Promo Products Tips - Define Your Brand

Here's the 2nd of my ongoing series of promotional product buying tips - which hopefully will make the buying process a little bit easier.  These should apply to any size business but can be particularly helpful if you either don't have a lot of experience buying promo items or if marketing is just part of your overall job responsibilities.  

One of the most important things to keep in mind when planning a project involving promotional items is knowing your own brand.  Understanding your brand - that set of values, symbols or ideas that identifies and differentiates your product / organization -  gives you the perfect starting point from which to launch any promotional project.

A promotional item that you hand out should be considered an extension of your brand and thus should reflect what that brand stands for.  If your company sells a luxury product, handing out say, a plastic pen probably, probably  isn’t going to work.  Whereas if you provide a great value product, focusing on something inexpensive, yet well made, might be a good way to go.

Facebook is certainly considered a hip, trend-setting company. You expect cool swag from them, not some generic stuff that everyone else hands out.  As an example I recently attended an event that they put on and among the items in the ‘swag bags’ that they handed out were EOS lip balm and a brand new phone charger.

  

Some companies, in fact many small businesses, may encounter difficulty defining their brand mainly because they haven’t given it a whole lot of thought given the challenges of operating a business on a day to day basis..  If that’s the case for your company, try writing down exactly what you consider your brand to be.

Every marketing piece an organization hands out should reflect its brand. Knowing exactly ‘who you are’ - i.e. understanding that brand - is often a great way to begin the task of coming up with great promotional items for any project.

Promotional Product Buying Tips

Here’s the first in a series of posts devoted to offering some tips to those of you who buy promotional items.  Doing this as long as I have, I’ve observed both the good and bad of this process from both sides.  Most of the time I’m the seller, but I also buy for my own marketing efforts.

Assuming you’re reading this from a buyer’s perspective, here’s the first of several tips that you may find helpful.

Tip #1- Answer the ‘Why’ - as in why the heck am I buying this stuff?  Often times people want to buy promo items for reasons like ‘it’s expected at that event’, or 'my boss asked me to take care of it' or even ‘everyone else is doing it’.

If one of the above (or similar reasons) applies, I think you need to take a little deeper plunge into the process.

Let’s use a trade show as the event in question. You’ve got a booth at the show and need some swag. Instead of looking ‘what’s 'hot’ or 'different' among products I would suggest you first answer the question ‘What is the primary objective for us at this show?’

To stand out among several competitors?
Introduce your company to the marketplace?
Showcase a new product?
Generate sales leads?
Show your support for the organization putting on the event?.
Be seen at the event while keeping costs to a minimum?
Generate a WOW?

Counter rumors that your company is in a weakened market position?

Or it could be an objective that I haven’t listed.

Promotional products can successfully solve all kinds of marketing challenges, but first you need to determine just which challenge (or challenges) it’s going to be. Defining exactly ‘why’ you’re exhibiting at the show helps narrow the amount of promo item choices considerably and gets you closer to finding the right items for the task.

However this is not the only step.  More to come in future posts.

Promotional Products Work Week 2016

A few years back the Promotional Products Association International decided to dedicate one week each year towards raising awareness of the effectiveness of promo products as an advertising medium.

It was a very wise move given some of the push back that the industry was getting from some  politicians and a few other loud voiced naysayers who saw promo products as nothing more than an expense - and in their minds, a needless one - that was helping drain public sector budgets of funds that could be better used elsewhere..

This came on the heels of a move by the pharmaceutical industry (equally as short sighted) aimed at curtailing the use of promo items for the exact opposite reason - that they were too effective when it came to influencing physicians on which medications to prescribe for their patients.  

Promotional Products Work Week - which runs from May 23 to 27 this year - is a nice response.  Consider that certain more mainstream forms of advertising have been in more or less steady decline ever since the rise of the internet, yet promotional product spending continues to increase annually.  It’s now a 21 billion dollar industry and is showing no signs of slowing down!

Why? Promotional products engage. They’re tangible (as opposed to abstract like a commercial). They stay in front of their intended audience. They create recall.  They create goodwill.  People want them (and get excited about receiving them) They commemorate and create memories. They reinforce what your brand is all about. And maybe the most overlooked feature - they compliment the other forms of marketing by increasing their effectiveness.  

