It has been said that the Harley-Davidson brand is one of the strongest brands in the world. Proof of that lies in the fact that Harley-Davidson has become so ingrained in the lives of its loyal enthusiasts that some actually tattoo the brand onto their skin.
And if it is not tatooed directly, it is on their shirts, their jackets or anywhere else they can proudly display the brand on their persona.
The beauty of this is found in the marketing value behind this brand loyalty. Not only are the enthusiasts reinforcing their loyalty with each branded piece they wear, but they are proudly endorsing and advertising the brand to many others. Just like the Coca-Cola example discussed in a previous blog entry.
And we are not talking about just the "Hells Angels" crowd either. On the contrary, the average Harley-Davidson owner is a middle to upper class male in his mid-forties. These are doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals making a very nice living. Sounds a lot like the same demographic that a school might be targeting for philanthropic purposes...doesn't it?
Why wouldn’t your university want your loyal alumni to do the very same thing for you? Wouldn’t you like your school to become that ingrained in the fabric of the lives of your alumni? What if all of your alumni could become walking advertisements for your school also?
How many people would see your branding in the course of a typical Saturday if your alumni were wearing just a simple tee-shirt with your branding spread across the front of the shirt?
Would 25 people see it at the supermarket? Would another dozen notice it at the local Home Depot? Possibly another 25 would see it at the Little League or Soccer game. The number for the day could easily hit 100 and then some. All without doing anything different than the usual errands and activities of a typical Saturday in May or June.
Now do the math. Lets say we select a targeted group of alumni. Maybe all alumni in the 35-45 age range who you have good addresses for. Lets say that this target group comes to 10,000 alumni in total who are sent the tee-shirts and asked to wear them on a very specific day. There should be a definite call to action with a defined rational behind it.
Maybe the day is your school’s special anniversary…or maybe it is to commemorate the kick off of a new campaign…or maybe it is just a tribute to this year’s graduates. Bottom line is...you could get 1 Million marketing impressions all on the same day! What would you normally have to do to get that kind of exposure? Run a television ad? How much would that cost?
The bonus is that the shirts would be worn again and again. The residual marketing value would continue to pay off for as long as these shirts are worn.
You would get all of the following from this kind of program:
1) The good will of the school actually giving something back to the alumni. Alumni would love to get a free tee-shirt from their school.
2) The opportunity to create a great deal of "buzz" in the community, in the media and with your entire alumni base around this special one day event.
3) The residual marketing benefits of your brand continually being seen every time the shirt is worn for millions more marketing impressions over time.
Not a bad deal for a $3.00 tee-shirt investment, is it?
And by the way, this is not a new concept folks. The NFL, Major League Baseball, NCAA, Nike and other brands are making millions and creating more and more loyal enthusiasts every day based on doing the same. They have woven their brands into the lives and lifestyles of their target audiences.
My twelve year old son is a great example. For whatever the reason, Nike has created a very loyal brand enthusiast in my young seventh grader. Nike shirts…Nike hats…Nike backpack…etc.
But an interesting thing happened recently. When I was given a hat with my college logo on it, my young Nike "brand snob" had swiped that hat for himself inside of a week. When I asked him why he took my hat, the reply was, “Because that is where you went to school and I may want to go there someday!”
Hmmm…interesting isn’t it! Getting that feedback about the school just because I had that hat! And it didn’t even have a Nike logo on it!
And now all of his friends at school will see that hat and learn a bit more about my alma mater from him.
Branding at its best.
I hope this makes you think a bit about the power of branding and just how it can help your efforts.
If you have thoughts about this or would like to know more about this kind of a program, please contact me and I would be glad to help!
Happy branding!
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3 comments:
The only problem with the example is that it's not a $3.00 investment, it's a $30,000.00 investment for the 10,000 alums. And what happens when an alum - say a 25-year-old or a 50-year-old talks to their cousin/uncle/neighbor sporting that shirt and they hear that their alma mater sent them a t-shirt. The 25- or 50-year-old will wonder why he doesn't rate a t-shirt. Didn't I pay my tuition like everyone else?
The other issue is that yes, NFL and the other major leagues do promote their brand. But they make you pay for the privilege (just as Nike does). Instead of a $30,000.00 investment, it's a profit center.
Finally, I think you missed the real marketing opportunity - kids your sons age. Those t-shirts ought not to go to the alumni, but what about sending them to a cross section of schools? Build brand awareness through the younger generation who will eventually be targets for admission.
While a potential donor *might* notice a bunch of folks wearing a university shirt on a given day...I don't think he/she will make a big donation based on that.
Thanks for the response!
When I referred to the $3.00 investment, it was as a per person cost. Admissions mailings with all of the print costs that go into those folders, catalogs and other collateral pieces probably come to that total or then some.
And I agree…the tee-shirt will not directly bring about a donation. The primary goal is to generate pride and enthusiasm for the institution with the alumni base and promote it to others at the same time. Just like Harley-Davidson and other brands do.
You bring up a good point regarding the NFL and the apparel being used as a profit center. Two things about that...
One is...why is it so difficult to find logoed apparel on most university websites?
Why wouldn’t a university want to make it very easy for alumni, students, parents and fans to find the opportunity to buy apparel right away when they land on the schools front page. There should be a link that is very prominent as soon as someone arrives at the website that would lead them directly to the "School Gear". The school should make it simple to find...it would increase sales and also provide promotional value. That is a no brainer that costs next to nothing to do.
The second is...Nike, NFL and others have invested in there brand in many other ways and at a much larger scale before there brand achieved the kind of lifestyle status that they enjoy today. Endorsing professional athletes and many other promotions paved the way.
The target audiences are much different both in scope and size and the natural affinity that a school has with its alumni makes the acceptance of the brand almost a given.
An easy way to deal with the issue of not everyone getting a shirt is to do it just for classes celebrating a reunion. This would add an additional value to the project by promoting the reunion event as well.
As for the teen age demographic...I agree...they are the target audience for admissions which is obviously the other key component of a university's lifeblood along with university relations.
Tune in next week for a way to get dozens of marketing impressions each day with young teens who are making college choices!
As to why many schools/colleges/universities don't promote logo'd apparel - it's a headache. I've been wanting to do this but have been warned repeatedly about the headache of it - determining the right kind of purchasing platform, dealing with payment issues and credit cards, and then there's shipping. If you have a direct vendor for such, it's easy. If you're doing the purchasing and then selling and shipping it's extremely labor intensive.
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