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Quality, style and design: the keys to the success of your promotional corporate apparel
Posted by: | CommentsThere is a reason why promotional items such as company jackets, tee-shirts, baseball hats & promotional totes are so popular. They get seen.
The more I think about it, in fact, the more I realize just how many of these promotional products I see on a daily basis. Men wearing branded fleece zip-ups on the commuter rail, corporate tee-shirts at the gym. Women carry their promotional tote bags into the office, to their yoga class, to drop their kids off at daycare. Baseball caps don the heads of every college student in the greater Boston area.
No matter who your target audience is, their is a promotional product that they are proud to wear in public – to show off for the rest of the world.
A key factor in the success of your promotional apparel is…will people wear it? To ensure that your next order of embroidered logo tees don’t end up in the back of your target audiences’ closet, you should consider the following:
1. Quality: choose an item of appropriate quality for your business’ prospects. If you’re item is going to given to C-level executives at Fortune 500 companies you’re going to need to choose a different quality than an item that will be worn on construction sites.
2. Style: your promotional apparel doesn’t need to be off of Milan’s latest runways, but it does have to reflect the needs of your target audience. Younger men & women will want more fashion-forward items – vintage-inspired styles are usually a good choice. A more mature crowd will be more comfortable wearing classic styled corporate apparel.
3. Design: some promotional products don’t require an intricate design. Fleece jackets, for example, are very effective with a high-quality, 1-2 color embroidered logo. Promotional tote bags, on the other hand, benefit from having a suitable design for your needs. Victoria’s Secret uses promotional tote bags as gift-with-purchase giveaways. Their design is always trendy enough that women flock to the store just to get the free bag! A client of mine in the technology sector recently printed canvas tote bags with a whimsical “cloud computing” message that went over huge at their tradeshows this year! Whatever your design, it is imperative that your target audience WANT to wear it.
Before you place your next order for promotional corporate apparel, consider the quality, style and design. Properly addressing these factors can ensure you generate the most return from your investment.
One French Fry Short of a Happy Meal
Posted by: | CommentsMy car is littered with Happy Meal trinkets. Strawberry Shortcake sits in my cup holder. Shrek rides safely in the pocket behind the driver’s seat. A PetShop kitty is hiding beneath the passenger seat.
These toys are useless. But they sure do generate awareness (and keep my daughter from realizing that we’re listening to Led Zeppelin and not The Wheels on the Bus…). That’s why major brands, such as Disney and Sanrio continue to sign on the dotted line into contracts to allow McDonalds to distribute their meaningless trinkets in the millions of Happy meals that are sold every year.
This format of promotional item distribution is ideal for children’s brands. But how can adult brands leverage this channel? Because behind every happy meal is an adult with cash in their pocket, and isn’t that the general target audience most companies are looking for?
Here are a few not-so-bad opportunities for McDonalds and other adult companies looking to effectively expand brand awareness:
1. Branded promotional travel mugs for giveaway at Mickey Ds on Earth Day, and for purchase the other 364 days out of the year. McDonalds coffee is delicious. Adults like coffee. It’s trendy to be “green.” Promotional mugs and drinkware get seen everywhere – while you’re walking down the street or savoring your morning cup of joe on the Commuter Rail. McDonalds could sell the advertising opportunity, and every month a lucky new brand would reap the benefits…
2. Adult toys (no, not that kind). At what point do adults stop wanting toys in their super-sized Big Mac meal? Never. I’d be psyched to find a promotional auto accessory, say a keychain for example, under my fries. Maybe even a branded koozie for my coffee cup?
3. Sponsorship. You know how Sesame Street is brought to you by the letter “i?” Well, why can’t my McFlurry be brought to me by Jiffy Lube? Or my hash browns by the Holiday Inn?
Okay, so this blog is a little tongue-in-cheek. But only a little. McDonalds, like every other business in America, is in it to make a profit. Why wouldn’t they co-brand with companies that make sense, sell advertising opportunities to those brands, and giveaway promotional items that satisfy the adults who have money and not just the kids who are flat broke?
Tradeshow technique: Turning promotional items into profit
Posted by: | CommentsTradeshows are a great opportunity to reinforce your brand message, introduce new products or services, and – most importantly – generate leads. With over 2,000 tradeshows each year, and with most companies attending at least one of them, it is important to deploy tradeshow techniques that effectively communicate your brand’s unique value and, ultimately, generate return on investment.
Unfortunately, many companies fail to execute the proper techniques for their specific business goals.
Everything you do at a tradeshow, from booth placement to booth design to messaging and promotional items, should adequately contribute to the results you’re hoping to achieve.
Choosing the right promotional items – and finding a creative way to distribute them – is a key factor in succeeding at any tradeshow.
Promotional products are not “giveaways” or “chotchkies.” Promotional items communicate what your business does. They remind visitors about your business after the show is over. They create brand awareness and word-of-mouth.
FirstData, a manufacturer of POS systems and RFID tags, hit the nail on the head with their ingenious promotional item distribution strategy. Upon entering the booth, visitors got a brief introduction to their RFID system with an opportunity to use the system to make “purchases.” Recently, the ability to use RFID cards for cashless, touch-lesss transactions at vending machines throughout New York City has garnered a lot of industry and media attention. That being said, FirstData filled a vending machine with traditional promotional items, allowing visitors to use their branded RFID cards to “purchase” them: a perfect way to make a lasting impression and leave visitors with a takeaway to remind them of the interesting experience.
For an example of what not to do for tradeshow promotional items, one of my clients in the healthcare software industry attends up to 30 tradeshows every year – but none as important as the National Association for Home Care & Hospice Annual Meeting. Every year, they go all out on a thematic booth, customer appreciation events, and, of course, promotional items. In 2008 the theme was Pop Art, and the booth design was inspired by Andy Warhol, Romero Britto and Roy Lichenstein. The theme? A new perspective on software for home health, hospice and private duty agencies, which successfully differentiated them from the competition while communicating their key message – that they weren’t your typical healthcare software providers. They held a customer appreciation event at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, which was conveniently exhibiting the works of Picasso at the time of the show.
But their promotional item choice? A travel-sized tissue box with their logo on it.
Now, I’m not saying that a travel-sized tissue box is a bad promotional items. I don’t believe that any promotional item is “bad.” But this was definitely not the most appropriate choice.
I tried to convince them to go with a more fun item, like a sticky book, or even a set of colorful promotional gel pens, that would remind visitors of the booth post-show.
But they went with a gray, travel-sized, plastic tissue box. And didn’t get anywhere with it.
In 2009, their theme was 1940s Hollywood. The booth was incredible, and the theme was A software solution proven to help agencies perform. They rented a vintage popcorn machine, and gave guests branded boxes of popcorn to walk around the show with. On top of that, they hired a photographer to take “paparazzi” shots of guests as they entered the booth. Post-show, they followed-up with leads by sending the photos in a high-quality, branded picture frame.
They signed three of those leads. Each valued at $500K or more.
Sure, promotional items alone won’t generate a half a million dollars. But tradeshow are like baking cookies – the better the ingredients, the better the cookie. Promotional items are just one of the ingredients that go into the success of a tradeshow. Choose promotional items that make sense, and distribute them creatively, and you’ll end up with a delicious – and profitable – cookie!
