Merch in a marketing campaign helps build brand awareness, strengthens customer loyalty and makes the company stand out from the competition. Promotional gadgets and apparel allow not only to increase the visibility of the brand, but also to create an emotional bond with the recipients and recipients. In what situations is it worth reaching for printed promotional apparel, what are its most important applications, and how to use merch in both online and offline advertising campaigns?
When is merch useful in a marketing campaign?
Merch in a company’s advertising campaigns works well in a variety of situations – regardless of the industry. It can be part of a strategy to build awareness about the brand, support for industry events or a tool to engage the community around the brand.
Image campaigns
Printed corporate apparel is a great way to increase brand recognition in a given industry. By wearing promotional clothing with a company’s logo, employees and customers become brand ambassadors, which increases brand visibility.
Industry events and conferences
Trade fairs, conferences or networking meetings are ideal opportunities to use promotional gadgets as gifts for customers. Custom printed T-shirts, cotton bags or corporate sweatshirts make your brand more noticeable and memorable.
Learn more about using merch at industry events
Moreover, with branded T-shirts or other garments, the brand representation will be easily recognizable.
Building customer loyalty and sales campaigns
Personalized clothing can be part of loyalty programs or prizes in contests. Exclusive and unique apparel with the company’s logo for regular customers and clients strengthens the bond and builds positive associations with the brand.
Implementation of new projects and rebranding of companies
When a company’s corporate identity changes, corporate apparel for employees helps to quickly incorporate new elements into the organizational culture. With proper planning for the rebranding process, it’s easy to create an updated set of corporate clothing with logos or personalized promotional products to reflect the new brand identity.
Read more about rebranding brands and using merchandise in the process
Use of personalized products, merchandise in marketing campaign
Merch in marketing can play a variety of roles in many industries – from a practical advertising medium to a tool to engage customers or clients. What are its most important applications, and the most useful ones for marketers?
Building a community around the brand
Promotional apparel can be part of an employer branding strategy or a tool to build a community around a brand. T-shirts, sweatshirts or caps with the logo can unite employees and fans of the brand.
Strengthening corporate identity
Well-designed branded apparel allows you to effectively reinforce your corporate identity. We refer here to our Video Case Study about the Traffit Experts campaign, where branded sweatshirts became a key element of a marketing campaign targeting the HR industry.
Promoting brand values
Advertising apparel can also carry a marketing message – eco-friendly products like T-shirts or printed bags emphasize the company’s eco-friendly values. Parcels of sports gadgets, sent as part of an advertising campaign, will instead promote a healthy and active lifestyle. The main thing is to match merch appropriately to what the company wants to communicate as part of a given activity. Consistency and quality above all!
Merch vs. visibility of online and offline advertising campaign
Merch supports campaigns that build awareness about the brand in both online and offline spaces. In the case of offline, it happens there, among other things, through various events like trade fairs and smaller industry events. In the online world, personalized corporate apparel for employees and customers can become part of a brand’s social media strategy. Photos of influencers in company clothing or footage of employees wearing logo t-shirts emphasize the authenticity of the brand. Moreover, your logo and identity is thus perpetuated with the brand’s audience, i.e. potential customers.
Case study: how did branded sweatshirts help a marketing campaign?
An example of the effective use of promotional apparel in a campaign is the previously mentioned Traffit Experts project. Within its framework , the Traffit brand created unique corporate sweatshirts for female HR experts who were invited to participate in an educational program. As a result, Traffit used its flagship product of corporate merchandise and in this project.
See how the process of realizing the Traffit Experts sweatshirts looked like:
The implementation of MerchUp x Traffitis an excellent example of how merch in a marketing campaign can support a content marketing and employer branding strategy.
Merch in marketing is a powerful tool. It increases brand visibility, engages audiences and builds community. It’s time to use it in your strategy as well!
