Not all promotional clothing is created equal. Nor are all suppliers equal in their ability to give you the sort of advice you need to make a good decision for your "wearable advertising". This poses the question about how to make a good choice. Unless you are an expert yourself money and time could be wasted either learning enough to make a good decision or cleaning up after a bad decision.
We think there are five things you should think about before making a decision, the right decision for you.
Five things to think about before purchasing your promotional clothing.
- Will our promotional clothing solution make us stand out from our competition?
- Will our promotional clothing wear well?
- How quickly and easily can I get our promotional clothing to start working for us?
- How easily can I get more of our promotional clothing?
- Our logo wasn't designed specifically with promotional clothing in mind; can you make it work for us without diluting its impact?
1. Will our promotional clothing solution make us stand out from our competition?
Why look the same as your competitors? Isn't the purpose of your promotional clothing or "team" wear to make you stand out from the crowd of other businesses or teams with whom you compete? If you are trying to support your brand through a consistent image across all of your marketing media why would you not want to have that image displayed through the clothes that your customers, staff or team wear? The boldest statement you will make is the one worn out with pride by the people you work, supply or play with.
All of this means you need a promotional clothing supplier that has both the range of garments and design capability to support your marketing efforts and clearly establish your unique and visible difference.
At Southern Monograms we source a broad range of clothing from many different suppliers. This gives you a choice and enables you to create a unique team identity. If there isn't anything suitable from our ready-made range we have a custom-made service.
At Southern Monograms we use a state of the art digitising system to ensure that your logo, brand or design is transferred into an embroidered image in the closest possible manner to the original concept.
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2. Will our promotional clothing wear well?
Once you have established the look that works for your image your garments need to be able to stand up to the rigors of constant wear, in sometimes-difficult circumstances, and regular washing.
To be effective your garment also needs to be worn. If your staff, team or customers are uncomfortable wearing the garment then it is unlikely to be an effective promotional tool for you as it will not be worn and, therefore, not be seen.
Your promotional clothing supplier should be able to point you in the direction of the right garment for the right situation. What is suitable for one of the boys working outside in the yard will not be suitable for your sales rep meeting and servicing clients. If your target market are farmers who spend 60% of their time outside working in difficult conditions, then useful clothing for them will not be the same as a target market consisting of senior wine industry executives.
At Southern Monograms we consult with our clients and determine the purpose and circumstances that the promotional clothing will be worn in. We aim to provide a stylish garment fit for purpose using the right fabrics.
Southern Monograms predominately use polyester embroidery thread. This type of thread retains its colour better than others at high wash temperatures. This is especially important for sportswear, aprons, overalls and other garments that are commercially laundered. Your embroidered logo will usually out last the item it is embroidered onto.
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3. How quickly and easily can I get our promotional clothing to start working for us?
You have a million things going through your mind during your working day. Your time is valuable. As always there will be a deadline to get the job done.
Do you really want to add to those worries or increase the time required to get your job done? The time it takes to get your order organised and delivered is an important consideration in your choice of supplier.
At Southern Monograms we use a state of the art digitising system to ensure that embroidery programmes are produced quickly prior to production runs. We have the latest in embroidery machines and auxiliary equipment this helps us give the quickest possible delivery to our clients. We are committed to meeting any production promises that we make.
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4. How easily can I get more of our promotional clothing?
Getting organised should only be a one-off problem. Remaining ready to meet your promotional clothing requirements at all times should not require a lot of time and, absolutely, should not require any more cash thrown at the problem. Providing for new team members or new customers should take an email, fax or a phone call from your office. Seconds, not minutes. No hassles.
Re-ordering is simple as we keep all records of previous jobs on our computer system. If we are unsure we will phone you to make certain that everything is produced in the way that you expect.
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5. Our logo wasn't designed specifically with promotional clothing in mind; can you make it work for us without diluting its impact?
Often, the "wearable" part of your marketing strategy is just an afterthought. It's not something that enters your graphic designer's mind during the critical design process. Then, when the idea of promotional clothing finally reaches daylight, no adjustments are made to colours or the logo to cope with the limitations imposed by fashion or the nature of clothing. That unique image you have carefully nurtured is at risk of being "watered down".
We can usually convert designs from paper to embroidery without too much fuss. Where changes need to be made to cope with the limitations of embroidery we consult with our clients and suggest ways of adjusting your design.
Some of the world's leading clothing brands are very simple logos; consider Nike, Adidas and Canterbury, even Coca-Cola is a reasonably simple design that is recognised globally.
Remember, if you don't want to be disappointed with your promotional clothing, your choice of supplier and installer is the first and most important decision you will make.
Not all suppliers are equal in their ability to provide you with the right advice and the best clothing for your needs. However, there is not much difference between the prices of the suppliers in the market. Someone's getting ripped off. Don't let it be you.
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Click here to view a FREE Report --> An Insider’s Guide: How To Avoid The Most Costly Mistakes People Make When Buying Promotional Clothing And Uniforms |
