Branded Apparel Do’s & Don’ts

I did an interview for an article of this title awhile back for Promotional Products Buziness Magazine, but alas, my infinite wisdom wasn’t selected to be included as originally planned.

You can see the article here: http://www.ppbmag.com/Article.aspx?id=4307

Since my two cents weren’t included in the mix, here’s my promotional branding best practice advice from our experience working with American Joe Apparel, the 100% American-made online clothing retailer.

Do:

• Keep product incarnations low to reduce sitting on large amounts of inventory (simplicity is key).

• Be consistent with key messaging- from apparel appearance to logo design, to press releases and promotions, it’s best to present a unified front to your public.

• Capture email addresses. Be sure there’s an interactive element to your website- whether it’s a contest or newsletter, and keep in contact with your website visitors and show them why your brand is great. For American Joe, we created a ‘1912’ club which offers its members special discounts, gifts and a membership card. The website also has a contest and newsletter sign up, and catalog request feature, all of which contribute to the contact database.

• Dedicate a spokesperson to your brand. Someone who will be able to speak knowledgably about the product lines, and embodies the brand. For American Joe, we selected the company’s founder, Nan Moon. Seemingly an easy choice, we were able to play off the hero brand as she is a breast cancer survivor with a rousing and engaging personal story. Celebrities are nice, but they don’t build the real life persona credibility that a company’s founder can lend to the brand.

Don’t:

• Stray from your brand by selling unrelated items (i.e. if you’re an apparel company, we recommend sticking with your strengths, not straying to selling books, DVD’s or sporting goods). You can’t be all things to all people, and it’s best not to try.

• Hold promotional events that contradict your brand messaging. Appliance stores don’t have dunk tanks at their events for a reason; similarly, if you’re a 100% American-made apparel company, you probably won’t sponsor an international festival either. We’ve had our client, American Joe Apparel, hold a T’s for Troops event- because their brand is a ‘hero’ archetype, we wanted to honor America’s hero’s with free T-shirts as they arrived home from Iraq. It garnered much publicity and support from Army organizations and supporters.

• Launch a brand via advertising. A solid, believable brand is built by a PR campaign. Always keep in mind that the news media supplies credibility to your product, whereas advertising is for sustaining an existing brand- white noise, more or less.