And as we move forward, with the continued downward spiral of TV, radio and newspaper and the rise of mobile and social media, promotional products are poised for even more growth for the reasons that I just mentioned.

Promotional products work.  They’ve always worked.  And they will continue to work for a long, long time to come!

Promotional Products & the High (Marketing) Rent District

I like to think of promotional products as keys that open the door to valuable real estate property. Now it wouldn’t surprise me if your initial reaction to that statement is “whoa….what’s he smoking today?”  But hear me out….

Promotional products are all about gaining people’s attention - specifically the intended audience for a marketing message.  What’s unique about promo items is that the recipient places the item somewhere - be it the desk, in the kitchen, in the car, on a wall etc.

 

Now think of those areas in terms of real estate.   In the places a promo item’s recipient spends his or her time, your brand or marketing message is gaining access to that ‘property’.  And that’s one benefit that makes promotional items unique. No other advertising medium can place your message into those hard to reach - but extremely valuable - places quite as effectively as promotional products.

Say you’re a freight forwarding company.  What’s it worth to have your brand on the desk of shipping managers every single work day?  Items that could accomplish that task include a desk blotter, note cube, note holder or letter opener among many others.

If you own a restaurant that does Take Out and can gain access to a customer’s refrigerator door, guess where they’ll be looking when they’re hungry?

 

Think about where you’d like to have your marketing message seen by the people you’re seeking to reach.  You’ve just taken a step beyond the so called ‘trinkets and trash’ mindset and you start to realize just how useful a carefully chosen promotional item can be!

Why Promotional Products? They’re Tangible.

In a previous career I sold radio advertising.  It’s an understatement to say that particular medium has seen its better days, but there was a time that, when used properly, radio was a very effective marketing tool.  Yet, I still recall that the one objection that seemed to surface most often was that radio is abstract.  And it’s true. The spoken word is not tangible.  You say something but there’s nothing to see or touch.

On the other hand, a promotional product with a logo on it is absolutely tangible.  A physical object, carrying an advertising message won’t disappear the moment it's heard or seen.  It stays on a desk or in a car on or a wall.  And if the item is properly matched with its intended audience, there’s a real good chance that it stays with recipient for a good long time, creating continual ad impressions.  Talk about bang for the buck!

It also allows you to make the item the message so to speak - for added impact.  Example: an imprinted flashlight can ‘shine a light’ on your brand.

In fact, when you look at cost per ad impression, promotional products offer you some incredible value.  If you market to baseball fans, think about how often that $.60 magnetic schedule is going to get looked at between April and October.  Put your brand on a mug that people use and it could get viewed daily.  And studies show that upwards of 80% of people can tell you the company name on their favorite promo items.

Your message won’t be ‘once and done’ like with other mediums - not by a long shot.  When you are give a promotional product you’re delivering a tangible and functional item which, if selected properly, will keep your message in front of your intended audience long enough to make a difference!

Targeting with Promo Products

One of the key advantages of promotional products as an advertising medium is their ability to target an intended audience.  Whether that target is media buyers, mothers, engineers, college students, your employees- or whomever you’re trying to reach - there is a promotional product that will appeal to that group of people.  

One of the first questions I will ask clients when discussing a project is ‘who are you trying to reach’ with the item(s) that you’re looking to order?  Once I understand the target, I can then start thinking about which items might be able to gain their attention .

What’s really nice about promotional products is that there are so many different items  available at all kinds of price points.  The real key to making them work is marrying the intended audience with the marketing message and of course, the available budget.

So for example if your intended target is real estate agents, I’ll start to think about which types of products they might find useful at a time when they’ll be receptive to the intended message.  Agents typically spend lots of time in cars - so something that goes in the car when they’re driving to a property might be one way to go.  Or maybe they’ll be more likely to think about your product/service/message while they’re at a desk doing online research or calling on their phone.

The really cool thing about promotional products is there are items for each of these situations!

