Like promotional products, getting promotional apparel right is all about gathering the many forces of your brand and focusing them. When you and your employees and business affiliates put on a company shirt, you represent your brand- you are a living and breathing billboard. What your apparel says can influence how your employees and business affiliates conduct themselves, and vice versa. Professionalism breeds professionalism. When considering promotional and company clothing, consider the following:
1. Who is wearing what?
Let’s say you manage a large catering business, with chefs, cooks, servers, and hosts. It does not make sense to have everyone wear the very same clothing. The servers and hosts would have to be recognizably different, and the chefs and cooks should distinguish themselves from the wait-staff.
2. How are we wearing it?
Clothing has to be practical. Servers need to be able to clean their apparel easily, and have no time to dry-clean. Perhaps then the hosts can wear dress-shirts while the servers wear polos. After considering who is wearing what, it is critical to consider its practicality according to the tasks of your employees.
3. Is there continuity in what we are wearing?
As mentioned, to get promotional apparel right is to understand and focus your brand identity. If you already have a logo designed which features white, black, and brown, then does it make sense to craft apparel which is orange and red? How does the placement of your logo on hats and shirts mirror the tone of your brand? Is it too large, too noisy? If you own a professional catering company, it doesn’t make sense to have a huge logo which fills the entirety of your company apparel.
4. Is there continuity in what others are wearing?
After you have successfully designed your own company clothing, it is important to consider how any promotional apparel you send out or sell to others corresponds with your corporate messages. Is the clothing the very same? If so, why? What can be included in distributed promotional apparel which is not conducive to one’s own company clothing? What do these differences and similarities say about your brand’s vision and purpose?
Creating profitable and professional promotional apparel is a most integral part of displaying your brand with confidence. MultiGraphic Marketing’s team is experienced in creative services, and will work with you to best understand the who, how, and why of your image. We will help you select the attire and customization solution that best ‘fits’ your business! Give us a call at (717) 625-1255.