Promotional apparel is everywhere you look – and most of your clients who are interested in incorporating a wearable tend to think first of a T-shirt, or a golf shirt or a fleece top. Headwear, however, is universal and unisex and should always be as top contender in any promotional wearable program.
If you encounter some resistance, there are many positive and compelling reasons why headwear should be a “top” choice. “Headwear is essentially gender neutral and your customers can get one-size-fits-all,” says Lindsey Schultz of Vitronic Promotional. “No hassle with trying to ensure you have the correct number of shirt sizes. Lastly, headwear doesn’t get covered up by a jacket or a sweater on cooler days.”
Miranda Persaud of Continental Headwear suggests advising the client to pay attention when he or she is out and about to see how many people are wearing hats with logos. She lists four strong selling points for headwear:
1. Great recall percentage: According to studies, Persaud notes, people remember the logo on a hat better than any billboard or newspaper ad.
2. High impression count: Each hat will give you thousands of impressions.
3. Affordable: Hats aren’t expensive, Persaud emphasizes. “They are a great value for the impact that your client receives.”
4. More brand recognition” Consider the companies that are as famous for their hats as their products: John Deere, Monster Energy Drinks, International Harvester. Hats are a great way to build brand recognition.
Michael Kogutt of Outdoor Cap states that headwear has been a proven highly effective advertising item for years, but recent studies by ASI show caps average over 3,125 impressions and are kept for on average, seven months. “However, what these studies don’t consider is if you really know the audience you’re targeting, you can design a cap for your client that will far exceed the average,” he comments.
Headwear is a versatile category, points out Dave Porter of Sportsman Cap and Bag; headwear is available in a variety of styles and fabrics and that makes this promotional apparel item highly suitable for a wide range of demographics. Promotional garments like T-shirts, tanks, and fleece jackets are limited to certain seasons, “but headwear doesn’t have those restrictions. Hats are a year-round accessory. Headwear also garners a large number of impressions because while other items may only be worn a few times a month, a hat or cap can be worn multiple times in one week.”
Trends for 2018
It appears that a style of cap is so popular, it’s the big daddy of hot headwear: for 2018 the folks at Continental Headwear are seeing the continued popularity of the traditional dad style hat, Persaud reports, but in addition there’s a comeback for newsboy and military style caps.
“Recently we’ve seen the resurgence of the dad hat – an unstructured hat with a curved visor and fabric strap closure,” Porter agrees. From dads to millennials, he predicts, the dad hat will continue its dominance in 2018. Adds Kogutt, dad hats with low profiles, washed fabrics and soft mesh are popular among millennials.
Porter also says that this year, the industry will continue to see demand in traditional trucker and camo caps. “Truckers have been a staple in mainstream fashion since the early 2000’s and are still a force in the market,” he observes. “Camouflage, along with other bold prints and patterns, will remain popular in 2018. Heathers, polyblends and other texturally interesting fabrics will be in-demand this year”.
Kogutt also sees heathered looks and performance fabrics dominating headwear in the athleisure market. Further, fishing camouflage is breaking into the outdoor sporting industry. Snapbacks and mesh backs, he adds, are still very trendy in all markets, especially when complemented with Outdoor Cap’s new Pro Round Crown shape.
Schultz agrees about mesh as a hot trend in headwear this year, and mesh is big in retail, and adds that unique constructions such as seven-panel caps are showing up in retail. “In addition, we’re seeing a fresh take on imprinting – instead of a traditional imprint across the front panel(s), we are noticing logos are being placed off center on a single panel for a six-panel cap,” she remarks.
Rhyen Campbell of Cap America also mentions design as a huge focus. Cap America, he describes, can do 3D embroidery, sublimated appliqués, fabric appliqués, custom sewn-in labels, and traditional imprinting.
New Offerings
New from Continental Headwear is the Polytech (3025) performance fabric and comes with a hang-tag. “This works great for both athletic accounts as well as classier business accounts,” Persaud recommends. The stock version comes with a moisture wicking sweatband, “perfect for any outdoors, athletic, or even corporate account.”
In addition, the supplier stocks a variety of Real Tree fabrics, and it just launched the newest real Tree pattern to its domestic stock line –Real Tree Edge mini (8060-63). This was inspired, she notes, by requests from many end-users who wanted the Real Tree Edge text to be smaller than that on the Real Tree Edge. Additionally, RealTree camo is used as a decorative trim in its stock cap (8061-30-24).
New from Vitronic is are Buttonless Mesh Back Cap (VHDW001) and buttonless cap (VHDW002) that don’t have a top button to interfere with headsets, says Schultz. “These caps are popular for non-profit events such as marathons or 5k races. These buttonless caps are great for those that likes to listen to music or have the need to wear their wireless headphones and not have a button jamming in to their head,” she adds.
Outdoor Cap, expresses Kogutt, “has a lot of really cool new styles coming in 2018, but out most exciting is OneTouch, the world’s first seamless crown cap.” A unique knitting technique is used to create fabric in a rounded shape removing the need for multiple panels and seams, resulting in a single continuous panel for a truly seamless fit. Additionally, he says, OneTouch is up to 50% lighter than traditional caps.
This year, Porter says, Sportsman Cap and Bag added more in-demand styles like Mega Cap’s Pigment Dyed (7601), Flexfit’s Cotton Twill Dad Cap (6745), as well as two styles from Yupoong including the Peached Cotton Twill Dad Cap (6245PT). Additionally, according to Porter, Richardson is a hot brand right now, and Sportsman Cap and Bag carries its Trucker Snapback (112) in more than 65 colors. For clients that prefer pattern, Richardson’s Printed Trucker (112P) is offered in more than 30 wide-ranging patterns such as an island print and digital camo, among others.
Cap America, says Campbell, has eight new styles for 2018, including the Washed Pigment Dyed Cap (i3026), a low-profile, six-panel unstructured cap made of washed pigment-dyed cotton twill; and a mesh-back version (i3027).
This is just a small sampling of what’s new in headwear for businesses – and the beauty is that a hat can be part of a campaign that also includes a shirt. Headwear is such a staple, that last March, Elon Musk launched a logoed cap for his side project, the Boring Company, which he sold to raise money for the company’s project. By mid-December, more than 35,000 of the hats were sold at $20 each, raising approximately $700,000. “This is just one more example of how hats work, especially when combined with other advertising tactics like influencer marketing, Kogutt comments.