Red.
I know what you are thinking.
Coca-Cola.
Surely, I must be wrong. That’s not what you had in mind when you read the word ‘Red’, but now you see the connection between the colour and the very popular brand, and it makes sense to you. The next time you see the colour red, you will probably think of my suggestion.
Coca-Cola.
Now imagine you went on a leisure tour of a Coca-Cola factory whilst on holiday and at the end, you were given a branded T-shirt. Preparing to head out to a sales pitch on behalf of the company you work for, you decide it is a good day to put on you Coca-Cola branded T-shirt. On arrival, the receptionist greets you warmly but informs you that there is currently no appointment scheduled for a staff of Coca-Cola. Bemused, you go on to clear the confusion by explaining to her why you are there and the company you actually work for. Mix-up sorted. You walk into your meeting room and take a seat. Everyone can’t take their eyes off your T-shirt. It’s a lovely T-shirt indeed, but that’s not why they are starring. They are wondering why a Coca-Cola staff is in the meeting. You’ll only get the chance to clear up the confusion you see in their eyes when the time comes for you to give your pitch. After the meeting, they will remember you were there because you gave an amazing sales pitch, but they might struggle to remember the company you work for. But they will never forget that you were the guy in the Coca-Cola T-shirt.
There is power in a corporate brand, and it lies in more than just your logo, colour palette and tagline. Any organisation can benefit considerably by creating a brand that presents the company as one that is peculiar, reliable, innovative or whichever qualities are relevant to that business. But it is one thing to have a good corporate brand and another to project that brand and make it visible by every means possible. One of the excellent ways to project your brand is through corporate clothing and merchandise.
You are most likely to give your attention to someone who represents their company by appearing in a corporate branded shirt than another who comes representing the same company but have no link to their brand. In a conference, it is easier to spot a group of people from a particular organisation when they are all dressed in the same corporate clothing that projects their corporate brand. If you were asked to pick between two people the one who works for a certain establishment, you are more likely to pick the one who wears the logo on their shirt or a lapel pin.
The air of professionalism and the perception that the organisation cares about the image they project is another win. Branding souvenirs is another way of getting the public familiar with a brand image. A branded mug may be more desirable than a plain one, and such is the attraction for branded souvenirs handed out by organisations. Many companies have received recommendations over a cup of coffee because their brand was identified on the mug or a coaster etc.
For a brand to be successful, it must be identifiable, and a brand is identifiable only when it is advertised. Television ads and billboards are efficient ways to reach an audience but consider how many mini-billboards your brand will occupy when every staff of your organisation go about their business wearing branded clothing – a much wider mobile reach..
