Dean Hayward, NMBS’ Sales and Marketing Manager, puts personalised merchandise and branded clothing under the microscope.
Personalised clothing and merchandise has long been used as a way for businesses to promote their brand. Just think of the last time you visited the NMBS Exhibition, and how many of the stands were offering visitors free mugs, pens, keyrings, USB sticks and even polo shirts, all branded with the various company logos.
Research conducted at Marketing Week Live 2016 by the British Promotional Merchandise Association found that promotional clothing is most commonly used at exhibitions, with 46% of brands viewing it at these events as additional advertising whilst over a third of brands had promotional clothing designed for use as staff uniforms.
Builders’ merchants can take advantage of the whole range of benefits that promotional clothing has to offer. Regular giveaways of branded T-shirts, fleeces or jackets can encourage brand loyalty, as well as ensuring your logo is plainly in your customer’s sight every time they reach for their work clothes.
But personalised clothing can also bring huge internal benefits for merchants, creating a strong sense of belonging and brand identity among your staff. Offering quality uniforms not only helps bring colleagues closer together, making them feel like an integral part of a team, but also provides them with comfortable, suitable work clothing, saving them money on purchasing their own work clothes. The uniforms can also then include any PPE or safety equipment required for health and safety purposes.
Branded uniforms also create a more professional image for customers, helping to inspire trust in the knowledge and support your employees can provide. A study carried out by Weintraub Associates found that 97% of the public believe uniforms make employees easier to recognise, while 70% said uniforms make employees appear neater and more professional. They also make staff seem more approachable to customers with questions about the products they want to buy.
Furthermore, merchants often have staff-only areas where customers are not allowed for safety and security reasons. Supplying all your employees with the same uniform can be a huge security benefit, meaning any unauthorised person found in a storage warehouse or any other area that is off-limits to customers will stand out easily.
NMBS partners with T King Associates, a Buckingham-based company that has been selling personalised clothing and promotional merchandise since 1990. The firm also offers bespoke design services, including in-house embroidery and printing, to enable those merchants who lack their own marketing and design departments to take advantage of the many benefits that branded merchandise can bring.
John King, Director of T King Associates, said: “Merchandise can be used to make staff feel valued and part of the team, as well as to promote your brand. Supporting a marketing campaign with branded products can have a huge impact compared to traditional advertising — the impressions created ‘per view’ from a T-shirt or product in someone’s van is huge. Just consider the life-cycle of a T-shirt, and how long that is kept and worn for until it is worn out, compared to an advert on social media.”
The NMBS Exhibition takes place on 10th April at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Open exclusively to NMBS members, the Exhibition brings together more than 280 suppliers under one roof and independent merchants attending the show can take advantage of special ‘on the day’ offers and rebates.
Any NMBS member interested in finding out more about T King Associates’ products can call 01280 824 836, or visit www.tkingassociates.com.
For more information on NMBS, visit www.nmbs.co.uk.
