Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Tshirts As Marketing/advertising?

Posted by Anonymous on 11/12/2008 at 4:36 PM ET 100 Points
I've been working on thsirts for our dog training club and park. We actually have clients who are asking for tshirts, so I decided to get going on it. While researching styles and such I decided to ask a marketing guru's question site this same question. Here is his response (which I am totally grateful for, considering how busy his site is).

"They don't want your logo on the t-shirt.
They want a connection with you/ but not a logo.
They may wear Nike and Timberland, but that's linking them to a big company.

So my advice is: Put stuff on the t-shirt that links them to you.
But let them wear the t-shirt as if it were off the rack."

After some thought, I've decided to respectfully disagree with his answer, at least for my business. I really think that when it comes to hobbies (in this case their dogs) people like to show off what they are into. Wearing a shirt with our logo is what they want, they want people to know that they love their dog and they spend their time/money on their dog. A private dog park person is spending money to take their dog to a place they consider cleaner, safer, more fun, whatever.
So I think I'm going to put our logo on our shirts since it says blatantly that it is a dog club and park.
Just wondering what others here think? There are so many folks here with real advertising and marketing knowledge, I'd love to hear if my opinion seems sensible.
If you do agree with the answer I received, maybe you could explain it so it makes more sense to me. I'm not sure how one would go about producing a shirt like he describes.
Annette
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gail@PUBLISIDE on 11/12/2008 at 5:15 PM Accepted
    I also disagree with your marketing person's opinion.

    People do like to show off their interests from professional sports teams to non-profit involvement ... and in your case, a dog park. If your logo is cool -- visually attractive/fun -- and is purposefully laid out, people will wear it and likely receive comments about them.
  • Posted on 11/12/2008 at 10:19 PM Accepted
    I agree with the group, and here is a possible twist...some clever phrase ("I've got a neat dog"?) on the chest or back of the tee that sums up your customer base's dedication to dog care, and the logo on the sleeve. My view is that people wear tees to either communicate ideas or status. Maybe you can do both. You might do yourself a favor by limiting the number of tees that you sell. Seems to me like your clients would be interested in displaying their smarts by having something that cannot be had just anywhere...good luck!
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 11/12/2008 at 11:12 PM Accepted
    Don't forget to create t-shirts for the dogs as well.
    Also with logos on clothing - less is more. You're not trying to create a billboard - just something subtle to make people recognize "the club".
  • Posted by Marla on 11/12/2008 at 11:40 PM Accepted
    I own a promotional advertising company and we have screen printed garments in house for over 30 years. Believe me when I say that I have seen thousands of shirt designs through the years & have guided clients through many successful campaigns. Yes, the advise you have been given is somewhat correct. An ordinary logo on an ordinary t-shirt is just a t-shirt that is printed. Take the same ordinary logo, incorporate it into a great design, make that logo into a statement! Use vivid ink colors or muted ink colors, that doesn't matter, the design should dictate what ink colors you use. There are many special effect inks & screen printing techniques that are cutting edge and give your finished design the wow factor. When selecting the garment color, be sure that it compliments the design & is color appropriate for your target market. Often logo's are placed small & tasteful on the back neck, sleeve & bottom back separated from the front design. Specific to your business I would suggest doggie t-shirts as well! Wouldn't you like to see all those dogs running around the park in your t's??? Marla:)
  • Posted on 11/13/2008 at 7:53 AM Author
    Thanks all for the great responses. The part about coming up with a cool design is the biggest issue I'm facing now. I have spent hours looking for info on tshirt design. There isn't much out there unless you are actually "designing" a shirt for a fashion line. Now I'm just trying to come up with a shirt that I would like to wear and hope for the best. I'm not into cutesy cartoony stuff which is what most dog related businesses tend to do (yuk!). If I use a tshirt fulfillment service like Phil suggested I can do multiple designs and see what sells, but of course I will still have to do some batch prints since our club members want to see and feel the shirt first. I'll post the final result if there is a way.
    Oh, and I'm not sure I'll be able to sell a shirt for the dogs since one of the most popular features at our dog park is the creek and swimming hole. Dogs in shirts diving into the water may not be very popular LOL. I will ask the members, though.
    Thank you again,
    Annette

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