Then consider that those items will engage their recipients in a manner that’s unlike any other advertising medium.  Nothing targets an audience quite as effectively as promotional products!

5 'Other' Ways You Can Imprint a T-Shirt

T-Shirts are a big part of my business and the main reason for that is they are such an effective promotional tool.  After all, a T-Shirt is literally like a blank billboard. You can fill it however you choose, and your message will be seen by anyone who comes in contact with the shirt.  If the shirt is imprinted a clever or memorable message, it will be noticed.

However it's also easy to stay in what I call the 'One Color on a White Shirt' mindset. I'd say the vast majority of orders that any printer prints on a given day will be of the one ink color variety.  And that makes sense, as one color imprints work perfectly fine. Your target audience still gets the message and the per shirt cost gets kept down, so everyone wins.

But there are other imprint techniques available that can transform a simple T-Shirt into art, and if your budget allows, you may want to at least consider one of the following techniques for an upcoming order:

Four Color Process

This print method literally uses 4 Process Inks (as opposed to spot color inks) -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black to achieve a multi-colored design. The transparent inks are applied directly on the shirt in a dot format that uses half-tones and the blending of colors to achieve a look with many colors, shading and fine details.  High Resolution Screens are needed due to the nature of the inks and expect some significant art prep. But whether it's a design like the one shown above, or one with a photo, 4 (or full) color process is the technique to use.

 

 

Heat Transfers

This is a great alternative to 4 color process screen printing when small quantities of multi color designs are needed.  There are some limitations with this technique, but for many full color designs this is an option worth considering. Basically you're printing a full color digital image onto a piece of vinyl transfer material. That material is then heat transferred onto the shirt via a special press. You pay more per shirt, but you don't have an screen charges. Need a dozen shirts with a complex art design for an event next weekend? Your most cost effective option is a transfer imprint.  

 

Vintage Soft Hand Screen Printing

This technique prints with a washed down appearance and vintage quality, especially when combined with distressed artwork.  To achieve this look a soft based additive is incorporated into the ink mixture and the design is printed without the use of an underlay of white ink.  The National Football League has done a terrific job marketing vintage apparel with versions of team logos that were used in past decades. This is the imprint method they use.  

 

Foil Ink

This is an overlooked, yet terrific technique to really make a logo shine (literally). It involves an adhesive, that looks like a white paste, getting screened onto the shirt. Then a special type of foil is heat transferred onto the white adhesive. Run it through the dryer and you get a look like the one pictured above.  

Reflective Ink

Got an event happening outdoors at night?  Consider reflective ink.  This is an ink that literally contains microscopic glass particles.  Shine a light on it in the dark and your design really pops.

These are just a few of many imprint techniques which can help turn your T-Shirt design into something that people are going to want to wear. There are many more. If you need some help with the creative aspect of this, please contact us.

Charge It!

I'm not sure whether its that the big iPhone update earlier this year did a tune on batteries or just an indication of how much we've come to rely on mobile, but the hottest promotional item around right now the portable charger for mobile devices. The demand for these is so big at
present that the suppliers are struggling to keep them in stock.

If you're a would-be buyer of chargers for branding purposes, the amount of of choices can be confusing. And inevitably, when any promo item gains popularity - the 'we have the cheapest ones' companies will be out on the internet doing what they do.

One important thing to keep in mind however is that appearances can be deceiving. Not all chargers are alike - in fact there are significant differences in performance and quality that are easy to miss unless you read the fine print (i.e. the specs).

Among the key figures to look at:

Milli amp Hour (mAh) 

This is How you assess battery capacity. Think of it as the gas tank in a car. Not only do chargers have different capacities, so do the devices that they charge, The iPhone 5S for example has a 1560 mAh internal battery while the Samsung Galaxy S4's is 2600 mAh. 

With tablets the differences are even greater. The iPad 1's battery is 6600 mAh for example. The iPad 3's meanwhile is 11,560! 

Other Factors-

Input Current- How quickly a charger charges itself.  The lower the number, the longer it takes.

Output Current-  How quickly a charger charges a connected device.  A charger with a 1 Amp output will charge an iPhone at the same rate as the phone's wall charger.  But it won't come close to charging an iPad which requires a 2.1 Amp output.

