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Originally Posted by sunra1081 |  | | | | | | | | | at what point should a t-shirt designer start considering using their own tags??? | |  | |  | |
Start
considering it from the moment you decide you're going to sell some t-shirts.
Implement it whenever it suits your brand. For a boutique brand, that probably means from the start. For an internet-based brand that could mean anything from beginning through never.
Personally I see labels as having a few functions.
1) Branding.
2) Legitimacy.
3) Ego stroking.
Branding is what most people think of first, but personally I think it's actually the least important of the above three functions (which is
not to say it's
unimportant - it's the third of three good reasons).
The important thing about branding is that it comes at the customer from every angle. Everything about your brand is aimed to communicate an idea or an aesthetic or a mood. So if your shirts aren't tagged? You still have the banner on your trade show stall, or the flyers on the table, or the photos on the website, or the copy written for your site and catalogue, etc. etc.
Maybe you're letting yourself down by not doing
everything you can, and having the tags is a part of "everything you can", but maybe you just don't need them. Or could better use the finite money you have elsewhere (like on that banner, or business cards, or a lookbook). Some brands don't need to be that heavily branded - knowing not to be in their customers' faces with their name all the time is part of their brand. I think there are rare cases where having your own tags can even
harm your brand (if you're selling at a market that wants a certain kind of shirt, and won't really realise that it's still the same shirt with a different name on it for example - in other words maybe what they really want is a Hanes(R) and not a Yourbrand(tm) shirt).
In short, it's one of many optional branding methods in your repertoire. Use it or don't, as it suits you and/or your brand.
Legitimacy is the most important external reason to use tags. It's most important when selling in-person, but it can also be a factor on internet sales.
Some sellers write-off the importance of tagging because its presence seems to add very little to the product or to customer satisfaction. This is true - but tagging is measured less by its presence and more by its absence. A customer may not think of it or care that it's there, but when it
isn't they might start to have second thoughts. Things like "How legitimate is this product? Is it a knock off? Is the whole thing a cheaply produced piece of crap?".
The only reason it's there is to be a quiet reassurance that "Yes, I know what I'm doing, your shirt is professionally produced and will hold up in the wash."
The question you need to ask is "Would my typical customer expect my typical product to have its own brand label?". If the answer is yes, include one. If it's no, don't (unless you really want to).
If you want repeat business and word of mouth then this is just as important with online sales. With online sales the answer to the above question is far less likely to be yes, but if it
is then you still need them.
If the customer buys the product online, expects a certain level of finishing (custom poly bagging and brand labels in the neck for example) and the product falls short, their reaction is... disappointment. Disappointment is a brand killer. It instantly severs the emotional connection the customer had with the brand.
They can only be disappointed if they had expectations. That means they thought you were something special. And now they don't. Disappointment is very important.
Without that emotional connection, they're a lot less likely to follow your new releases, pass your name on to friends, etc.
Look at what other brands are doing, and be at least as good as they are. If you can't afford that, drop your selling price point to somewhere with less expectations.
Simply put, if you can't afford the customisation present on a typical $35 shirt, then you can't afford to sell your shirt for $35. If you are selling your shirt for $12, your customers don't expect the same product benefits they'd get if they paid $35. They chose that trade-off when they chose a product that fit their budget. There's no expectation, so there's no disappointment.
Ego stroking is either the least or the most important reason, depending on your point of view. I'd say, and this is basically aimed at those who'd get a kick out of seeing their name in lights, that it's the most important
internal reason.
Don't be too quick to write off ego stroking. In moderation (i.e. so long as it's not excessive narcissism) there's nothing wrong with doing something just because it will make you happy.
I advocate that the non-monetary benefits of having a brand are at least as important as the monetary ones (or they'd better be, because this isn't a get rich quick scheme). In other words if it feels good, do it.
"But why spend $200 on something that isn't going to help the brand make any money when you could spend that on something useful instead?" I say
so what.
For most people the point of running your own business is to live the life you want to live. If that means having as much money as you possibly can, that's fine - cut every corner it is reasonable to cut (which would include brand tags). If that means selling a product that matches the one in your head, then do that.
Putting tags on a product makes it feel more like
your product. It makes it feel more real, and it makes you feel proud. These things might not come up in your accountant's profit and loss statements, but they're important too.
There is also a bottom line financial benefit to this: if you are happy and proud of your product, you will be a better salesman. Everything you can do to kill those nagging doubts about "Is my product good enough?" will give you confidence in your product.
That confidence translates to a brand-wide benefit.
when to start considering tags 
