Corporate merchandise often gets treated as just another line item in the marketing budget. Order some pens for a trade show, grab bulk t-shirts for the company outing, put it on the shelf, and move on to the next task. What gets overlooked though is that the quality of promotional products, whether apparel or anything else, reflects directly on the company itself, intentional or not.
When employees wear branded apparel or when clients receive branded gifts, they’re operating within the confines of something physical representing the corporation. This representation fosters an impression that digital marketing can never hope to provide. When a quality product is used, reinforcement of a quality value system occurs. When a cheap product is thrust into a junk drawer without a second thought, the opposite impression runs rampant.
What Merchandise Really Says
Merchandise champions a cause for a company, even if that champion cause is unspoken. If a business orders based on the lowest of quality promotional products available, this communicates that it’s better to put pennies together than to offer quality. However, when organizations strive for quality, connection and conscientiousness with merchandise presents itself over time.
It’s not about spending millions to present millions; it’s about consistency in what a company leads with versus what it deems good enough for presentation. If an organization loves sustainability, then it must source on a similar level of integrity. If a brand exudes craftsmanship and quality, then its merchandise should mirror that sentiment.
The problem lies within treating promotional products as easy and cheap courtesy offerings meant just to check off a box instead of applying inherent brand equity. When companies fail to connect the dots, they fail to grasp how highly quality merchandise transcends physical items and delves into representational branding.
Perspectives for Employees
For employees, company merchandise works as a different type of product than through external offerings. If employees want to wear branded apparel proudly, that communicates pride in the organization. If no one bothers to give the merchandise a chance, it’s not just about t-shirt quality; it’s how employees feel about the organization overall.
In organizations that value their employee-based merchandise enough to buy in bulk and provide it at low prices to hand out to all, it comes as no surprise when no one wears the company t-shirts and no one knows who works for the company outside of work hours, simply because they were as low-quality as possible. However, in businesses where employees help design their branded apparel and those items deemed genuinely wearable are given out for free with great foresight, see their employees wearing those items proudly.
Moreover, employees wearing high quality, well-designed branded apparel in their daily lives is commercial visibility that no paid advertising could accomplish. If someone is out hiking wearing a company hat, or even just toting it in their hand while shopping, it creates subliminal marketed consciousness like none other…if it’s sufficiently high quality for them to even consider wearing it.
Where Quality Matters
Not all promotional items need to be high quality; things created for exhibition and one-off purposes can exist with lower standards than items maintained long-term or given to clients for exceptional loyalty. When it comes to apparel, however, the gap from passable to horrible is easily distinguished by anyone donning the clothes.
Poor cut and quality fabrics; ill-fitting pieces; and designs that crack and peel after two washes all communicate a lack of care. This is why many Canadian companies have started working with made in Canada custom hats and other locally sourced goods because anyone who receives them immediately understands the difference.
Often where an item is produced illustrates quality control, but also a correlative connection to American values generated towards supporting local economies or ensuring ethical production standards. This matters more or less for certain companies but should always be considered for the extended brand message.
Cost vs Value
Ultimately, not everyone has an endless budget when it comes to promotional products, and if there’s any semblance of reality, companies have practical limits within which they must function. The question then becomes where can people spend wisely versus where do cheap options exist?
Typically ordering fewer numbers of high quality options make more sense than diluting potential across cheaper options for various items. Ten good hats get worn (and promote value for each dollar spent) instead of fifty cheap ones that never see the light of day. The equation shifts differently if mass distribution at an event makes sense versus a deeply personal option.
MOQs (minimum order quantities) pose problems for smaller companies as well; working directly with manufacturers who understand growing pains within smaller companies makes high-quality options accessible even for companies who cannot order thousands at once.
Where costs come into play additionally is long term. A good product gets utilized for years. A bad one breaks (and assumes no accountability regardless of price point).
Design That Represents
The mere aesthetic appeal accounts for just as much value-based inclusion as actual value and usefulness. For example, some companies align themselves with very loud logos and brands proudly displayed on products; others would feel inauthentic doing so.
A good amount of use goes into subtle designs because they don’t scream “wear me” like a walking advertisement. Instead, what works best is when the product has its own appeal/utility and the additional branding merely embellishes nicely.
Color palettes used; font choices; and general aesthetics should work in conjunction with existing brand guidelines. Any deviation creates confusion not substantiating consistent clarity. Therefore, alignment makes all the difference.
Implementation Across Companies
For big businesses with dedicated promotional budgets and marketing departments looking for new ways to explore merchandise territory, different access is provided than small businesses that have many hats (often literally) to wear themselves (yet also retain different access across departments).
Small businesses have more integrity of element over finding themselves managing thousands of t-shirts; instead, they can work directly with manufacturers who are not just third-party middlemen of promotional costs, which increases costs sometimes but gives more control over what’s actually delivered.
Finally growing businesses looking for early relationships with trusted suppliers ensures good practices upon scaling down the line. Manufacturers willing to work with smaller MOQs but still implement excellence ensure companies have advantages when needs grow later on.
Strategic Merchandise
Strategic thinking is necessary when merchandising corporate thoughts as questioning what purpose each item serves before providing them makes a difference. Is this merchandising effort meant for employee morale boosting? Client appreciation efforts? Event visibility? Everyday functioning brand awareness? Each nuance calls for special consideration.
Typically it is best to implement merchandise suggestions with greater marketing/culture strategies as opposed to siloing them as separate entities. This promotes additional cohesive synergy from a cumulative approach to established brand personality.
When brands assess corporate merchandising efforts as an unnecessary attempt towards spending quality effort just to spend quality effort at all, or showing off, big mistakes are made.
When ultimately small businesses recognize that these tangible products are their extensions as much as they are extensions for recipients and they create nice things that mirror what they stand for, and actually stand behind, they take this effort seriously.
It’s never truly “not that serious.” Because if it’s serious enough (in both directions) it needs to translate beyond words forever more with all other assumed touchpoints in play.
Thus neglecting physical prominence miscommunicates intangible branding components to such a degree that words can never offer enough convincing value, even when great copywriting efforts are made in print.