UL/ETL Certification- Last year there were reports of people being shocked and fires even being caused by some low-end generic chargers.  UL/ETL certification comes from independent laboratories that ensure that the chargers are safe to use. Pay particular attention to this certification when buying from anyone stating 'we have the cheapest chargers'. If it's not there, you're putting your brand needlessly at risk.

Here are 3 solid choices in the 3 main price categories:

Jolt

Slim and easy to carry, this charger also packs a punch -the 2,200 mAh internal battery can fully charge an iPhone and its 1A output means it charges at the same rate as the iPhone's wall charger. Price range: $13.00+

Zoom Mini

Another diminutive charger that really packs a wallop.  It fits in a pocket, but the 2800 mAH battery will fully charge all smart phones and at the same time its 2.1 Amp output speed ensures that it will put a decent (though not full) charge on a tablet.  It charges itself in 2-3 hours and will hold a charge for 900 hours - over a month,of standby time.  Also takes a full color imprint.  Price Range: $38.00+

Zoom Energy

Small and compact but this 8,400 mAh Li-Ion battery device is powerful enough to charge all generations of iPad, Kindle and other Tablet/eReader Devices. It can also charge 2 Smartphones at once because it has two USB outputs.  Plus it's "Zoom" charging technology allows you to charge at an output speed up to 2.1 Amps, so you can quickly keep all of your mobile devices operational. It fully charges in 4.5 hours and will hold its charge for 900 hours. Price Range: $95.00

Some Trade Show Marketing Tips

Trade Show Tips Trade Shows are a big market for promotional products. Shows provide a great opportunity for companies to present their products/services to potential clients and even existing clients in an atmosphere that's a little more relaxed than an office or meeting room. Promotional products, of course, are important for keeping your brand and marketing message in front of the people you meet at a show long after the show has ended. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your next show. If your show display table does not include a tablecloth, be sure to get one that complements your display and represents your company’s image and color scheme. Even if a tablecloth is supplied, bring your own or at least something to add some depth to your table (i.e. a table runner). Try to make your space stand out. Trade show hand outs work. Most people who attend shows are expecting to take home some goodies. The key with these items is to first determine the objective behind them – i.e. do you want to deliver a verbal ‘pitch’ to make a strong first impression on visitors who aren’t yet clients or keep your name in front of prospects in the days following the show? Or do you have a new marketing slogan and want to hand out items that play off of it? There are strategies (and products) for all scenarios. Consider a drawing for a prize – and have it be a good prize that people really want and that complements your business in some way, if possible. Have visitors and entrants sign a guest book, fill in a ticket, or drop their business cards into a fish bowl or gift bag. The great thing about this type of technique is that you can then use this information at a later date to make a follow up contact. Have a portfolio of your work available as part of your trade show display. Print off some of your best projects, put them into plastic sheet protectors, and arrange them in a binder. Then lay out the binder where visitors can flip through the pages. Don’t Forget the Follow Up- Companies that get the best results will market continuously to the qualified contacts they meet at a show until the start of the next show the following year. There are several techniques for doing this and I’d be happy to share my views on this subject if you’re interested. Promotional products can be very helpful in this area, but they are not the only method of staying in touch. And some of those methods don’t cost anything.

The Benefits of 'Name' Branded Apparel

Wearables comprise a large chunk of our overall business - approximately 40% - and it’s a business that has changed quite a bit over the past two decades. Probably the biggest change has been the influx of popular ‘name’ brands into our industry over the past few years. Back in the 90’s this wasn’t the case. But along came Corporate Casual and with it, a customer driven demand for name brands that shows no signs of slowing down.

Of our clothing vendors, the Sanmar company seemed to recognize this before anyone else when they brought Nike into our industry. Nike Golf's products, in turn, not only helped vault Sanmar to the number one position among wearable wholesalers, they also opened the flood gates to an onslaught of retail and work wear brands as these companies realized the advantages of selling their products in the corporate marketplace. The ones that have succeeded, to date, are the brands that understand the unique needs and challenges that the promotional products industry presents. Specifically having enough inventory on hand to meet client demands and the ability to get the product shipped out quickly given the constant deadline pressures that exist in the corporate marketplace.

