Branded company merch
BRANDED MERCH ON THE RISE, WITH 2 IN 3 AUSSIES WEARING ITEMS IN PUBLIC THAT HAVE THEIR COMPANY LOGO ON IT
New data reveals that Australian workers want to wear or use branded items. The study, commissioned by COS, an Australian-owned private company offering product supply solutions for the workplace, surveyed over 1,000 Australian workers and found that the vast majority (66%) would wear or use any items branded by their employer out in public.
Delving further into the data, interestingly Gen Z workers and males are the most likely to use the merch compared to their counterparts.
Belinda Lyone, Co-CEO of COS, said, “Branded company merchandise has skyrocketed over the last few years, and has gone from often being a poor-quality item you pick up at a conference to a high-quality gift the entire team cherishes. While items like branded shirts, reusable coffee cups and bags are still top-sellers, the product options for businesses to brand has grown significantly to include sought after items like golf sets, laptop bags, wine coolers, scented candles and board games.”
Belinda continues, “I believe the rise in employees wanting to use branded items is because they are proud to work at their companies. The new research reveals that over 90% of Australians are proud to work at their current workplace, with the main reasons being that they feel valued, have great work/life balance, and their job offers them flexibility – which is a huge testament to employers.”
Unfortunately, there may still be a risk of creating poor-quality merchandise that ends up in landfill. To help companies get their branded items right, and avoid missing the mark, Belinda shares the current trends around what employees are looking for:
Know what your audience wants. Whether it be staff, clients or brand fans, understanding what type of items they will value and represent in public is immensely important. If it isn’t obvious, ask people, it sounds obvious but this is where many companies go wrong.
Make sure it’s in line with what your company does. Branded merch that represents what your company does is another way to ensure it’s a hit. For example, a tech business might invest in branded USBs, portable chargers etc, whereas a skincare company would get better success with hat, sunscreen or lip balms.
Be consistent. Once a company has chosen a few key items to brand, stick with it for a few years. For example, if a business has decided to print shirts and reusable water bottles, don’t then switch to giving people hats and laptop bags, as to have maximum impact it’s better for people to associate particular items with your company. To change things up though consider different colours or styles of the same items. This doesn’t apply for giftware though, in fact, changing what businesses give their team each year is a fantastic idea to boost staff engagement.
Belinda concludes, “Ultimately branded merchandise from workplaces are no longer purely a marketing play aimed at attracting new customers and driving sales, but instead is now focused on building a loyal community of people who are proud of the brand and share the same values. Understanding your audience, and what they want and creating quality products will make your company merchandise something employees want to be seen with.”
For more information on COS, visit: https://promo.cos.net.au/products
