Changes in Imprinted Wearables--Big Growth in Name Brand Logoed Apparel
Are Your Clients Seeking Out Brand Names for Your Promotional Clothing?
Austin, Texas: Wearables are the largest category for promotional clothing and includes such favorites as T-shirts and polo shirts, caps, sweatshirts and hoodies, and more.
The biggest trend over the past few years has been the dramatic increase in performance clothing— with wicking and anti-microbial traits. These materials, which started in golf shirts, has now expanded into office polos for their comfort and wrinkle-free appearance.
Now, the newest trend has been the rapid rise in brand name clothing for promotional use.
Up until a few years ago, most T-shirts were Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and Gildan — and that was it for “name brands”.
Polos, jackets and other wearables were usually house brands – as the emphasis was on your logo – and marketers did not want anything to interfere with their own brand.
However, as shoppers have gotten more savvy and name brand conscious, more and more marketing executives are now insisting on name brand clothing – to showcase their own logo.
Brand such as American Apparel, Nike, Izod, Adidas, Van Heusen, Eddie Bauer, Ogio, Columbia, Carhartt, and Dickies, to name a few, have popped up for promotional markets.
Now it is less expensive to buy these brands from a licensed promotional products distributor (like ourselves) than it is to buy them yourself…and get them co-branded with your logo.
For this special market use, many of these brands have moved their logos to the back, left sleeve or other place so as not to outshine your own logo – but to add to its perceived value.
As usage continues to climb, I see more and more retail brands jumping into the mix and getting their logos and brands into the promotional mix.
“We are seeing customers asking for these brands by name, many times”, says, Robert Piller, President of green marketing firm Eco Marketing Solutions. “It is a way to easily elevate the prestige of your own brand.”
He continues, “Even if you order fewer number of pieces and go with a higher quality brand name, you will be better served in most cases.”
If you are using clothing for your sales team, executive gifts or for golf tournaments or incentive gifts, you might want to consider moving up to branded clothing for your next promotion or event.
Perceptions matter.
Utilize the millions of dollars in advertising that these brands spend annually to promote their brands and coop that goodwill to your own brand.
Its a good way of maximizing the investment of your promotional clothing budget.
