by Kirby Hasseman
When I was first introduced to selling promotional products, I met with a manager that was teaching me the finer points of value in branded merchandise. At the time, he was talking about calendars, but his words ring true with me nearly every day in the business. “The price of a calendar is not determined at the point of purchase,” he said. He waited a few beats while that statement sunk in. Then he continued. “The price of a calendar is determined at the point of use.”
I raised my eyebrow to try and understand what he meant, and he went on.
“You see, so many people make their initial purchasing decisions based simply on price. But they don’t consider the weight of the paper. If they use cheap paper the calendar will not hang properly on the wall. If the imprint does not look good, the story will not be told the way the customer wants. But if they invest in a quality calendar, then it will get used…and that is the point!”
His point was simple. “If you buy 100 calendars at $5, and all of these get hung on the wall, they have spent $5 per calendar. But if the customer ignores the quality and buys 500 $1 calendars, and then only 1 gets hung on the wall, they have purchased 1 $500 calendar!”
The price of the piece is not determined at the point of purchase, but at the point of use.
While the story I tell here has to do with calendars (and still rings true) the lesson is still true across all kinds of items in the branded merchandise industry. You can nearly always get a “cheaper t-shirt,” but is it the kind of t-shirt your customers and prospects will actually want to wear? If not, that “cheap t-shirts” might end up at Goodwill. (I talk about pricing t-shirts here). Yes, you can get a “cheap coffee mug,” but I think that is the wrong question. If you want your branding message to spread, you need to look for someone’s “favorite coffee mug.” That item will get used every day.
You get the idea.
If you want to create a meaningful promotion that has staying power, think of how your branded piece will be used. Consider what your prospect might not only like, but want to use every day. When you create their “favorite” t-shirt, calendar or coffee mug, you get branding that has the power to last a lifetime.
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by Kirby Hasseman
On August 3rd, I was sitting at my home and I was nervous. Why? Because as a board member of OPPA (Ohio Promotional Products Association), we were about to head to Kalahari to host the first in-person sales event in our industry since the pandemic. We were excited to see all of our peers. I was excited to try and get back to business. But we were all nervous. (I talk about it in this video).
We wanted to create a successful event, but we did not want to set the industry back.
Over the course of the next few days, the OPPA Board, with the support of suppliers and distributors, held the Sales Safari at Kalahari. It was an in-person event that allowed suppliers and distributors to meet face to face for the first time since March. And by all accounts, the event was a success. Not only was the attitude around the event a grateful one, but the feedback we received was that we “made everyone feel safe,” and we took the necessary precautions to be safe.
This is by no means saying that we should open the flood gates. Discretion is still the better part of valor.
But as we move toward the end of 2020, we do need to figure out how to push forward. So here are some lessons we learned, actions we took and ways you might be able to have an in-person event safely.
Choose The Right Venue
I was so impressed with the Kalahari facility. As soon as you walk up to the doors, you see signage that explains their policies on masks and social distancing. When you walk through the doors you see hand sanitizing stations and more signage. That level of communication set the tone from the beginning. They were taking this very seriously…and it helped reinforce what OPPA wanted to accomplish.
Lead By Example
If you want the people at your event to follow the rules, your team better too! There is so much mixed messaging and confusion out there already, you don’t want to contribute. The OPPA team was on board from the beginning. Everyone was great about wearing masks and taking part in the protocol, so it was easy to ask everyone else to do it too!
Communicate…Then Communicate Again
At several points during the event, our Board President Kyle McGovern stepped in front of the group to give the full info on what we were doing…and why we were doing it. Our Executive Director LaDonna Belcher did the same. Over and over, we talked about the measures we were taking, and why they were important. We also gave attendees with options on what to do if they ever felt uncomfortable. This communication was great for explaining why every step was important, but it also showed a level of transparency that is important when working through something new.
Have Zero Tolerance
Once the rules were set (and we will get to a few of those in a moment), we worked hard to stick to them. The gravity of the situation was clear. We needed to be diligent in order to keep everyone safe. The eyes of the industry were very much upon us. With that in mind, there was no room for “non-believers.” If you wanted to attend, you had to follow the rules. The end. If you don’t want to follow the protocol (or you can’t), that’s fine…but you can’t come. I think that sort of discipline is critical to keep everyone safe. If potential attendees want to shout about their “freedom,” simply explain that they have the freedom to stay at home. It’s really that simple.
