Promotional Apparel and Clothing
Promotional clothing and apparel is clearly the largest business category in the promotional products industry. In 2004, sales of wearable promotional products cornered almost 30% of the $17-billion promotional market.
Promotional clothing and apparel include wearable products such as T-shirts, caps, and jackets. These are items that recipients are more likely to keep because they are very practical and useful. Companies that put their names or logos on promotional clothing and apparel practically enjoy the benefit of having “walking commercials” every time the people use their products.
These promotional clothing and apparel are used for ad specialties, giveaways, gifts, and other marketing promotions. Many companies also give them logoed T-shirts to their employees for their casual day wear or for use during special outdoor activities such as golf tournaments and other sports events.
Aside from their practical use, promotional clothing and apparel remains a top promotional tool for many businesses because they offer endless options and possibilities. T-shirts, for example, can come in different styles and designs and it is one of those things that you would not mind receiving more than once.
Promotional clothing carry the company’s name, logo or message. The two most popular methods used to do this are silk screen printing and embroidery.
The steadily growing preference for promotional clothing naturally gives rise to intense competition and constant innovation among players in the field. The exciting trends in the world of fashion definitely ripple to promotional clothes and apparel. If before you think of promotional shirts as those loose tees with prints that get faded after the first wash, think again.
Today’s promotional clothing embodies the latest in fashion, design and fabrics. Businesses now understand that promotional clothes should look and feel good for people to use them not just once but many times. Otherwise, they are just wasting their marketing budget if the clothes stay hidden in the closet.
This is the reason why promotional clothing is very particular about quality. Quality should be seen first and foremost in the garment used for promotional wearables. Whether they are shirts, jackets, or caps, the use of high-quality garment will prove to be a wiser investment in the long-term compared to garments of lesser quality.
Aside from quality garments, promotional clothing should also be in style. They should reflect what is hot in the fashion scene in terms of colors, cuts, and designs. One of the positive things that industry players have observed in recent years is the variety of sizes that promotional clothes now offer. Before, promotional clothing come mostly in men’s sizes but now, there are more and more sizes and styles that are especially made for women.
Another interesting trend in the promotional clothing business is the more active participation of name clothes brands. Popular brands such as Gap, Old Navy, and Nike are all joining the promotional product market. They supply bulk order for the corporate apparel market. Having these popular brands along with your company’s name sure adds premium to the product.
The promotional clothing and apparel is getting additional boost from the increased demand for corporate apparel or casual uniforms by many businesses.
Perhaps one of the few downsides of promotional clothing is their limited life span. No matter how good the quality, these clothes wear out and this in effect puts a time limit to the use of your promotional tool.
Here are some tips o make the most of your promotional clothing program:
Never sacrifice the quality of your materials. Get samples and test for color-fastness and shrinkage for shirts particularly.
Order a variety of sizes including women’s sizes instead of the one size fits all shirts.
Check if your vendor has quality control systems in place.
Before finalizing any deal, make sure you know about the vendor’s policies on guarantees and return or exchange.