INDUSTRY ADVICE It’s all about the brands…


Sales director of The Outdoors Company, MARK DIX, explores whether printers and embroiderers offer retail or promo specific brands to clients, and whether they can offer more to their customers.


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choosing clothing and bag options for our clients. Am I right in thinking that most of us will stick to what we know best and offer the first few brands that pop into our head?


Or when reaching out within our office for help and advice, we are we told by our manager or purchasing team to only offer certain brands. Maybe this is for various reasons; your company makes a higher margin, your managing director is a good friend of your supplier? Or maybe you simply know from experience that these brands work well.


Get to work


Maybe the chosen brands products are always in stock, and the brand has not let you down in the past, so we use the ʻif itʼs not broke donʼt try to fix itʼ approach. So, when the task of


very day we are tasked with looking for new options and ideas when it comes to


factors: was it the best price? Was it the best option out of the bunch or was it the only option the client received? Did you put the time and effort into offering a great product or brand? Were you the fastest to react and therefore sent samples to the client before anyone else, and for that reason they gave you the order? Or was your embroidery sample far superior in quality to other samples they received? Do you ever think of offering something


different? Perhaps to surprise the client and give them something they may have never seen before. Perhaps itʼs a risk to recommend an unfamiliar brand in the promo industry, but maybe just for once you might stand out from the crowd, be noticed and therefore be even more greatly valued by your clients for striving to achieve a level of service over and above your closest competitors. Think about it. I continuously


sourcing waterproof jackets, fleeces and softshells is it put to us, brands like Result, Regatta, Russell and Stormtech spring to mind. Our approach is to pick up our large, laminated brochures and get to work, looking for a variant of options. The fact is that some of the above


brands dominate the promo and workwear industry across the UK and have done for many years. For many they work well and bring an easily profitable solution to bridging the link between what the customer wants and what you can offer. Do we take on board what the clients


wants and needs are? Just picture: the same old brief – “Iʼm after 200 black waterproof jackets with my company logo on the chest” – has just landed on your desk and the will to live slowly sinks to the pit of your stomach. This usually leads to a copy and paste of the previous quote you did the other week, muttering – “Iʼm just too busy to spend time looking into other options”. You email across the same options to your client and hope the price or chosen product is going to win the business over your competitor.


Sound familiar? So who wins the order? Do you ever find out? Well, that depends on a number of


| 14 | August 2015 Rab jackets


hear some of my clients asking: “Do you only offer retail brands that are no


good for branding or embroidery?” or “Can you embroider those brands due to no embroidery access zips?”


I can understand why I get asked these questions, I really do, but when I explain to them that many large blue chip companies want to have their company logo associated alongside some of the worldʼs leading premium outdoor brands they start to understand how it may work for them. I lead on to say: “Yes our business


model was built around offering premium retail brands to the B2B corporate market – this works because the demand is high and the stock is secured, therefore were always able to back it up and deliver on our promises.” Like it or not retail brands drive the


apparel market. This means the promo industry is stuck selling the same products and brands they have done for the last 20 years. Just take a look around – TV commentators all forever sporting well known high street outdoor brands. You customers likely see this and then lust after acquiring high end products branded with their company logo. When listening to my clients I often


wonder and continuously ask myself if we The North Face Router backpack www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk Berghaus jackets


really understand what the customer wants? Or is the fear that your clients will simply go direct to the retailers frightening you out of taking a calculated risk?


Think carefully


I come from a retail outdoor background; this has given me the insight into how the brands and retailers work. High street retailers are far too busy selling individual products to the mass market, and are simply not set up to handle the demand of the corporate enquiry.


The buying structure and thought process doesnʼt even contemplate an order for 200 black waterproof jackets in one style. In fact, if they sold this stock to your customers at a discount off the RRP theyʼd be giving away margin that can be made selling the same jackets individually. So the next time youʼre asked to source outdoor clothing for your client and are struggling for inspiration have a think about what Iʼve mentioned and maybe you just might offer a brand that they have not thought about or no other competitor had offered.


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