We are in the era of a new business casual – sweats, pajamas and (for my ladies) no bra! Due to work from home orders, branded apparel has taken on a whole new value, and even as some of us slowly return back to the office place, work apparel doesn’t have to suck or be boring and uncomfortable.
Branded apparel can internally give your team a sense of comfort, unity, purpose and company pride (especially during such an isolating situation like Covid-19). Externally, branded apparel can effectively promote your brand and heighten the perceived value of your brand when the appropriate quality garments are used. It should reflect your brand story and be consistent with how you want people to describe your brand (clients/customers and employees alike). All of this being said, the importance of these pieces is way more than slapping a logo on a polo and calling it a day.
We had the pleasure of taking the Fashion Apparel Masterclass (FAM) put on by Bella+Canvas, one of our favorite apparel brands. It goes into detail on fabric composition, identifying industry trends, branding, differentiation methods and selling techniques.
Read below for our top 10 takeaways from the class and let us know if you are ready to implement these methods into your next apparel order. We can guide every step of the way to ensure success!
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- C.O.E. (Carded Open Ended) fabrics are what most of the inexpensive garments offered for promo are made of. But guess what? Major retail stores have BANNED this fabric from being sold in their stores for years. Cheap is not always a positive!
- Quality garments have the ability to get a sharper, more defined imprint because the tight knit in the fabrics prevent ink from bleeding.
- Millennials buy from companies who have shared values. They will spend extra money on items that are environmentally and socially responsible and ethical. Bella+Canvas is one of those brands!
- What people wear effects their mood. When it comes to apparel, consumers experience the whole shirt, not just the design on it. How they FEEL when they wear the garment will evoke an emotion that in turn gets attached to your brand. Make it a good one!
- BIG BUNNY ADVANTAGE! We were thrilled to hear these facts from the experts: creative decoration enhances final goods. Not only do we specialize in graphic design, we also have the expertise to skillfully recommend complimentary color combinations, unique decoration techniques and creative design placement. We got that retail vibe! Our favorites are tone-on-tone, puff ink and mixed media.
- End users want QUALITY and associate negativity with poorly made garments. Align your high quality brand that you work so hard on with apparel of equal quality. Don’t devalue your brand with a cheap piece.
- Apparel is largely psychological – we learned that our customers need to see and physically feel in order to make a connection and justify paying more for a quality piece. Virtual mockups and physical samples are available to make this easier on our clients.
- Bella+Canvas has a line called Fast Fashion that creates new styles monthly in limited quantities in order to keep up with demand of retail trends.
- Bella+Canvas has another winning differentiator: fabric type and color selection. With literally hundreds of options to choose from, this brand will have something to fit any promo goal.
- Cost per impression is lower on a more expensive piece. You read that correctly. This class explained wonderfully the case of added value when a quality piece is used for promo apparel, even if it is more expensive initially. You are investing in more impressions with a garment that will get worn and seen multiple times (have you heard the term “walking billboard”?) versus investing in a garment that will get trashed and not supply you with the impressions you thought you were paying for. Make the most of your branding efforts!
We may be nerding out over all of the info we have absorbed during this course but it was too good not to share! Check out pricing on some of our favorite apparel pieces below. Let us know if you have questions!