It’s not always the biggest or the strongest that comes out on top, at least, if children’s books, films with pat resolutions or Underdog can be believed. Small is subtle. It quietly swoops in and saves the day, sans the big, lumbering persona and flashy fanfare. All that jazz is simply unnecessary.
Convincing end-buyers to abandon the tired notion that bigger is better, however, will be a slow, uphill battle. Finding success in showing a smaller, but mightier, product relies on that product’s level of versatility. Proving that brand messaging can still be duly supported is the ultimate challenge. Distributors, do you think you can?
Three Times a Lapel Pin
Despite the fact that over the past few years, emblematic jewelry has fallen by the wayside in favor of more bells and whistles, the category represents a triumvirate of inherent usefulness: marketing medium, jewelry and recognition product. It’s quite the one-two-three punch for such small item. After all, “Most people in our industry, when they’re thinking about emblematic jewelry, they’re probably thinking about lapel pins,” noted Len Hornstein, CEO and founder of Parsippany, New Jersey-based Avaline.
Jarod Johnson, vice president of sales at Bloomington, Indiana-based Indiana Metal Craft, agreed, contending that while it’s not the category it was 15 to 20 years ago, “In our small little sliver of that universe, we are seeing it come back.”
Though both Hornstein and Johnson admitted that lapel pins might very well be throwbacks to suit-and-tie days gone by, Hornstein was quick to add that these products are certainly still relevant to today’s industry—the key is finding an angle. “People are starved for ideas in this world,”
he laughed.
Make it a Medium
These big ideas, Hornstein said, are particularly useful when the item is being positioned as a marketing medium (emblematic incarnation No. 1). A lapel pin has less surface area than most traditional promotional products, and thus, it must be used creatively in order to get a brand message across. Perhaps most surprising is Hornstein’s insistence that lapel pins are not meant to be “walking billboards.” Instead, he affirmed, “What you want to create is a ‘talking billboard.’”
After an end-users spends so much time and money on a logo and branding, this is the time where it can and should be able to stand alone, even if it’s not the Nike swoosh. An attractive-enough pin will generate questions. “Let the wearer tell the person what it’s all about,” Hornstein said. He also suggested polybagging lapel pins attached to cards explaining the chosen shape’s significance, the end-buyer’s mission statement or even a thank-you for a charitable donation. “The point is, the card becomes education, the card delivers a message to the recipient,” Hornstein maintained.
Marketing Wear With All
The same idea holds true when a lapel pin is not, in fact, opening doors for new clients, but is instead supporting a brand in the minds of already-interested parties. Johnson discussed an event where an end-buyer had cuff links and charms made for employees on a company vacation, with its message printed on each emblem’s exterior. The jewelry was meant to be a subtle reminder of the trip, Johnson said. “It’s not intended to be a billboard as opposed to a subconscious implantation of a brand in the mind of a recipient.”
Because these items are really vehicles meant to showcase the flat, branded disc that’s at their heart, “There’s a lot of variation of what you can do with that emblem,” Hornstein said. And charms and cuff links aren’t the only designs of note. The closest embodiment of the “jewelry” nomenclature, emblematic incarnation No. 2 also includes tie tacks, money clips and key tags.
On his end, Johnson affirmed he is seeing a lot more requests for charms, and even more interestingly, blazer buttons, he noted, “have surfaced on my radar.” What’s more, said Johnson, these types of items help establish wearers as part of a group or company, which can go a long way for camaraderie and solidarity.
Eyes on the Prize
This warm, fuzzy, “come together” feeling is also the crux of the third and final emblematic incarnation, a purpose which Johnson conceded is emblematic jewelry at its purest form. “It’s meant to be a recognition piece, something that’s between the giver and the recipient,” he said.
In business these days, constant feedback and support is becoming essential for employees. And while companies may balk at spending hundreds of dollars on awards or plaques, emblematic jewelry can be a good alternative, Johnson said.
“Companies are slowly realizing that something symbolic has more meaning in the long term, more positive effect in the long term and [is] more in line with what the millennial generation is interested in,” he affirmed.
But it’s important to make an impression, said Hornstein. Packaging and choice of materials can go a long way toward giving the piece perceived value. “The reason people use solid gold or gold-filled pins is for its intrinsic value as an award,” e concluded.
