Who doesn’t like the feel of warmth supplied by a lush towel, bathrobe, slippers? Even pets will take advantage of curling up on top of one. Although not typically top of mind for promotions, towels and robes are quite versatile promotion solutions.
“Everyone loves a comfy robe, so the gifting opportunities are endless!” exclaims Laura Lewis of Boca Terry. Lewis points to selling a “gift with purchase,” which has numerous applications: high-end outdoor furniture, high-end cosmetic companies and salon packages, mattresses, closet design, travel package and/or hotel stay, timeshare purchase, and home closing gifts, to name a few.
In addition, other businesses that use towels and/or robes during the course of the day include hotels, fitness centers, tanning salons and other spas, golf and tennis clubs, and surgery centers. Further, these products are also relevant for hospitals, athletic teams, for catalog and incentive recognition programs, and for corporate gifts.
Brain Porter, VP of sales for Pro Towels, observes, “One of the current trends right now is worksite health and wellness programs, whereby health and fitness amongst employees is encouraged to improve overall productivity. Many of these programs include on-site fitness programs or gym memberships and, of course, a fitness towel is an ideal product to incorporate into these programs.”
Other ideas he offers: a spa-style robe is ideal for thanking both loyal customers and employees as it shows a company cares about their well-being and to feel pampered. A beach towel offers one of the largest imprint (advertising) areas in the industry, up to 25" x 50", “so what better way for companies to make an impact with their brand? When the sun is out, so too will be a company’s logo,” he says.
There are also corporate client employee or sales incentive trips where a towel may be given to everyone who wins a trip. Fundraising entities, such as booster clubs and foundations may certainly want a variety of towels and robes, some as giveaways and others for purchase. Rally towels for sports, corporate team-building are also desirable.
“Finally,” Porter says, “Think about giving towels as gifts for long-term clients or as a thank you/welcome to new ones. With a broad range of price points a towel can be a gift on its own or as part of a gift baskets. Think creatively with ideas like using our Signature towels imprinted with a logo and individual signatures – ideal for schools, sports teams, graduation gifts and corporate teams achieving success, the completion of a project, etc.”
But wait! There is indeed more. Sy Ereren of Terry Town notes that towels and robes make great promotions for groundbreaking and grand opening gifts, for safety recognition and wellness program recognition, and for public event giveaways (beer/wine/music and art festivals, and health fairs).
Porter provides some sales pointers for towel sales, especially larger towels. People tend to hold onto towels for years, using them in a variety of locations, ensuring an attractively high ROI. Towels are “one size fits all,” and used by virtually everyone. “A company can appeal to a large demographic with just a single item – a towel,” he emphasizes. “Combined with a large imprint area and a towel’s durability, why would a company not incorporate a towel in their promotion or program?”
Well, there may be a perception problem especially with beach towels. Murray Siegel of Towel Specialties asserts that his company surveyed distributors, most of whom believed that beach towels are primarily used for corporate travel events at the beach. “The truth is that most beach towels ship nowhere near the U.S. coastline. They are, in fact, going to schools, healthcare organizations, financial institutions and other corporations that are far away from the water – because beach towels last an average of 15 years, have no size requirements, have co-ed appeal, and also have the largest imprint area of nearly any promotional product. Beach towels are certainly used at the beach, but they are also used at pools and homes all across America.”
What’s Trending
Lewis sees several interesting trends that end-users want, such as lighter weight fabrics because they are less bulky and easier to travel with. She also sees more embroidery on the back of the robe below the collar as newly trending.
Although there will always be clients who want the cheapest – the $5 towel or $10 robe – Ereren is “pleased to see that there is a strong re-emerging demand for quality towels and robes.” When it comes to identity embellishment, he adds, tone-on-tone imprint remains the highest requested method on beach towels, while embroidery remains the standard on robes.
Further, he says, a growing trend is a complete packaging solution for clients, such as a beach bag with towel and/or robe within. “We have substantially increased our beach bag selection led by our award-winning sweatshirt beach bag (#BB202) because complete packaging solutions have become an increased demand from distributors who don’t want to piecemeal separate bag and towel suppliers when selling for location events.”
Towels that have performance features are also on the rise. At Pro Towels, says Porter, the CleanFreek fitness towels are very popular; they serve a dual purpose – a fitness/sports towel that is treated with CleanFreek, which fights odor, bacteria and other germs.
Pro Towels' Frigitowel Xtra Cool instant cooling towel keeps your client's end-user refreshed during high heat and humidity. Designed to provide a frosty chill for up to two hours, Porter says this towel is made from a high-performance fabric that cools quickly when moistened with water or even sweat. Simply wring out and snap the towel in the air to activate its cooling properties. The lightweight Frigitowel Xtra Cool is breathable, chemical-free, and machine washable.
Graphics, of course, are a primary selling point, according to Siegel. Towel Specialties’ ColorFusion decorating option, clients can use unlimited colors from edge to edge on a round or rectangular beach towel. “This permits clients to do things with beach towels that were previously impossible or cost-prohibitive,” he says. “Most notably, we are seeing a lot more orders with photographic artwork as well as designs with 10 to 15 spot colors,” he adds.
Remember: towels and robes are not seasonal by a long shot. Finding out what your clients’ key objectives are with a promotional program will yield potential opportunities to offer a robe or a towel.
CASE STUDIES
Murray Siegel of Towel Specialties: My favorite case history is from a distributor in the Midwest whose client was a grocery store chain. The grocery store needed a gift for a safety incentive program for its employees. The distributor hadn’t considered showing beach towels to the client, but was encouraged to do so by our sales rep. The distributor also presented a fashionable beach tote to go along with the towel. There were other products ‘on the table,’ so, prior to placing an order, the client asked employees to select which ‘finalist’ was best for the program. They voted for the towel and bag combination set. The opening order was for 10,000 sets.
Brian Porter of Pro Towels: PINK OUT is an event that has been held each October for the last four years at high school football games throughout western Pennsylvania. The goal of a PINK OUT is to raise awareness for breast cancer and to educate young women about the disease. Most football teams wear pink shoelaces and wristbands; cheerleaders use pink pom-poms, and fans dress in pink. Baldwin High School wanted to take the fan participation up a notch and gave away pink rally towels for the student body to cheer with.