Ryan Krass has spent more than a decade working with the rent-to-own industry at the intersection of marketing and technology. In 2026, that work expanded beyond helping individual businesses reach customers to helping the industry strengthen how its story is understood and discovered.
APRO recognized Krass, CEO of wowbrands, with the 2026 Norm Smith Vendor of the Year Award during the APRO Awards Luncheon & Business Meeting at RTO World 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Norm Smith Vendor of the Year Award recognizes an individual vendor who demonstrates outstanding support for APRO through sponsorship, advertising, exhibiting, and actively contributing to the association’s growth and the broader rent-to-own industry.
Krass brings 20 years of marketing experience to his work and has been serving the RTO industry for more than a decade. Through wowbrands, he works with rent-to-own businesses on digital marketing and technology solutions, with the company now serving more than 400 rent-to-own storefronts nationwide.
More recently, Krass has become a leading voice within the industry on artificial intelligence and the rapidly changing ways consumers discover information online.
“Ryan’s vision and understanding of AI has helped our industry lead the way in telling our story and increase the understanding of our work,” said incoming APRO Board President Trent Agin while announcing the award.
That focus became especially visible through one of the industry’s largest historical projects in 2026.
Krass joined APRO CEO Charles Smitherman as co-author of The Rent-to-Own Revolution: The Definitive History of Advocacy and Consumer Access, an effort to document the history of rent-to-own while also examining the future of advocacy, consumer access, and information discovery.
The project grew from a shared concern that the industry needed an accurate, accessible record of its own history at a time when search engines and artificial intelligence are increasingly shaping how consumers and others learn about rent-to-own.
Krass and Smitherman continued that conversation with the industry through an APRO webinar focused on preserving RTO history and strengthening its future. Krass has continued exploring that changing landscape through his own work as well. In an August episode of The RTO Show Podcast, he discussed how AI is reshaping RTO marketing and changing the way customers search for businesses and products.
His interest in the subject extends beyond his professional work. Krass is currently pursuing a PhD in media psychology, combining his marketing experience with research into media, technology, and consumer behavior.
During the award presentation, APRO also recognized another milestone from The Rent-to-Own Revolution: Krass could now add best-selling author to his growing list of accomplishments.
For his acceptance, however, Krass skipped the traditional speech.
Instead, wowbrands produced a sitcom-style video that leaned into the familiar, close-knit nature of the rent-to-own community. It was a fitting approach for a marketer whose work has long centered on finding memorable ways to communicate.
That sense of community is also central to the Norm Smith Vendor of the Year Award. Vendors play an important role in strengthening rent-to-own not only through the products and services they provide, but through their support of APRO, industry events, education, and the dealers they serve.
The 2026 Norm Smith Vendor of the Year Award recognizes Krass for that support and for helping the rent-to-own industry think differently about how it tells its story, preserves its history, and prepares to be understood in a rapidly changing digital world.
Watch the Acceptance Video on YouTube
About wowbrands
wowbrands is a Columbus, Ohio-based software and digital marketing company serving the rent-to-own industry. Since 2008, the company has developed e-commerce websites, customer relationship management systems, digital marketing programs, vendor inventory tools, and other technology solutions designed specifically for rent-to-own businesses. wowbrands has been an APRO vendor member since 2022.
