We were settling down to yet another episode of Dragon’s Den. Running a successful business a bit out of Brisbane in Ipswich we often listened to the pronouncements of the Dragons (or Sharks on Ten) and marvelled in a rather schadenfreude manner about the naivety of some people when it came to business.
But you know there is always something to learn even if you’ve been to business school. The ability of a business to position and brand itself is something those Dragons bang on about endlessly and for good reason. You can live or die by your branding.
Now, ours is well established in the eyes of our loyal customer base but with a downturn in sales, we felt there was room for improvement in getting our visual messages out there as well as rewarding our customers for their years of working only with us.
The company that did all our printing in Brisbane turned out to be the answer in an area of their business that we had not considered using them before. They are a company with four decades of experience in the printing arena and we had used them in terms of posters, A-frames, signage, banners, all manner of decals and labels.
But an episode of Dragon’s Den led us to ask a specific question about branded apparel and merchandise as a means of rewarding customer loyalty as well as promoting a fresh new way to advertise that would be both functional and effective at the same time.
We were immediately reassured that high-quality gear is an exceptional business promotional tool. Also outfitting our own staff at trade fairs and the like would help to cement our branding and create a greater feeling of togetherness.
Being involved in sporting events, corporate training days and trade fairs there was ample scope to have our staff get involved.
For our staff and due to the nature of our business we went for t-shirts, high visibility jackets, branded hats for those ubiquitous Queensland sunny days and tote bags – absolutely what every business should be promoting in these plastic bag, carbon footprint days.
When it came to merchandising to reward our customer loyalty we decided on customised water bottles, travel mugs and of course, umbrellas!
We got a quote for all our needs expeditiously and the liaison on the logos and precise nature of the branding and how it should look and feel was exceptional, treating us like a customer and not a number as any business should.
Our customers were as delighted as us with the outcome. Sometime after, this much-needed change to our marketing and promotional strategy was evident in a pick up in sales. It was clear that the added visibility – not just in the high-Vis jackets! – was working.
In conclusion, considering branded apparel and merchandising for your business is not throwing money down the drain if done properly. Go to the experts and discuss options.
Also Read: Your Ultimate Guide to the Best Tyre Brands in India 2024
