If you’ve ever wondered whether promotional materials make a difference, consider the phenomenon surrounding the free tote offered to subscribers by The New Yorker Magazine. This unassuming, black-and-white canvas tote became the must-have accessory of the elite in NYC. Everyone was talking about it, stumbling over themselves to order the magazine to receive their bag. Magazine articles were written about the fact that the crème-de-la-crème of high society were choosing to carry a free tote over their $10,000 Hermes bags. And, to this day, you cannot walk through the streets of the Big Apple without seeing a New Yorker bag on someone’s arm.
So, do promotional items have the power to really impact your brand? You better believe it.
In fact, a whopping 85% of the global population who receives a promotional product remembers the advertiser who gave it to them. That’s pretty powerful stuff. And people who are given promotional items tend to keep and use them, and every time they do, your business is blessed with free advertising. In fact, 57% of U.S. consumers say they keep promotional swag for more than 5 years, and more than 40% admit to keeping promo items for over a decade.
That’s why we’ve curated a list of our top 3 picks for promotional apparel and accessory must-haves for 2022. After all, who knows? One of these might be the item that makes your brand and business go viral.
Whether you’ve participated in a local 5K race or received one from the business end of a t-shirt cannon during a sporting event, at some point in our lives we’ve all been given a promotional t-shirt, and we tend to keep them for years. Perhaps this is why the impression level for outerwear is so high—most t-shirts get an average of 3,400 impressions over their lifetime.
When it comes to getting the most bang for your buck, you won’t do better than t-shirts. They are economical to produce (especially if you opt for a simple graphic with no more than three colors used in the design) and are something recipients will actually use…and use often.
There’s also something to be said for the sense of community that is created when recipients feel as if they are part of an exclusive club as owners of your swag. This feeling grows when your shirt design or message is slightly obscure because it allows recipients to enjoy that feeling of “if you know, you know” which not everyone can enjoy.
Coming in a close second to t-shirts are baseball caps and other hats. Like shirts, hats can get your brand message out into the world without coming across as an overt advertisement. And unlike t-shirts that run the risk of only being used as sleepwear and never seeing the light of day, hats are guaranteed to be used where other people are, thereby increasing the visibility and awareness of your brand.
Hats offer the added benefit of greater functionality among men and women. With t-shirts, sizing differences limit who can wear them, but hats are universally popular and can be easily adjusted to fit most heads.
Another functionality perk is the fact that wearing a hat is actually good for you. Baseball caps shade your face from the damaging effects of the sun and help to keep you cool. But there is another hat that is gaining popularity and positioned to outpace the baseball cap…and that is the bucket hat. While they have been around since the 1960s, their recent use among celebrities like the K-Pop group BTS and model Bella Hadid has repopularised this classic hat. And the fact that it has a wider brim to protect the neck and shoulders from sun damage only adds to its appeal.
Last but certainly not least on our list is the humble canvas tote bag. This simple tote is perfect for promoting your business because, like shirts and hats, it is something people will actually use.
One of the biggest perks of totes is their functionality. You can use it in place of your traditional purse. Bring it with you when you go to the local farmer’s market or grocery store to replace single-use plastic bags. In fact, many people love canvas totes for that very reason—it shows the rest of the world how much they care about taking care of the planet.
You can also use canvas totes as a gym bag, an overnight tote, a laptop wrangler, a pool or beach accessory carrier…and in any situation where you need help corralling your belongings.
And so…
Don’t underestimate the power of promotional apparel. And if you decide you’d like to have some promo pieces created for your business, contact us at Cloudprint Group. Our pros are ready and waiting to make your promotional dreams come true.
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