PPAI 100 distributor BDA before launching Juice Marketing at the end of 2014.

They couldn’t stop singing their employees’ praises, highlighting their talent and commitment. But one of the factors that allows their employees to thrive is the company culture, which is an integral part of their mission and the reason Fine and Lederman created the business in the first place.

If we’re the two smartest people in the room, our company is doomed.”

Robert Lederman

Co-Founder, Juice Marketing

“Robert and I always say that we left our former company because we were extras in someone else’s dream and we wanted to star on our own, but we also don’t think that you have to own a business in the space to have a healthy career and live your dream,” says Fine, a former Amazon account executive who spent a combined six years at BDA.

One way they have made this dream a reality is through their core values:

  • Resourceful and reliable
  • Passionately authentic
  • Unapologetically brave
  • A voice from every seat
  • Stay human


These five values organically emerged over time, according to the pair. Now, every employee is given a small sign featuring the five values and the company’s beloved flamingo mascot, Mingo.

Focusing On People

Juice Marketing also gives out a quarterly employee award called “The Human In The Arena Award.” This honor, based off an edited version of former President Theodore Roosevelt’s famous speech, is given to someone who exhibits the company’s core values. Fine says the award ceremony has often left a teary-eyed Teams meeting in its wake.

From large corporations like Amazon and Cisco entrusting it with flagship projects to smaller brands collaborating on meaningful merch, Juice Marketing brings its core values to each assignment. Along with the core values, Lee places an emphasis on client relationships.

Juice’s success has been a result of its focus on key clients.”

Steve Hettrich

VP of National Accounts, Hit Promotional Products

Steve Hettrich, vice president of national accounts at Hit Promotional Products, PPAI 100’s No. 3 supplier, says that Juice Marketing feeds off of the “open approach” of its co-founders.

“In this business of rush demands, their friendly nature creates a bond for all of us to work together to create a solution to challenges as they come up,” Hettrich says. “Juice’s success has been a result of its focus on key clients. They give their all to the relationship rather than treating it as simply a transaction. Also, their cooperative nature keeps the door open to unforeseen solutions, new resources and creative ways to approach opportunities.” 

Financial success is important, but at Juice Marketing, the focus is on people. For Fine and Lederman, the ideal employee experience is simple.

“You just have to be treated properly,” Fine says. “You have to be acknowledged, you have to be respected, you have to enjoy coming to work.”