Success In Branded Merchandise

The White Paper

3 Steps To getting it Right

Branded Merchandise has come a long way.  With so many options available now, understanding what is going to best represent your brand and your customers is vital. The Right product will make the difference between a highly successful campaign and one that misses the mark.

GHI is a branded and promotional merchandise specialist across a broad range of industries. To create this paper, we teamed up with Sintoro Sales and Marketing, one of Australia’s fastest growing consultancy firms.

This paper examines the key steps you need to consider when researching, selecting, sourcing and producing branded merchandise.

Ghi has developed a simple methodology to assist you in making the right promotional product choices. This approach has been tested and refined for over 20 years. It has been a proven track record of delivering results for businesses of all sizes and industry types.

For your copy of the full White Paper, click here.

Three steps to getting your promotional products right

There are so many promotional products in the marketplace today, you can get a logo on almost anything you can imagine. The right branded merchandise can be a great, cost-effective marketing tool, increasing your brand recognition and driving interest in your product or service, but with so many options available, how do you get it right?

Over our extensive time in the industry, we’ve developed a tried and tested three-step approach for choosing and executing promotional products that can help you get it right every time.

1. Match your brand and your customer

When looking at promotional items, matching them to your brand, your company standards, reputation, and values must be the focus. Your merchandise must be able to convey the same core marketing message that the rest of your activities do.

This may seem obvious, but many companies get caught up in looking at cost alone and forget that this item is representing their brand, so the cheapest option isn’t always the right one. In saying that, nor is the most expensive; premium brands need to look at high-end items, volume brands simply don’t need too.

You should always get samples from your supplier so you can see and touch the product before you buy it. When you receive samples, think about what message it conveys about your brand. If it’s not the right one, it’s not the right product.

2. Go for widespread appeal

Striking the right balance between something unique and with widespread appeal is crucially important. Often simplicity and practicality can provide a much better outcome, and you can still involve a unique take or feature;customising an item to suit your specific needs should always be on the table.

Sticking to unisex and everyday use products are good general rules to increase appeal. A good promotional partner should be able to advise you on what’s trending and help you make the right decision for your brand.

3. Plan the execution

It takes time to choose, design, produce, and deliver a promotional item. You should factor in time to receive and trial sample products too. These days, many promotional items are produced overseas, and you will need to allow time for international shipping and customs delays. While often there are international express shipping options available, these tend to be very expensive, so it’s worth planning ahead, so you don’t blow your budget on delivery.

For a fully customised item, we recommend you allow a minimum of 10 -12 weeks , as these can sometimes take 3-4 weeks in production alone. For standard branded items, a minimum of 8 weeks is recommended, to allow time to view samples, finalise design, produce and receive your items.

How eco-friendly products work for your brand

When you choose an eco-friendly promotional product, you’re making a statement about your brand – you care about the environment that you’re doing business in. To the customers for whom that matters, your message is received loud and clear. It aligns your brand with their values, and, in the age of social media, this is more important than ever.

How and when a customer will use a promotional item is an important part of the decision-making process, and the great news is that eco-friendly options often lend themselves to everyday use. In many cases, organic materials are more durable than plastic alternatives too, meaning your promotional item will have a much longer shelf life.

On-trend products right now include:

Reusable bags

These go far beyond the typical reusable shopper; we are seeing companies choose from a host of environmentally-sound, durable and on-trend fabrics from calico to bamboo fibres. Bags can be designed for a wide range of uses, from grocery shopping and cooler bags to beach bags, and even produce bags to replace the single use ones in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket.

Reusable coffee cups

These are available in a wide variety of styles, sizes, colours and materials, and if you get it right, your customer may just use it for their coffee every single day, and that can be great for brand exposure.

Beeswax Wraps

We are seeing an increase in outside the square products too, like these organic reusable, washable food covers that replace plastic food wraps and foils.

And the environmental trend goes far beyond the product itself. We are seeing more and more companies opt for environmentally-sound production too. There are a number of options available in this space; from using inks made of recycled plastics in the printing process, to recyclable paper wraps replacing individual plastic bagging, and even choosing to manufacture the product at a factory that uses sustainable practices.

When choosing any promotional product, it’s important to remember that this product speaks for your brand. How it looks, its quality and its environmental credentials are all saying something about your company values; so it’s key to make sure these align.

Opting for eco-friendly products and production makes a clear statement about your brand, it’s values and its sense of social responsibility, so it’s certainly an option worth considering when planning your next promotional item.

The Do’s and Dont’s of Promotional Headwear

Hats are a commonly used promotional item. If you’re like most people, you can probably remember being given several over the years, but how many did you actually wear? Hats and headwear can be great for brand exposure, essentially turning recipients into walking billboards, but only if you get it right.

So here are our dos and don’t for choosing promotional headwear.

Do

Choose a quality product – You can get promotional hats for as little as a few dollars per unit, but you can be sure the quality will match the price. The hat will most likely look cheap and fall apart quickly, ensuring almost no one will wear it and reflecting poorly on your brand. Choose a quality starting product that will look good and last for some time.

Consider styles and tastes – when choosing any item, it’s important to think about the tastes of your demographic, but it’s absolutely critical when it comes to wearable items. The headwear market is huge – even in baseball caps alone there are a range of shapes and styles. You need to make sure the one you choose is in line with what your demographic are likely to wear.

Think outside the hat – Headwear isn’t limited to just hats, there are a host of options we are seeing companies go for, from bandannas to neck warmers and beanies. In fact, we recently worked with a fitness brand located in a cold climate to develop a beanie that had integrated Bluetooth headphones.

Don’t

Put your logo front and centre – This might seem counter intuitive for a promotional item, but big, bold branding on wearable items typically doesn’t work. Many people, particularly in younger demographics, don’t want to be seen to be wearing a free item, emblazoned with your company logo. Talk to your supplier about discreet branding options that could make your headwear a desirable item and maximise your brand exposure.

Get too niche – while it’s important that your item is stylish, you can push it too far. Choosing items that are highly fashionable right at this moment might seem like a good idea, but many trends are short-lived. Additionally, you need to appeal to as broad a market as possible, so it’s good to avoid products that are niche, as they can be polarising to your market.

At the end of the day, like any promotional product, your headwear is designed to increase your brand exposure, so it needs to be something a large share of your market will want. That’s where a good promotional products partner comes in – they should have the knowledge and expertise to advise on the products and designs that are best suited to your market.