Strategy #23b
Attractive Apparel – Selling Pizza with Style
The next time you have an opportunity, observe the number of people wearing polo, T-shirt, hat or other garment with a company logo, and message. Surely you will see names of many local retail identities, especially eateries. People love to receive and wear promotional shirts, hats and other apparel for he retailer who sold or gave the item away. Attractive apparel is a great from of advertising and literally mini-bill-boards that promote your business.
One important point that Owners should consider, is to not view their promotional apparel as a new-found profit center with expectations of the shirts for example selling at $35-$40 per shirt like the Hard Rock Cafe'. Your goal should be to get shirts on the street and in front of your audience according to Cherie Cope of Paisley Enterprises (Specializing in custom screen printing & embroidering), pizza operators should price the shirts at a level where the customer sees a real value (0-25% above cost) or perhaps use a portion of the promotional items as giveaways to valued customers. Not only will Your Company be receiving many personal endorsements as your apparel is worn and seen, you will create a buzz through word of mouth. Businesses can use promotional budget $'s, make a small profit or break even to accomplish your objective in a positive way.
With the goal being to promote your business, this median is effective only if the item being used is "cool enough" that the person actually wears it and it is "being seen" in your market. If your business is a start-up, opening a new location, or established, having your staff wear and promoting your name is essential. If you are a start-up owner it is helpful to find a screen printers who manufacture promotional apparel that has a full service, in house art department to help you develop a logo that is distinctively yours. Alternately can be very beneficial to invest in working with a graphic artist who can develop your logo and present it to you on a CD for multiple transfer applications. Owners have a lot of choices in terms of selecting items to apply their name and logo that will project their image. Because of their practicality, men's and ladies shirts, t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts are most commonly used.
Now more than ever there is a demand for ladies tops with an emphasis on fitted t-shirt style cuts that are cute and more flattering that the basic T-shirt or men's polo and appeal to all ages. Pizza operators may want to consider this gender specific idea when selecting items that will be used as an advertise/promotional tool for their business. Cherie always suggests considering a unisex pullover windbreaker shell that accommodates most seasons and climates as well as the rain. Attractive apparel sporting your businesses name and logo will attract attention.
Shirts and apparel should be seen as a part of your marketing efforts so be sure to use them as a key part of a marketing promotion. For example, you could offer your customers a free shirt for buying 10 or more pizzas, or after the customer has purchased a certain dollar amount of product. There are many ways to make shirts and apparel sell more pizza. If you would like to explore the possibilities,contact Cherie Cope at Paisley Enterprises, 614-299-3550 or email cheriecope@earthlink.net.
