Hi guys, im fairly new to the forum but have spent a while now reading through some of the cool tips and tricks on here and I have learn't alot.
Well its now time I gave some tips myself!
Although I have a fairly new t-shirt business, I have learn't alot on one specific issue and that is the brand!
Initially when we started we got over excited made amazing colourful designs and thought that nothing could go wrong, we had loads of them and we were confident this was it, but when put up for review and given to my close personal friend who is also my manufacturer he totally dismissed them.
Why?
Because they were just a bunch of random graphics with no thought or meaning behind them.
Now dont get me wrong, I know this is not important for all t-shirt companies, for example, funny tees, they are all different but with an actual clothing label that is trying to group a specific message across it is very important to link them in some way or another. What I mean by this is when someone looks at your tshirt they can say oh that is an "X" tshirt.
Without this, you will fail in the long run, take it from me, iv been there. You may sell like hot cakes at the start but when the hype dies down, it will rapidly.
The key to success is having a constant hook, a background story, a meaning to entise the customer to want to be part of this brand and attatch themselves to it.
I know this all may sound very deep but psychology is an important matter and it is amzing how a strong historical brand background can help you succeed in the long run.
So to summarise my advice:
1. When you bring out a range, try to look at them as an outsider and think, do these look like they all came from the same label? Could I tell they are from the same family without looking at the label?
2. Publish a story, an about us page on your website, or right a little story on the tags if you use them to describe the t-shirt.
3. Stay true to your brand, dont go off-track, obviously you will always go down slightly different roads but try and keep your brand identity.
I guarantee if you follow just some of these steps you will be more succesful with your t-shirt business!
We are trying to do that now, all our designs are different, they may not be the most amazing design to look at, but they are unique, they link, they have a great story, people can relate and they are of great quality.
We may be seen as stubborn but we dont want to become a slave of the ever growing major retail junkie industry, we are being true to ourselves, this way we know things may take off slowly, but once people gain interest, they will be interested for life, as they are wearing something that they know all about and that relates to them!
I even studied colour psychology within my degree of depth perception and 3D vision and the effect it has on the brain and emotions, sad but very useful.
Take from this what you will but I just thought id give you my opinion!
Thats just so true. Thats exactly what I thought when people tell you branding is not important. Don't put your logo on the shirt, people won't buy it because they don't know your company. I just shook my head. People want to belong to something. So, tying your logo to your designs will make sure they can identify your company. Great advice.
The thing is when I say brand image I dont mean you have to put your name on the front, just a hook, or common part of a design or colour to recognise!
Looking at the financial data from porsche. (Revenue)
2003 = €5,582m
2004 = €6,147.73m
2005 = €6,573.97m
2006 = €7,122.67m
2007 = €7,367.88m
They are doing pretty good for not being focused. Regardless.... the slideshow had some great food for thought. Thanks man.
The slideshow also said that straying from your brand may be lucrative short term, but ultimately it hurts your brand long term. Personally, the first thing that I thought when I heard Porsche made a SUV was not a good thought, so in my eyes, it hurt their brand.
Hi Jamie, I have some thoughts on your post. They come from an 25+ year professional in marketing high tech products with a personal discipline in graphic design and aesthetic aspect. I am in the process of working through the startup stages of my business plan for my apparel line. It is my opinion that much of the basics of solid marketing data translates to any consumer product being sold to the public, high tech gadgets to apparel. I may be wrong so don't take what I have to say as coming from a person that has successfully marketed apparel at a mass level yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OffYaRocker.com
Initially when we started we got over excited made amazing colourful designs and thought that nothing could go wrong, we had loads of them and we were confident this was it, but when put up for review and given to my close personal friend who is also my manufacturer he totally dismissed them.
Why?
Because they were just a bunch of random graphics with no thought or meaning behind them.
I am with you on this one Jamie. All graphic images, done by traditional methods or by computer, that are designed to be appealing to humans is art. Art must be cohesive and aesthetic to the message the art is trying to convey, whether abstract, realistic to surreal or anything in between. The message can be very simple with not a lot of underlying meaning to a very sophisticated difficult to decipher hidden one. But, no matter how simple or sophisticated the message, to the person who understands the message, the art must be cohesive and aesthetic to that particular message. Don't misunderstand me here. Art can be what we would call ugly and repulsive, but if it is cohesive and aesthetic to the message being conveyed we can find it appealing.
So what I am getting at is that the art in our product must have a message and an aesthetic, simple or sophisticated, that our customer understands and finds appealing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OffYaRocker.com
Now dont get me wrong, I know this is not important for all t-shirt companies, for example, funny tees, they are all different but with an actual clothing label that is trying to group a specific message across it is very important to link them in some way or another. What I mean by this is when someone looks at your tshirt they can say oh that is an "X" tshirt.
