Responsible for over a third (35.8%) of the promotional product market, wearables are the single most popular choice when it comes to using giveaways to maximise brand exposure and extend customer outreach. The majority of those are apparel items such as t shirts and baseball caps, but as a very fashionable article of clothing in the 21st century, hoodies are making impressive inroads on their more established counterparts.
Your Competitors Don’t Want You To Know
Comfortable, practical and hugely versatile, hoodies are often the garment of choice for many people in their day-to-day lives. Given that they’re worn at all kinds of public events and in just about any scenario imaginable, the publicity that a branded hoodie can afford your company should not be underestimated. Here are six industry secrets about hoodies that your business rivals would rather you didn’t know, and that you can leverage to steal a march on the competition and create a buzz about your company and its services.
1) Hoodies are not just seasonal
While hoodies might only be a popular choice during winter in countries with hotter climates, the inclemency of the Great British weather means that they’re staples of the clothing scene all year round. What’s more, they’re also likely to be the outer (and therefore most visible) layer of clothing worn in any season; sure, a jacket might cover them up during the colder months, but that will invariably be swiftly removed once the wearer enters a building. In this sense, hoodies offer great visibility at any time of the year.
2) Hoodies can be corporate wear
Traditionally, hoodies may have been regarded as an item of clothing more geared towards leisurely pursuits and more suited towards casual settings. However, their reputation has matured significantly in recent years and nowadays, hoodies are viewed for what they really are: utilitarian pieces of clothing which offer great comfort, warmth and style, not to mention superb promotional opportunities. Consider issuing your employees with complimentary hoodies printed with your logo and watch your brand grow in tandem with workplace loyalty and job satisfaction.
3) Hoodies are ideal for targeting a millennial market
While hoodies are comfy and convenient enough to be enjoyed by wearers of all ages, it’s certainly true that they’re more popular with a younger crowd than an older one. For a company looking to position itself as up-and-coming and with its finger on the pulse of modern fashion trends, creating a customised hoodie with an eye-catching design or snappy slogan can be the ideal boost that your brand needs in the eyes of a millennial market. After all, the young people of today will soon become the big spenders of tomorrow, so turning their heads now could pay off massively in the long run.
4) Hoodies make great competition giveaways
Hoodies are high enough value promotional items to make for superb competition prizes, which are a great facilitator of accessing new markets and adding plenty of new names to your mailing list. Simply offer a bunch of branded hoodies as prize giveaways for those willing to submit their name and contact info and you’ll get a hold of a fistful of hot new prospects in a single step. One aside: it might make sense to list another item as the jackpot in the competition, with 10 hoodies as runner-up prizes, to ensure your competition receives the response that you’re looking for.
5) Hoodies are long-lasting advertising tools
According to research, the average lifespan of a promotional product is just six months. Hoodies, on the other hand, are a far more durable animal, with an expected lifespan of between two and four years. One made from high-quality materials and sporting a distinctive design will be comfy enough and aesthetically attractive enough to ensure it receives constant usage over that time, meaning you’ll have a long-lasting and continually-working piece of company propaganda on your hands. That kind of brand exposure can hardly be measured in monetary terms.
6) Hoodies are high-value but not high-cost items
Which brings us conveniently onto our last point: the price tag attached to a hoodie. In comparison to cheaper promotional items such as pens, keyrings or baseball caps, hoodies are often viewed as being prohibitively expensive. However, the years of usage that they offer – and the years of brand exposure which comes as part and parcel of that – mean that they offer a solid return on your investment. All of the aforementioned items are perceived to be useful but disposable, whereas a far greater import and value will be attached to a branded hoodie. Therefore, they’re high-value without being high-cost in the long run.