Masks, Masks, Masks
Here’s a secret. No one LOVES wearing their mask. It’s an inconvenience. But to be honest, it’s a minor one. Study after study has shown that they help to keep you from spreading the virus. Please don’t send me your videos from “Doctors” who say differently. If you want to have an in-person event, everyone needs to wear a mask. It’s safer. In addition, as I have talked about on the blog before, everyone wearing a mask makes everyone feel more safe too. And that matters if you want the attendees to learn and grow from the event. Oh…and if you don’t like it…don’t come to the event.
OPPA. provided everyone that walked into the event a mask, just in case they did not have one. There are some great ones out there that can help promote the brand and the event…and you can find a few here.
Take Temperatures
And speaking of what happened when participants walked into the event, every person had their temperature taken. That way, if someone is showing symptoms, even unknowingly, you have the chance to catch them before they mingle with the rest of the attendees. My suggestion is, take temperatures each day, just to make sure something has not changed overnight. There are some great touch-less options (find a few here), and I would recommend getting several so you don’t cause a back up when people are trying to get in!
Hand Sanitizers…Everywhere
As you might expect, the final item attendees got when they walked in the door was hand sanitizer. We also had sanitation stations throughout the event. This is where it was great to partner with Kalahari, because they have them everywhere too! The end result was that it felt like anytime you wanted to sanitize your hands, you could. That helped attendees be safe AND feel safe.
Limit Social Hours
One of my favorite parts of a normal in-person event is getting together to socialize with some drinks. That’s great…but it’s a place where things can go wrong. With the best of intentions, alcohol might ease the attention to detail on following protocols. You don’t want to do “everything right” and have one overly friendly Happy Hour ruin it! It’s not about being the “fun police,” it’s just about being smart so there is not an outbreak after an otherwise stellar event!
These are just a few precautions I recommend taking if you are considering hosting an in-person event. It might seem like a lot to manage, but I can speak from experience when I say, “It was worth it.” It felt SO good to be meeting face to face with other professionals again. If you want to look at some products that might help you host an event, feel free to check out our shop here.
Congratulations to the OPPA Board for having the courage to be first…and to take the steps to do it right.
by Kirby Hasseman
When beginning nearly any conversation about branding and marketing, we would love to jump straight to the answers. We would love to know where the journey will be taking us, so we can get started right away. But answers are never the beginning. Questions are. Creating a list of questions can help guide you and your campaign to a much more effective place. I created a list of 10 questions here…to get you started.
I find this to be especially true when you are created a branded merchandise campaign.
Branded Merchandise is one of the most effective tools you can use in your marketing tool box…but only if you use it correctly. Just like any other marketing tools, if you don’t know what. you are doing, you can waste your resources. But if you are intentional, and understand exactly who you are marketing to, there is often no better media than branded merchandise to get the job done.
That’s why questions are so important with branded merchandise.
It is incredibly important to know who you are trying to reach. Branded merchandise is very targeted (or it should be). So if you are targeting the right audience, in the right place, at the right time, you have marketing gold. But how do you know how to do that? Questions.
But while the exercise of going through a list of questions can really get your juices flowing, there is one question that I think really brings this idea home. Once you go through the basic questions in order to identify your “perfect customer,” this one question really helps me know exactly what branded merchandise will help reach them. The question is simple.
Where is your perfect customer when they realize they need your product or service?
When you answer that questions, can you see how that distills what you want to give your perfect customer…and where you want them to use it? If you are a Pizza shop, you want to reach that family in their kitchen. If you are a car repair shop, how can you get your information in the car? Once you find out that perfect customer, and where they are going to realize they need you, a well thought out promotional item can reach them right there.
It’s powerful.
So spend the time. Ask the questions. And if you need help going through this exercise. We can help.
by Kirby Hasseman
When facing times of retraction, the businesses and organizations that are willing to change are the ones that often grow and thrive. Well we are certainly living in a time of change. We must all be willing to look at what “we have always done” and re-evaluate. We are doing that with Hasseman Marketing MasterClass.
But let’s start with the bad news.
We have made the difficult decision to not have the in-person Hasseman Marketing End User show that we have had for over 15 years in Coshocton. It’s an event we love (and we hope you did too) so it was a tough choice. But when you factor in the safety of our team and our customers, we just felt it was the right thing to do. We are bummed…but have decided to make a shift that we are excited about.
Now let’s get to the good news.
We are VERY excited to announce that on Thursday October 15th, we will be hosting our very own Online Marketing Conference that we are calling Hasseman Marketing MasterClass. The event will feature amazing speakers, targeted breakout sessions, an Expo area for meeting with our suppliers and more!