Without this, you will fail in the long run, take it from me, iv been there. You may sell like hot cakes at the start but when the hype dies down, it will rapidly.
The key to success is having a constant hook, a background story, a meaning to entise the customer to want to be part of this brand and attatch themselves to it.
I know this all may sound very deep but psychology is an important matter and it is amzing how a strong historical brand background can help you succeed in the long run.
OK Jamie, this is where I have some different thoughts. While brand recognition is important to a market space, its importance is not so much as that a person instantly recognizes a product and associates it with a particular brand. Its importance lies more in two areas; image and customer confidence. Now when I said image you may have thought I contradicted my self. This is what I mean about image. A brand has an image the public perceives. It could be that people generally perceive a certain brand to be cutting-edge, or creative, or traditional, or superior quality, any number of aspects that could be important to a particular person. A brand can also have a particular line of product that does have a consistent and recognizable look, but that line is not the brand exactly. A brand is a focused and tailored move into a market space to bring a product to a targeted specific demographic in the population. A brand can be created to target all people who wear T-shirts. Not all people wear T-shirts, so some people are not in the demographic. A brand that targets a base that big would then have multiple lines within that brand to target sub demographics within the overarching demographic. So the brand has an image, and the lines within the brand also have separate aspects in their images that include the brand's image.
What I am getting at is that a company has to thoroughly identify their target demographic. They need to understand the culture of the people in their target demographic and many important aspects pertaining to what is important or not important to their target demographic. A major piece of data to know is if the demographic chosen to target has any subcultures in it. If so, then lines targeted at the subcultures need to also be developed. In marketing apparel, it seems to make sense to me if a demographic a company targets has no subcultures within it, then the brand and the line can be the same thing if a company chooses.
Now I went a long way to get here; Jamie you stated "the key to success is having a constant hook, a background story, a meaning to entice the customer to want to be part of this brand and attach themselves to it." I don't think this is exactly correct. I think the key to success is completely and thoroughly understanding your target demographic, their culture, and what is important to them and what motivates them. Then you create a brand, and lines, that contain the elements that should be attractive to the company's target demographic. So what is important to the people you want to sell you stuff to? And even more importantly, what motivates them? If a background story is important to them, then by all means, give them one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OffYaRocker.com
So to summarise my advice: 1. When you bring out a range, try to look at them as an outsider and think, do these look like they all came from the same label? Could I tell they are from the same family without looking at the label? 2. Publish a story, an about us page on your website, or right a little story on the tags if you use them to describe the t-shirt. 3. Stay true to your brand, dont go off-track, obviously you will always go down slightly different roads but try and keep your brand identity.
I guarantee if you follow just some of these steps you will be more succesful with your t-shirt business!
We are trying to do that now, all our designs are different, they may not be the most amazing design to look at, but they are unique, they link, they have a great story, people can relate and they are of great quality.
We may be seen as stubborn but we dont want to become a slave of the ever growing major retail junkie industry, we are being true to ourselves, this way we know things may take off slowly, but once people gain interest, they will be interested for life, as they are wearing something that they know all about and that relates to them!
I even studied colour psychology within my degree of depth perception and 3D vision and the effect it has on the brain and emotions, sad but very useful.
Take from this what you will but I just thought id give you my opinion!
Good luck!
Jamie
Jamie, in number 1 you encourage people to look at their product like an outsider would look at it. That seems to me to be also getting at understanding how your demographic perceives you product. That is key to having a successful product.
In number 2 that would only be important if that is important to the demographic.
In number 3 I completely agree with the general point here. I would clarify further saying stay true to your brand and don't go off track by sticking to your values and morals, and create and follow your business plan. And the slightly different roads are your lines within your brand.
So I would end with this. Number one, decide who it is you want to sell your stuff to. And once you do decide, it should not be a group of people that you don't understand. If you don't understand them, you won't create products that are appealing to them (unless you just get lucky). The level of understanding you will need for a target demographic depends on the demographic its self. Not every group you target needs the same amount of knowledge and research. But only you, and the marketing staff if there is one in a company, can decide how much detail in understanding about a demographic will be needed to create appealing products. Once you have a grasp on your target demographic, then the most important aspect in marketing products to them is knowing what motivates them to buy. Once you know what motivates them, you get your product in front of them when they are motivated.
Lot of good thoughts on this thread. I agree with Jamie about the importance of brand identity, but I also agree with Mark that it goes much deeper than just the original post. Brand positioning and consumer perception play a huge role in establishing a successful brand.
The Importance of Brand Image! 
