Two story multimedia Roman numerals, good. Backed by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, better.

The Host Committee and our city leaders all realized the huge opportunity the Super Bowl presented to sell our city in a different light.  Every avenue from the advertising and outdoor activities to the Super Bowl Village and “Hoosier Hospitality” was maximized to get the greatest possible return.  Indianapolis exceeded expectations and used this chance to build its brand for years to come.

I think it’s easy to draw a correlation between everything the Host Committee did to make sure that the Super Bowl was a success and the things you need to do when promoting your brand, whether business or personal. Everything involved with your brand and your advertising deserves the utmost attention to be sure that it correctly conveys your message.  If your brand doesn’t convey the correct message then you’re wasting time and money.

Here are some points to take into consideration…..

Company Logo: This, for every intent and purpose, is the face of your company.  It’s what everyone sees and will associate your company too.  People will have some expectations depending on your services, years in business and price ranges your products hit.  If you own/operate a consulting business and your clientele are high-status CEO’s don’t have a business card with a logo on it that looks like you created with Microsoft Word Art.  Hire a graphic designer to create a good, clean logo that has meaning behind it.

Colors: The colors in your logo are just as important as the design of the logo, they should be complimentary to each other and be aesthetically pleasing.  When picking products for promotional use, strive to find/use products that match your color palette.  Perfect example, the other day I received a red flexible LED lamp from a major insurance company whose colors are red and white.  If I would have opened the package and saw that the lamp was blue I would have thought that this was an error and that time wasn’t taken to be sure the product was correct.

Now, I will say that I see some exception to this rule when it comes to apparel.  While promotional products have to stand alone once the target audience has them back in their office, apparel will only be present when your staff is as well.  As long as your corporate apparel isn’t a “uniform” there may be more value in always having your logo present vs. having it be a specific color.  Adapt the colors to match the garment or have a one color option available that looks good with all colors.

Products: Depending on your target market product choice is huge.  If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, the point of promotional products is to get your logo/brand face time.  The longer your target audience keeps your product the better the exposure.  Take the time to choose products that convey your message and offer value.  If you’re a car dealership key rings make a lot of sense; if you’re a bakery, not so much.

Worried that you’ll run out of products to choose from if you’re always looking for new options that fit this idea?  Don’t be.  There are a million different products out there to choose from.  *The quantity of 1 million is an approximation.*

Promotional products and apparel are a great way to promote your brand, but without effort can easily miss the mark.  Next time you use one of these avenues be like the Super Bowl Host Committee and give your attention to every facet.  It’ll pay off in the long run.

Here are some other great blog articles and sites about Branding:

What is Branding & How Important is it to Your Marketing Strategy?  

5 Branding Basics Every Logo Designer Should Know

Looking for a good Marketing Firm?  Check out Tactic Marketing: http://www.tacticmarketing.com/

Keep Branding.

Jody C.

Probably our most directly linked example to the Super Bowl festivities is our donation of the shirts for the Super Baskets of Hope project.  If you aren’t familiar with this project, volunteers will be packing up baskets with all kinds of items to offer “inspiration, entertainment and hope.”  These baskets will then be distributed to hospitalized children in the 32 NFL cities.  When we were contacted by the Riley Foundation asking for our help with these shirts, we were happy to be a small part of something so great!  Find out more at www.superbasketsofhope.org

Hardee’s Restaurants is partnering with Frank’s Red Hot, Coca-Cola and X103 downtown this week with a great interactive tent called the Hot Zone.  The Hot Zone will be located at 921 East Washington Street, so make sure you stop by for some free samples!!  While you are there, play some games, warm up a bit, and don’t forget to notice the great Hot Zone apparel the team will be wearing and this great headband that will be given out to special winners.  If the hot sauce doesn’t warm you up, this fleece ear warmer will!  Just one example of promotional headwear that we can supply for your event.

Our friends at Claddagh Irish Pubs called us last Thursday, said “we need 1500 shirts by Tuesday, can you help us out?”  Most certainly we can!  We put our foot on the gas pedal and knocked out some good looking kelly green shirts for special promotions they will be having at all of their area locations throughout the next two weeks.

These are just a few examples of how we were able to print some tee shirts, do some promotional products and most importantly, make our clients look good.  So don’t wait for the next big event to come to town, call us today and lets start working on your next branded apparel or promotional product giveaway you have coming up next.  Thanks to all of our clients for your business, we look forward to an exciting year with you.

SCREEN-PRINTING:  I looked up the actual definition of this process and it’s listed as “a print made by the silkscreen process”.  Personally I feel like this is just defining a word with itself so let’s define it by application.  Screen-printing is a cost effective method to decorate a variety of products from apparel and bags to promotional products and signage.  A design that is screen-printed will have a separate screen for each color of the design and the ink is applied directly to the product.

Distinct Images specializes in screen-printing for apparel and bags.  This process is perfect for company t-shirts and sweatshirts and anything else that would fall into the casual apparel category.  Go for a traditional look with a small left chest print and full back print or just a full front print of the company logo.  For a more modern look, modify your company logo to be included in a custom design based off a retail piece.

EMBROIDERY:  Let’s face it, while the t-shirts and jeans route is extremely comfortable, we don’t all work at Google and Facebook.  While most professions have moved away from a suit being the norm, dress pants and a polo or sweater are definitely in.  Embroidery is the perfect decoration option on business casual pieces to show your logo in full color on the left chest, sleeve or back tag placement.  Having everyone at your office in branded apparel not only ensures that a certain level of dress is maintained but it automatically gives the impression of professionalism.

Now, I have had people tell me before that they don’t want to waste money on embroidered apparel because they bought some before and no-one wore it.  Usually when we dig a little deeper though we find out that the shirts they picked out were hard to maintain, or the cut of the shirt was too boxy, or the piece was just down right uncomfortable; IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EMBROIDERY!!!!  Let’s bring your embroidered logo back into the office by spending some time to find apparel your employees want to wear and love to wear.

Want a design option that looks good on a polo or fleece like embroidery but can cover a larger area without breaking the bank?  Let’s take a look at laser etching.

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS:  The most common question I get when I tell people that we handle promotional products is, “What type of promotional products do you offer?”  The answer to this questions is EVERYTHING.  If you’re at the mall and you see a product that you think would be great to have your companies logo on it, chances are we can find that product, or something very similar, and produce it for you.  I used to say that we could logo everything except people; now we can do that too, see temporary tattoos.

Now, there are some that say promotional products don’t work or call them trash.  Many times we get a similar objection to promo products as we get on embroidery, “I used them once and didn’t get a response so I don’t want to spend money on them.”  Often times this is more a matter of finding a good promo product versus them all being bad.  ASI (Advertising Speciality Institute) did a survey that showed 84% of people remember the advertiser on a product they receive.  Again, set aside some time to find the right promotional product for your business and your audience.  If someone finds your product useful they are likely to keep it and use it increasing the number of times they see your logo.  Key point, PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS WORK.

The goal of branded items regardless or whether it’s screen-printed or embroidered apparel or promotional products is the same.  It’s to get your company’s name and logo out in front of clients and potential customer’s.  The more someone sees your logo the more likely they are to call you when they need your services or goods.  It’s that easy.

Keep branding,

Jody C.