Promo Marketing is published out of Philadelphia. And here in Philly we know a little sumthin’ sumthin’ about about how to cheer on the home team. If you’ve ever seen Philly fans in action then you know all about the good, the bad and definitely the ugly. From pegging the Dallas Cowboys (we hate the Cowboys and we don’t even know why) with snowballs from the bleachers, to the overwhelming necessity to set up a court room with an actual judge at the Eagles stadium to deal with the large volume of misdemeanors that occur during games, Philly fans know how to cheer and boo with gusto. Passion like this seeps into all facets of life and wearing the right spirit and fan apparel is an enormous part of fulfilling your obligation as a fan.
All the Hoopla
Patric Andersson, marketing director at Atlantic Coast Cotton, Gainesville, Va., explained it best. “Fans want to dress like their sports heroes. So the guys and gals on the field are driving demand among the guys and gals in the stands,” he said. Examples of the truth to this statement are easy to find. After the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, this writer stepped into the eye of the hurricane and walked 20 or so blocks through the estimated 2 million fans that gathered throughout the city. Streets were impassable due to the throng of Phillies fans sporting red and white caps, jerseys, T-shirts, socks, shorts, sweatpants, hoodies, baseballs, face paint, balloons, horns, banners, all sporting favorite player names or team logos. You name the promotional product—if it was available in red and white it was there that day.
While the enormity of this event doesn’t happen often, sports fan passion exists everywhere, from little leagues across America and the Friday-night lights of the high school football team to the corporate softball team and the weekly bowling league. Everyone loves to support the home team in their apparel and the variety of fun and spirited apparel products that are available to end-users is amazing. Bud Roberts, sales manager for Marathon/Prestige, New Philadelphia, Ohio, noted, “There are over 40,000 public schools, parochial schools and small colleges, as well as community colleges, in the USA. That is an awesome market.”
Clearly, the numbers show you don’t have to tap into the major leagues to find success in selling into this market. In fact, with the multitude of licensing issues at the larger university and professional level, a distributor’s time may be better spent keeping it local. “Spend time on the 40,000-plus that do not have [licensing] in place to generate sales,” said Roberts.
What Everyone Is Wearing
What is popular in the bleachers is the same as what is popular on the field, because wearing your very own “Utley #26” shirt makes you cool in many, many ways. “Performance wear is hot, hot, hot,” said Andersson. “The more cotton shirts approach prices of poly shirts, the cost gap decreases and the poly stuff is more attractive,” he said.
Roberts also suggested going deeper into your lineup of products, as the sale does not end at a T-shirt and cap. “In addition to the above, [consider] laces, socks, rally flags and towels,” said Roberts. Marathon/Prestige’s “funky socks,” as Roberts described them, are a slightly different twist on spirit apparel. “One sale to a school was 2,200 pairs for Greek Week in the school colors,” Roberts explained. “The [post-promotion] report was that they plan to do the same [promotion] in the fall.”
An old sixties favorite that caught apparel companies off guard with its reemergence as a fan and spirit promotional piece is the tie-dye T-shirt. Andersson confirmed this notion. “One thing that took us by surprise is the acceptance of monotone swirl tie-dyes,” he said. With so much popularity, Atlantic Coast Cotton is considering adding tie-dye swirl spirit towels to their fan and spirit lineup.
Once you’ve got the order in, there is still quite a bit to consider. “Stick with a garment wholesaler who knows its business, stocks it deep and delivers it fast. And one who takes time to educate itself in the new fabrics and trends,” Andersson advised.
With new fabrics and new technology comes new need-to-know imprinting data. “As far as imprinting, polyester has come a long way. Now [that it’s] high-tech, wicking [and] anti-microbial, it requires special inks and processes,” said Andersson. He suggested building a good rapport with your ink supplier. “Have him or her come in and check dryers and heat/dwell times. Some of the new performancewear has more Lycra. [Because of this it] can stretch quite a bit and scorch easily. But with the right know-how and the right support, the learning curve on how to handle these fabrics should not be steep,” he said.
Final Words of Wisdom
“Students can be the biggest and best fans you know,” said Andersson. “And the sky is the limit.” Roberts was in full agreement, “There is huge market potential [at schools]. Overall the sales potential in many cases starts small and builds. Again 40,000 potential customers and if you the distributor can garner your first five to 10 new [customers] and build that to perhaps 25 or more, this can then become a very viable income source,” he said.