The list of name brands available for purchase through Geiger is both large and growing. In addition to Nike, it includes Carhartt, The North Face, Reebok, Champion, Columbia Sportswear, Cutter & Buck, Ashworth, Tommy Bahama, Independent Trading Co, Weatherproof and many more. With brands like these you’re going to pay a little more, but you’ll also realize the benefits that the so called promise of these brands entails. You get the quality of the garment itself plus the value of tying your own brand into the prestige associated with a Carhartt, Reebok etc. If you give someone a Reebok shirt or Carhartt jacket that's co-branded with your own logo, you’ll be making a powerful statement about what your own company stands for.

There is One Exception The North Face is an interesting exception. They will NOT allow their garments to carry any logo but their own. In fact, if your company purchases their products, they’ll make us (you and Geiger) sign waivers promising not to decorate them. Their feeling is that any embellishment of their garments weakens The North Face brand. They have chosen, to this point anyway, to pretty much ignore the corporate marketplace. However you can still, under the right circumstances, make a statement by giving these out and you'll find our prices for The North Face Products extremely competitive. I would just recommend that if you go with these it be a situation where the recipients will always remember who gave them the jacket -- though granted that's not easy without a co-branded logo on the garment. However you could add a zipper tag, packaging or another item that includes your logo.

Geiger's Advantage We have one in that we have direct distribution relationships with many of these brands. For example, Carhartt distributes through other industry suppliers, meaning you’ll pay more from our competitors who are forced to go through those vendors. Geiger on the other hand buys directly from Carhartt, so you’ll pay less for their products through us and we’ll also have the most up to date information about their constantly changing inventory situation. Thanks to our buying power, we have similar direct relationships with several other retail brands.

Some Points to Keep in Mind

Stock is often an issue- It’s the nature of the beast with popular brands, so you should be prepared for the possibility that certain sizes or colors may have to be back ordered. It happens much more often with name brands than private label or other industry oriented brands.

Frequent Changeover- Styles get added and dropped much more frequently than with industry specific brands. This is due, I think, to the retail mindset of always having to stay fresh. Some lines – Ashworth immediately comes to mind – seem to always be changing their styles up.

You Can Get Similar Quality for Less- There’s a company called Zorrel which actually supplies Nike Golf with a lot of its shirts. We carry Zorrel’s full catalog and on average their products cost 30% less than Nike’s. So you get Nike quality, but not at Nike prices. Tommy Bahama products are offered to the industry via supplier Eagle Dry Goods. Eagle has a tight relationship with Tommy Bahama and in fact, also offers some private label ‘Tommy Bahama-like’ shirts, which are made by the same folks. Same quality, different label – and a lower price.

There are actually quite a few so called 'Industry Brands' which are made just as well as their counterparts with the famous labels - some are even made in the same facilities. If you would like more information about branded wearable items, please contact me.

Time for Some Optimism....

Say what you want about CNBC's Jim Cramer...and there's been plenty said about him. Personally I like him...but his style can give you a headache if you watch him too often....anyway, the other night he predicted the Dow to rise 15% this year to the 13,300 level...reason being that companies are starting to make money again...are as lean as they can get...and will start hiring again - in a big way.

Full story (complete with typical Cramer routine) is here if you're interested.

What I like about Cramer is he's not afraid to walk out on a limb...and he'll own up to his mistakes. That, plus the fact that he's been right often enough to have a long running show and legion of devotees to me make him someone worth paying attention to.

If his prediction is on target, now is the time for companies to make their voices (i.e. their brands) heard loud and clear amid the projected roar of another growing economy....kind of like Cramer does......

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Branding and Toyota

Not that it has anything to do with promotional products per se, but just a quick thought on branding as it pertains the Toyota story now in the news. Look at what's happened to the Toyota brand over the couple of weeks that this story has been in the headlines. All the great work that's been done over the years to build that particular brand -- the one that could be described in one word -- Quality.

All out the window now.