We are using a platform called Hopin that allows us have engaging content that keeps moving fast. This is not just another zoom meeting and we are creating content with you in mind.
But wait there’s more.
There is a very small fee to attend the event (just $10), but we hope the value will far outweigh the cost. In addition, the first 100 registered will received a box with some sweet branded merchandise to get them ready to learn.
For more information and to register, please head here. We will be adding more information on sessions and speakers soon, but wanted to have you “save the date” and get in line for your sweet box of swag!
Thanks for your consideration, we hope to see you on October 15th!
by Kirby Hasseman
Riddle me this. We are living through a strange season in the world today. We have pandemics, racial injustice and murder hornets. Nearly every event in the country is on hold or has been shut down and in-person meetings have all but stopped. So how do you create a successful company launch during this time? For that matter, how do you create buzz and excitement around any new product or initiative when we can’t see our customers face to face and everyone’s attention seems to be more distracted than ever? How do you successfully launch?
Let me introduce you to brandivate.
In the interest of transparency, the folks at brandivate are my friends. I got to watch, up close and personal, how they decided to start a company during a pandemic, and I was privileged to be one of their “brandvocates” (I will explain in a moment). But regardless of my personal relationship, brandivate created a Masterclass on how to launch a company (or product, or initiative) during these strange times using Branded Merchandise and Social Media. I was so impressed. So I wanted to share the story, and a few lessons that might help you in your next launch.
What Did They Do?
brandivate is a marketing, coaching and consulting company specializing in the Promotional Products industry. Led by two industry professionals, Bill Petrie and Kelsey Cunningham, brandivate wanted to announce their new business venture with as much fan fare as possible on a very limited budget. Sound familiar? So with that in mind, Bill and Kelsey created a curated box of nice branded merchandise and sent them to a select group of friends in the promotional industry.
In the box was a personalized and numbered membership card (or brandvocate card) for each person, a nice, soft tri-blend t-shirt (you know I love soft t-shirts), coasters, and more! It was a great group of products! Finally, included in the box, was a card that explained the concept, the items and gave suggestions on how to post on social media to help create a buzz on social media about the campaign. If you want to dig deeper into the exacts of the campaign, Bill posted about it on his blog here.
What happened with the group was really cool.
As you might expect, the friends and influencers in the industry were delighted with their “swag boxes,” and wanted to help. So on Day 1 there were a few people that initially posted the Membership card and pens (as requested). Then the group started to get more creative. And as the week went on, the brandvocates all started to compete (in a friendly and unorganized way) to see who could come up with the most creative post. It was a fun competition among friends in the industry, all on behalf of brandivate…and it created quite a buzz in the Promotional Products industry.
As a side note, if you want to know the winner of this friendly competition, it goes to David Shultz who created this video to post on the Brandivate Facebook page. How fun is that?
The gang at brandivate delighted a few fans, raised the awareness of their launch (during a pandemic no less) and created a buzz on Social Media. That’s great. But did it garner results? I asked for the details and here was was the answer to the question:
“Did you get business results from this campaign?”
Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Numbers are still coming in but we can conservatively say we’ve seen a 30% increase in likes on the FB page, 15% increase on Instagram, 20% on twitter. We saw a 25% increase in content subscriptions on the website as well.
From a sales perspective, we have four active quotes as a direct result of the campaign with one of them doing the same type of social media launch for another company. Last, and this is the most challenging part to quantify, the engagement on social was far greater than we could ever have expected – almost to the point where it was impossible to keep up. When you couple that with the level of creativity on the posts, videos, and comments, we created a cost-effective, fun, and, most importantly, engaging way to make the brandivate brand feel like everyone was a part of the launch.
And that, my friends, is why I say that you can still create an amazing product launch, initiative launch or even company launch right now…using branded merchandise as a catalyst. Now here are some quick takeaways on what I think they did right!
Target Your Market
You might be thinking, “If this is such a great launch, why didn’t I hear about it?” If so that’s cool. They don’t need you. It’s not that they are elitist. They just know their market. They focused specifically on their targeted audience. That is one of the strengths of great branded merchandise. It is incredibly targeted. Kelsey and Bill reached directly into the market they were trying to reach…with no waste.
Select Great Branded Merchandise
When you create a campaign to launch a brand, the merchandise you select is directly representing you. You don’t have to buy the most expensive piece on the market, but now is not the time to be cheap. Select quality. You want to create an impression of high value. And let’s face it, the value of a branded product is determined when they are used over and over again.
