5 Ways These Products Can Supercharge Your Brand Strategy

Launching a brand is one thing, but keeping it afloat and thriving is a whole different ball game. You’re bombarded with marketing messages, a fight for customer attention, and the constant pressure to stay ahead of the curve. 

Here’s where your branding strategy can turn the tide to your favor, keeping your brand relevant to the right people who may buy from you. But what if your strategy isn’t delivering the results you’d expected? 

A solution exists in a secret weapon hiding in plain sight, a branding tool that’s been around for decades and is often underestimated: promotional apparel.

T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, caps, and hoodies – they could be the missing piece of the puzzle in your brand growth strategy. 

Here’s how these products can give your branding efforts a jolt in a competitive market.

T-shirts
The Cost-Effective Classic

DID YOU KNOW?
A whopping 88% of people recall the brand on a promotional T-shirt [Promotional Products Association International, 2023].  

Pretty much everyone owns a t-shirt, and they don’t mind getting a new one from a brand. They make great freebies, subtly spreading your brand’s message. If the promotion on a t-shirt is too obvious, it loses much of its value to the recipient. The idea is to give them something they can use any day. The two key considerations here are what goes on the t-shirt and how you intend to distribute it. 

Want people sporting your logo at an event? Or is it about outfitting volunteers for a cause that your brand invested in? In both cases and many, t-shirts are super cost-effective, and pretty much guarantees a win for your brand.

Polo Shirts
Casually Credible

Is a polished, corporate look important to your branding campaign? The impact of polo shirts in this case is not to be underestimated. These garments, unlike t-shirts, perfectly balance a polished look and casual appeal. They are great business casuals; one you can have your employees wear at the office, with your logo of course. It doesn’t make them less approachable. 

Considering how common polo shirts are in the uniforms of sales teams or customer-facing employees, investing in polo shirts for branding is not a bad call. Your team wearing custom polo shirts with logos paints a pretty picture of your brand on your audience. It conveys professionalism and a commitment to values.

Jackets and Hoodies
Oozes value

Custom hoodies and jackets are just undeniably comforting to even look at. How awesome would it be if your brand gives a few away to a couple of loyal customers. Your brand instantly becomes a conversation starter, and a favorite to many otherwise casual buyers. Jackets and hoodies cost more than a t-shirt to an average customer. So getting a unique one as a gift would encourage someone to be more loyal to the brand. 

Many businesses in the USA offer jackets and hoodies as gifts to employees or as rewards to their loyalty campaigns. The whole idea here is to create something unique with limited stocks, so it can create a buzz and a sense of exclusivity. Then watch the increase in conversations about your brand, and the beginning of the development of a community of brand loyalists. 

Caps
The Quintessential Promo Product

According to a PPAI study, people keep promotional caps for an average of seven months [Promotional Products Association International, 2023]. 
That’s a lot of brand exposure for something that doesn’t cost much! A standout advantage of using caps in your branding campaigns and for them is the fact that they are publicly perceived as incredibly versatile. You have seen people wearing caps at the gym, at the beach, at events, at stores, and parks and everywhere else. 

The global popularity of caps speaks volumes about their inherent value as an accessory that’s suited for almost any environment the average person comes into. That’s why thousands of brands in the United States invest in wholesale hats and caps, get them branded, and then get them to the target audience. The accessory subtly but impactfully presents the brand imprinted on it for many months. These are consistent, continuous impressions that will cost a pretty penny to earn through digital campaigns. 

Ensuring A Cohesive Brand Experience

The experience is how people remember a brand best. And a branding strategy must consider the experience it can deliver. Promotional products, especially apparel, simply augment this experience without demanding an exorbitant investment. 

The beauty of promotional apparel lies in its ability to create a cohesive brand experience.  

Imagine a customer walking by your store and seeing your logo on a  t-shirt, a cap on display, and employees wearing branded polo shirts.  Suddenly, your brand feels established, professional, and trustworthy. That is undoubtedly the impression this appeal can generate. 

Key Takeaways

• Promotional apparel are underrated branding tools that offer a significantly higher return on investments compared to conventional branding strategies. 
• Custom t-shirts can easily deliver much higher brand recall than digital promo content.
• Custom polo shirts for staff uniforms can improve a brand’s credibility and conveys professionalism instantly.
• Branded jackets and customized hoodies are considered high-value items, giving them a much larger impact as giveaways that increase brand loyalty.
• Custom caps with logos promise consistent brand exposure and impressions, and are essentially “mobile” advertisements.
• A branding strategy must offer a cohesive brand experience, that promotional apparel can deliver. 

So, the next time you’re brainstorming brand-building strategies, see if you can complement your ideas with promo apparel. The market size of the promo products industry is $17.8 billion. It clearly means this is working for many. Now that’s something else to think about.

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