Plus you've got an Administration in Washington that is now heavily invested in a couple of its competitors, GM and Chrysler,

This is going to be a fascinating story to follow over the next several months.

Right now, the Toyota brand is in serious trouble.

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The Demise of Brand Tiger

Plenty has been written and said about Tiger Woods and his current challenges, but the one thing that I've been curious about throughout is whether his sponsors will stay with him.

Certainly there has been no better pitchman in sports or maybe in general since Michael Jordan retired from basketball. Tiger was identified by Corporate America while still a child and as he grew into adulthood, his name quickly equalled dollar signs for the likes of Nike, Titleist, Gillette, Electronic Arts, General Mills and Buick among many others.

The list of companies doing business with Tiger practically reads like a 'Who's Who' of corporate America. We at Geiger are even in on this act -- though in a very small way. Sanmar, our top wearables supplier, contracts with Tiger via Nike. We can sell you 'Tiger Woods' brand golf apparel because of that relationship -- not that I'll be recommending those items to any of you anytime soon.

Brand Tiger is in a heap of trouble and this past weekend one of those major sponsors, the global consulting firm, Accenture, officially cut ties with him. I would imagine that more may be following suit.

What I find really interesting is that Woods has not 'come clean' so to speak, in the manner that David Letterman did immediately following his recent transgression. Given that Tiger has world class handlers, it leads me to speculate that possibly there's too much there to come clean about. And if that's the case, then how long can these corporations afford to have their brands associated with him?

If I had to guess, the two companies likely stick with Tiger the longest will be Nike and Acushnet, the makers of Titleist golf balls. Nike because of what they have invested in him and because they've dealt with pro athletes for decades. Their brand may also be a bit more resistant to the bad stuff associated with an athlete's off the field activities. And Acushnet only because Tiger IS golf, and is arguably the greatest golfer of all time -- it's either Woods, Nicklaus, Hogan or Bobby Jones -- and personally I think it's Tiger.

But there are limits to the resiliency of any brand and I'm wondering whether this thing will eventually pass the point of no return for even those two companies.

It's fascinating, but not in a good way. The demise of Brand Tiger is very much in play and that's something I would never have thought possible.

Just think of what it took to create that brand....all the work Tiger put in to become the greatest golfer of his era, the incredible, off the charts performances that helped create the Tiger legend, the time and money that these major corporations all devoted to make Tiger's brand what had been up till mid November of this year. All of that could be flushed down the drain because of Tiger's alleged problems.

I guess it's proof that no brand is indestructible. And the marketing lesson that I take from all this is that a brand - any brand - has a certain degree of fragility, and needs to be fiercely protected at all times.

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Brand Building

When people ask me what Geiger is all about, my response is 'we specialize in brand building via promotional products'. And a reply that I sometimes get a back is 'What do you mean by branding building?' It's a good question. So I'll answer it.

Definition of a brand- The emotional bond created between an individual and a company, product or service. It is created through the delivery of consistent messaging and actions around an easily identifiable consumer promise.

Or in the practical application:

I believe that Volvo builds safe cars.
I believe that when I'm playing with a Titleist golf ball, I'm using the best golf ball on the market.
I believe that Nike enhances my athletic achievement.

Volvo, Acushnet (makers of Titleist) and Nike all understand that every contact with a customer or prospect is an opportunity to build their brand. Accordingly, every time you interact with their brand - for example when you see a polo shirt embroidered with their logo -you will find that that the companies key brand messages are reinforced again and again. Example- you'll never see a screen printed Titleist logo on a cheap polo shirt.

If your company brand is something that has real value, think long and hard about how it appears in the market place. Not everyone in an organization is programmed to think in marketing terms. Yet it's everyone's responsibility to protect the brand.

If you're ordering anything that features the company logo -- whether is business cards or $100 jackets -- don't overlook basic stuff like the correct PMS colors or the correct type font for logotype. You could be wasting precious marketing dollars that have already been spent to develop what your company's brand defines in the minds of your customers.

Promotional products are a key branding tool and we at Geiger have the expertise to help you build, protect and/or enhance your brand.

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