Tell Them WHAT To Do
One of my favorite parts of the campaign was so simple, but often overlooked. They told their “tribe” what to do to help them! So many times, the people who love and respect you want to help you succeed in your venture, but they don’t really know how. Sure, maybe they can buy from you. That’s great. But in creating this campaign the brandivate team told their ‘brandvocates” exactly what to do to help make the launch a success.
So there you have it. How do you successfully launch? Here is a simple case study on how to use branded merchandise and social media to create a real splash with any campaign.
If you want to talk to someone on our team on how to help you create an awesome launch, head to our Branded Merchandise page here for more information!
by Kirby Hasseman
If you are building a brand or you want to spread a message, a custom printed t-shirt can be one of the most powerful tools you can use. People are very passionate about their t-shirts…and with good reason. They are, quite literally, putting your brand message on their body. It’s a powerful endorsement. In addition, T-shirts often become a favorite piece of apparel for many people. So if you are considering a promotional piece, t-shirts are a great option.
But what does a custom t-shirt cost?
It’s an important question for you to ask…but a hard one to answer. I cringe when I am asked it. Why?. Because it’s a bit like being asked, “How much does a car cost?” There are so many factors. So rather than avoid it, we thought we would spend some time discussing a few of the factors that change the cost of a custom t-shirt, so you decide the kind of shirt you need for your next promotion. (I talk about this a bit in this video too).
What Kind of Material?
The kind of t-shirt you want can play a huge role in the cost. It’s an important question for you to understand because it will ultimately play a big role in whether or not your recipients actually want to wear (or even keep) the shirt.
Cotton Based T-Shirts
For many years, I focused on selling the lowest cost style of shirt. These were the 50/50 or 100% Cotton style of shirts. There are plenty of quality options in this style that can help you keep the cost of your promotion down and they still play an important place in t-shirts. This kind of shirt is the least expensive and can be perfect when you are in a situation where budget is a big concern. If you are going to hand out thousands of shirts at an event, this style of shirt might be right for you. Or maybe you and your team be going to wear these while working hard, and they will be taking a beating. This style of a custom t-shirt can tell your brand story while lasting. We have sold this style of shirt from everything to a huge event, to a small family gathering…and they can work perfectly.
Tri-Blend T-Shirts
On the other hand, as T-shirts become a more accepted form of normal corporate apparel, a higher-end, more fashion-friendly, softer shirt has become much more popular. Think of your favorite t-shirt. Often, these are the shirts that are super soft and comfortable. I like to say that they are the shirts that never make it back to the closet. When they are clean, you put them on. These shirts are often Tri-blend t-shirts and they have become in high demand. A tri-blend is a fabric made up of three different materials: cotton, polyester, and rayon. Your customers are asking for them…and they notice when you hand them out. These are wonderful shirts to tell your story, but as you might expect, they do cost more than your traditional 100% cotton t-shirt.
Performance T-Shirts
The third style of t-shirt that is popular is the performance style shirt. This is the kind of shirt that you see at local 5K road races and worn (and sold) by sports teams. This performance style fabric is designed and specifically engineered to be cool and wick away sweat from an athlete’s body for peak performance. Many of these performance-style shirts even have UV protection built-in as well.
Each of these styles of shirts can be perfect depending on the style of promotion or event that you have in mind. But each of these has a different price point and can play a huge role in what your overall shirt cost will be.
How is it being Decorated?
Believe it or not, there are lots of ways to decorate a t-shirt. And depending on what way you go, it can have a huge impact on the cost of your project. I will go over a few of them here.
Traditional Screen-printing
The vast majority of t-shirts sold in the United States will be decorated with screen-printing. This is an efficient and cost-effective way to decorate a t-shirt and can have a great look. This is what we would recommend on 95% of t-shirts we sell. There are (generally) minimums with screen-printing, but those have come down in the past 10 years, so usually, you can do as few as 12 or 24 pieces affordably. That being said, screen-printing is done one color and one location at a time. So each time you add a color, you add some cost. Each time you add another location, you do it again. This is not to say you should not add those imprints. Not at all. It’s just a place a lot of confusion is created. This is where a $6 shirt can become a $16 shirt.
Embroidery
I love embroidery on many apparel pieces, but not on t-shirts. For the most part, I don’t think it looks great. People will sometimes use embroidery if that is the only decoration option they have at their disposal. But it punctures the already thin fabric and often bunches up your logo. For the most part, I would avoid this method on t-shirts. Oh…and it’s more expensive than screen-printing.
