Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
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 learnt alot.
Well its not time I gave some tips myself!
Although I have a fairly new t-shirt business, I have learnt 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 hen 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 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 get 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!
Another thing to consider, is the "consumer perception" of your brand. At the end of the day, your brand is not how YOU see it, but how THEY see it. So it's great to develop your brand's identity, and manage it properly, but it's also important to aggressively position your brand in the market. I find in this economy, the consumer "shopping experience" is a huge asset for a brand. Hollister, Gilly Hicks and Johnny Cupcakes are a few that are really excelling at this right now.
We all know there is a certain amount of luck within the marketing world, but the main point I was trying to make is that it is always a positive to have a strong product, strong brand behind a strong marketing program!
I lack the marketing program right now! But we are working on it!
I really liked the way you have written and i think your way of expressing it all and that to making it so concise is simply brilliant.
Thanks for sharing the information.
Ye, agree completely with what you are saying about building up a brand and an image. The ultimate goal of all the things you suggested is to get brand recognition, so that people can instantly spot and recognize your brands tee and also, as you said, relate to the brand be it via the brands designs, stories, values, morals - whatever..
I think the most important thing is consistency, in everything you do and in any medium you enter have some common ground, the use of a logo, tag orientation (I think the was a bit a debate about tag orientation and Mr. Cupcakes elsewhere hehe), design or overall "look". Anyway, just my thoughts..
This is a good post and I agree with it. Whenever I design a T-shirt I always try to make it so that people can tell that I did it - that it's "my" T-shirt. It's what in the end will differentiate myself from everyone else, and keep people looking forward to the designs I produce in the future.
Now if only I could figure out marketing, that's where I'm having trouble right now, but I'm working on that, just like OffYaRocker.com.
Yeah, I defianlty agree with Jamie's number one. Do your products look all together, and would people be able to tell that there from the same brand.
Another thing I want to mention is advertising and maketing. Dont sell your self to somthing below your compnay standards. For example dont do cheap advertising for a high end brand.
Or dont advertise a punk brand in a eco friendly catalogue just because it was cheap to do so!
I completely agree. Branding, identity, and having a compelling back story and sticking to it are vital. I see a lot or arbitraty tees that are neat or funny but they don't represent a brand or there is no cohesion/common thread. I noticed this and saw an opportunity to create a line in which (what I think) there is a compelling cohesive story/ narrative. All of my future release will continue to evolve from the story I have written reinforcing and defining my brand.
I think having an overall theme and brand image is very important but one important thing you need to do is sell to a market. There has to be a customer out there that cares about your product.
Also communication is key. I've seen a lot of people tell me about their brand and it doesn't match up with what their site and products are communicating.
This is a true story: One of my friend's in NY started a clothing company and I have seen his designs, which are truely phenomenal..i was amazed..then he did the biggest mistake by printing those amazing designs on the lowest quality tee...this completely destroyed him.
The morel ofthe story: Always offer something of value to the customer coz switching cost (i.e. the cost to switch from 1 brand to another) in this business is negligible.
Brand Image 
Re: Brand Image 
