Are You Ready for Gift Bags?

Many designers would cut off their right arm and put it in a Grammy or Oscar awards giftbag as long as it was holding their product.

Participating in hot giftbags with award winning prestige are really no brainer.... You already know US Weekly, Life and Style and People Magazine are going to do a full page spread featuring the new swag of the stars. It's as close to guaranteed press as you can get.

However the average company is more likely to get inquires from a lot less well known events requesting free samples or promotional items to stuff their bags with.

To participate...or not to participate...that is the question. Well you'll start by weighing the probability that your potential customers or high profile celebrities will go to these events. There goes no-brainer #2. So what's next.....

Well...if you determine that you'll participate in the bag you need to next determine the product. Giftbags are great for beauty companies because they usually have small sample sizes and people like to try before they buy anyway.

But what about clothing? You certainly don't want to give away the 100-500 items PR companies usually request for giftbags...

In this event I suggest clothing companies develop some type of promotional item ahead of time that depicts their brand and has at least a little value associated with it. This would be a multi use product, with a long shelf life that you can buy a lot of at a lower price. You'll get a lot out of these items by also taking them to trade shows or give away to your retailers that they may also make it a gift with purchase when they sell your product.

To get these products you can work with a promotional products company such as macher.com to produce things like reusable packaging, notebooks, totebags or passport holders and luggage tags with your logo.

The bad news is that in producing promotional products you always walk the line of being cheesy. So you have to be careful and make sure everything you produce will embrace the same quality of your clothing brand. This is one of those things...that if you can't do it right. Don't do it at all. I'll make that my no brainer #3.

Revenge of the Junk Mail

I get so much junk mail I dread going through it. Credit Card Offers, Coupons, Postcards all trying to sell me one thing or another. You know what I do? I take the whole stack and how ever many I can fit in my shredder I go to work …shredding…shredding…shredding….it literally wears me out…

However, I know as marketers of contemporary fashion we hate to think of anything we send potential clients as junk mail…. they want to hear from us....right? Direct mail is one of the most effective marketing strategies around….especially when you don’t have a potential prospects email address.

But, in more cases than not direct mail can be lost in the shuffle, lost in the mail or immediately placed in the "circular file." (translation...the trash)

So…. how do you get your message read in a sea of riff raf? Here’s a nifty little trick I wish I could take the credit for but I read it in this wonderful little book. “Don’t Worry Make Money, “ by Richard Carlson.

The trick is…Fed Ex it! Fed ex your Press Kit…Catalog or Line Sheets to a potential big account. Who can resist the heavy cardboard of a sleek fed ex envelope? Ripping that little tab….oh what fun! The package literally screams…Open Me and Open Me Now!

I urge you next time you desperately want to get the attention of a big account….go Fed Ex. It’s expensive…but if what’s in the package is worthy…it will pay for itself many times over.

Guaranteed.........