| People
gladly identify themselves as Porsche or Harley fans, but no matter
how many Buicks you might see - you seldom spot a Buick T-shirt
or baseball cap on the street. |
It may be nothing more than a trinket with a logo. Yet for
the right person the item can have high perceived value. Why?
Because its imprint effectively communicates a connection to
your organization or to your products or to your mission. And
the person with affinity for that connection will take pride
in the trinket that declares it.
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Affinities are personal descriptors, a form of identity currency.
Affinities help a person define himself or herself to other
people. All of us are better able to interpret a person when
we can identify evidence of an affinity or two.
Think about how affinities function as a verbal shorthand of
personal definition: Soccer Mom. Lakers Fan. MIT Student. Deadhead.
Fly Fisherman. Conservative. Sailing Enthusiast. Christian.
Serial killer. Groupie. Goth. Veteran. Feminist. Pro-This. Anti-That.
Each of those small phrases says volumes about the person to
whom they apply.
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The
imprint effectively communicates a connection to your organization
or to your products or to your mission. And the person with affinity
for that connection will take pride in the trinket that declares
it. |
| The
lowly imprinted coffee mug is not intended merely to hold coffee.
It is intended to hold your logo in places where it will be seen.
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There are probably 100 Buicks and Saturns for every Porsche on USA roads. Yet
a mini- industry of Porsche logo-products has evolved. People
spend over a billion dollars annually on Harley Davidson logoware
- about 118 Harley T-shirts are sold for every motorcycle. People
want to identify themselves as Porsche or Harley fans - and
the appropriate logoware allows them to do just that. Logoware,
a very powerful force in America, is energized by affinity and
pride of association. That's why, no matter how many Buicks
you see, you seldom spot a Buick T-shirt or baseball cap on
the street.
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 The
wise organization uses logoware to make affinity visible. Consider
the lowly imprinted coffee mug. It is not intended to merely hold
coffee. It is intended to hold your logo in places where it will
be seen. And tens of millions are seen - on desks, workbenches,
tables and counters in homes and workplaces throughout the country.
Multitudes of their travel counterparts are seen in vehicles.
All that "seeing" is done by colleagues, friends, enemies,
relatives, neighbors, customers and constituents of the people
who own the mugs with affinity imprints. And by strangers. As
it is with mugs, it is with T-shirts. A T-shirt with your logo
is not a fashion statement. It's your walking billboard - a mobile
mission statement in graphic form. And so it goes with tote bags,
key tags, desk accessories and thousands of other imprinted promotional
products. |
| Having its logos in wide and highly
visible distribution is highly effective for a brand-conscious
organization. However, the point many marketers miss is this:
the phenomenon is good for the people flashing the logos also.
People want to be known by their personal affinities. Imprinted
logos billboard those affinities to all who observe.
Here's a measure of how effective this brand exposure has become:
organizations spend $16 billion (BILLION!) on imprinted logoware
each year. Then, as part of their brand marketing programs,
they give the stuff away for free! In addition, they spend much
more than $16 billion on logoware to be sold at retail, much
of it through Company Stores. |
A
T-shirt with your logo is not a fashion statement. It's your walking
billboard - a mobile mission statement in graphic form. |
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