How To Boost Brand Recognition With Merchandise And Apparel
What comes to mind when you see a laptop with an apple graphic design? How about a coffee mug with a circular green lady logo? What can you remember with this tagline, ‘It’s a real thing!’ or ‘It’s finger-lickin’ good!’? All of these examples demonstrate brand recognition.
Brand recognition is a critical aspect of brand advertising and marketing. It reflects how well people are familiar with your brand when they see your logo, product packaging, and other brand identifiers. You have successful brand recognition when consumers can recognize your brand through auditory, visual, or other sensory cues without seeing or hearing your company’s name.
But building good, long-term brand recognition can be challenging and take time, effort, and resources. Start boosting your brand recognition strategies to hear your prospects say, ‘This brand rings a bell!’ or ‘That brand looks familiar!’ One of the most in-demand brand recognition strategies is using branded merchandise and apparel, and this article will cover this topic.
Step One: Set Goals And Visually Spread The Word
Merchandise and apparel can help promote your brand creatively by adding your company logo, tagline, and other identifiers. Before designing your branded merchandise and apparel, don’t forget to set your goals, expectations, and metrics first.
Remember, your primary goal is to boost brand recognition, not to make sales outright. Therefore, you must keep this in mind when setting specific goals and objectives. Otherwise, you’ll think your efforts fail you.
Once you have a clear goal, it’s time to take action.
Easy t-shirt printing or engraving your brand identifiers on mugs, caps, and other merchandise and apparel can help generate brand awareness and, ultimately, recognition. But how? Here’s a good example:
Jane and Joe were given branded couple shirts. The white shirts are closely identical, with a cool graphic design of a male and female panda holding a bottle of a beverage product with smiling faces.
Jane and Joe decided to wear them to run some errands one morning. They took about two hours to shop in the supermarket, 30 minutes in the bank, 30 minutes in a food chain establishment, and an hour to do other things.
How many people do you think saw the shirts? Did they even notice the design of the shirts? How many of those who noticed it wonder where Jane and Joe got those shirts? How many of them can associate the design with a brand?
Just imagine the number of prospects and customers you can generate with a well-designed couple shirt. Your imagination is your limit. That’s how you can use branded merchandise and apparel to spread the word to boost your brand recognition visually.
Step Two: Create Strategies For Merchandise To Do Wonders
Once you have great designs ready for your merchandise and apparel, let them do wonders for you. But this doesn’t mean it’s effortless. Before your branded merchandise and apparel can benefit your brand, you have to do your part.
Check out these tips to boost your brand recognition using branded merchandise and apparel to bring enormous benefits to your business:
- Use Them As Customer Loyalty Rewards
Use brand merchandise items to show your sincerest appreciation to your loyal customers. You can give branded merchandise shirts, hoodies, or anything you can think of that best represents your brand with your logo or tagline printed on them. Some of your loyal customers can make them as collectibles, displayed somewhere inside their homes or frequently worn outside, further boosting your branding.
- Use Them As Gamification Prizes
Gamification marketing is a fantastic brand recognition booster. It uses the concept of gameplay to spark customer interaction, motivation, engagement, and brand awareness. You can create brand-sponsored games, like in-store lucky draws, website trivia contests, or social media challenges, and use merchandise items as prizes.
- Use Them As Freebies
If participating in a trade fair, you can use your branded merchandise and apparel as freebies to entice more investors and customers. Consider it an investment that can bring fruitful rewards for your company in the long run.
- Use Them For Volunteer Work And Sponsorships
Branded merchandise and apparel are perfect for volunteer work and community-event sponsorships, where many people will be taking photos and videos to share with their social media friends. In addition, your brand gets additional exposure from the press media coverage and influencers who would likely be interested in covering the event.
Step Three: Temp Check Your Brand Recognition Efforts
A crucial aspect of branding is temp checking your progress. Based on your set branding goals and KPIs, how far have you reached? How much did you spend versus what you earned? A brand recognition roadmap or milestone calendar and reliable tools to measure relevant metrics are important to help answer these questions.
Your branded merchandise items will sell out because they’re free or part of a promotional deal. But how can you determine if you have an effective brand marketing strategy using merchandise and apparel?
Here are the best indicators of your brand recognition efforts:
- Your Business Traffic
Did you notice an increased number of people visiting your store? If yes, it’s a good sign that your brand recognition efforts are working.
- Your Brand Buzz
Have you observed more people talking about your brand online? Are you receiving more social media reactions, comments, and shares? If yes, your brand recognition efforts are effective.
- Your Merchandise Presence
Is there an increased number of requests for your branded merchandise and apparel? If yes, you deserve a big round of applause.
The business traffic, buzz, and presence you generate from your branded merchandise and apparel may not last long as expected. A brand’s advertising and marketing strategies must be aligned, collaborative, agile, and relevant. Without one or the other, you can’t build a solid brand.
Elevate Your Brand Recognition Now
Take your brand recognition to new heights by leveraging well-crafted branded merchandise and apparel. Ensure you set strategic goals and brainstorm innovative approaches to integrate them into your offline and online advertising and marketing campaigns. Don’t hesitate to seek inspiration from merchandise and apparel experts and closely monitor your competitors’ strategies. With a well-executed plan and a touch of creativity, you’ll witness remarkable results in boosting your brand recognition. Don’t wait any longer—start capturing attention and leaving a lasting impression on your target audience today!