Heat Transfer
While I am not a huge fan of heat transfer imprinting on t-shirts, it most definitely has a place. For the most part, this is for a very low quantity run. If you want to do a special t-shirt for your loved one, doing a heat transfer might be a good way to get it done. Local decorators can help in this case, or the proliferation of the Cricut has created a system of local creators that can help you get this done. The challenge here is wear and tear. If not done properly, heat transfers can come off over time. They have come a long way though and might be right for certain projects. The cost of doing a heat transfer can be good for low quantity jobs, but become more expensive for larger orders.
Direct To Garment
Direct To Garment printing (or DTG) can be a great way to print t-shirts…in the right situation. Direct-to-garment printing (DTG) is a process of printing on textiles using specialized aqueous inkjet technology. In other words, it’s like using a home inkjet printer on a t-shirt. The upside is that you can print a full-color imprint directly on a shirt without the up-charge and limitations of traditional screen printing. Done right, it can create amazing imaging. The downside is you are generally limited on the material you can print on. DTG generally works much better on Cotton shirts. In addition, the cost of DTG is still higher than traditional screen printing. But if you have a logo that has a lot of colors and gradients, this might be a good option for you!
Sublimation
The final kind of decoration you might consider with custom t-shirts is sublimation. Sublimation is a type of printing process that utilizes heat to transfer dye into the fabric. Colors and images are dye-sublimated onto transfer paper. It is different from screen printing in that you are dying the fabric of the shirt, rather than printing on top of it. Sublimation can be a beautiful way to decorate t-shirts for specific projects. The downside is you are limited by the material of the shirt you can imprint on. In addition, the cost and quantity are generally higher. So while sublimation can be a great way to create amazing graphics on t-shirts, it’s not for every project.
How Many Do You Need?
This is pretty straightforward. The number of shirts you need will have a big impact on the cost of the actual shirt. Most people understand this…but it’s worth mentioning here. The more shirts you order, the less per shirt you have to pay. Got it? Cool.
What Sizes?
This is an often-overlooked piece of information when pricing t-shirts. The fact is, despite the many variations of t-shirts, this can be a commodity game. So many t-shirt sellers will price S-XL t-shirts very aggressively. They know that most of the shirts they sell will be that size AND that most people will only price those sizes. So when you get to larger sizes, most t-shirts cost more. If you only have a few people on your team that need a 2XL, then you are probably not going to notice it. But the more people you have and the larger sizes they require, the more it will affect your overall pricing. You might not like it…but it’s standard practice…and you should be ready for it.
As a rule of thumb (and that’s all it is) we tell our customers to plan on $2 extra for 2XL, $3 extra for 3XL and so on. This is not a perfect formula, but it gives you an idea for budgeting.
How Fast Do You Need Them?
The final factor I will address here is speed. How fast do you need your t-shirts? One of my favorite rules of thumb in our industry is simple. You can get your branded items fast, cheap, and right…but you only get to pick 2! You will save yourself a lot of money if you plan just a bit. If you can give yourself 2 to 3 weeks for the production of your t-shirts, it can save you anywhere between 25% and 50% on the project…and that does not include shipping. So when you can…plan ahead.
So those are just a few factors to consider when looking for a branded custom t-shirt for your next promotion. It can be a lot to consider (which is why I have never written a blog post like this before!). And if it all just seems too overwhelming, no problem. That is what we are here for. If you need help selecting a custom t-shirt, please let us know. We are happy to help.
But How Much Do They Cost?
Yes. I realize that after all of that I have still not given you an answer. I think you may now know why! But because I want to give you an idea, I will define the parameters and give you an idea of what you should be paying…regardless of who you buy custom t-shirts from. I will base this on ordering 144 shirts, with a one-color screen-print on the front and back of a t-shirt. Any variation to these specifics will change the price of the shirt…but it should give you an idea.
100% Cotton T-shirt: Based on the PC61 100% Cotton T-shirt you should be somewhere between $6.25 and $10.
Performance T-shirt: If you want to dazzle the runners at your next 5k, you should probably land between $8.85 and $12.50 for this shirt.
Tri-Blend T-shirt: While there are many different tri-blend options, you should be somewhere between $8.25 and $12.25 for this style of custom t-shirt.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider. My hope is this arms you with information on how to get the right shirt for the right budget for your brand. Good luck!
If you need help with your next promotion, please reach out to us. You can learn more about how we help with branded merchandise here.
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