It may be sweltering outside in mid-summer but it is the perfect time to think about adding blankets to your customers’ promotional campaigns for the latter half of this year.
When the cold weather descends, everyone of all ages feels great when swaddled in a comfy, cozy blanket. Although this type of item is not really front of mind when providing options for fall or winter promotions, it is one that your customers will stop and heavily consider.
But hold on a minute – “you really can’t assign a season to a product that literally is one of the few items in the promo market that has a lifespan rivaling that of a beach towel,” exclaims Shawn Kanak, CAS, vice president of sales for Towel Specialties. Blankets, he emphasizes, are trending. “There is comfort food and then there is comfort promotional spend. Our motto at Cobblestone Mills Blanket Co: blankets are always in season.”
Aaron Bradley of TerryTown believes that blankets can yield some tremendous ROI numbers since they are known to have strong lasting power -- most recipients hold onto blankets for between four and seven years on average.
And, flip through any home décor magazine – nearly every photo of a living room or bedroom has a blanket. In the promotional industry, blankets come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and soft fabrications that are also easy to wash. “Everyone has a blanket on their couch throughout the year,” says Jennifer Reece of Kanata Blanket Co.. “Plus, no sizing issues. They are versatile, have one of the larger imprint areas in the promotional industry, and are always great to use for projects that require a high perceived value with not as much cost.”
There are many widespread opportunities to effectively sell blankets to clients. According to Bradley, corporate and employee gifts or recognition is a perennial favorite. “What better way to say thank you around the holiday season than to gift a quality blanket they can enjoy?” he offers.
Kanak offers a number of sales ideas: picnics and other outdoor corporate events, financial planner gifts to clients, law firm client gifts, healthcare practices, university enrollment campaigns and school stores, realtors, banks, title companies for home buyers, banks to give for new accounts, donor gifts from charitable foundations, and more.
The autumn is timely for the back-to-school and football seasons, Reece notes. “A promotional blanket is the perfect item for the following type of campaigns: schools or colleges and sports teams to give out to season ticket holders.”
Reece adds, “A blanket is not typically an item you go out and buy for yourself, but if you receive it as a gift, it’s something you’ll really appreciate. Plus, when you take it home, the whole family shares it, uses it, and sees the branding daily.”
Kanata Blanket Co. offers multiple decoration options and full-color sublimation on its retail-quality blankets – so a blanket looks like a huge photo.
TerryTown also offers a large variety of full-color sublimated retail-quality blankets and throws. These can also be embellished with a subtle laser-engraved leatherette patch,” he says. Customers can also select packaging options like ribbon wraps or gift boxes.
Kanak advises to include a blanket in presentations all year-round and ask your client how long he or she has had a favorite blanket at home. This will show, inarguably, how attractive a marketing investment a blanket is. “The top three features to help close a promotional blanket sale are that blankets are gender friendly, don’t need to be sized, and won’t break or stop working.”
Here’s an activity Kanak recommends: Place a blanket and several other promotional items on the conference table and ask the client if he or she could take one home today what would it be? “Seven out of ten will choose the blanket every time,” he states.
CASE STUDIES
Aaron Bradley of TerryTown: “A southern California university was looking for a gift for all upcoming freshman during fall orientation. They wanted it to be a tool for the new students to use as well. A distributor pitched our sublimated sweatshirt blanket in a very creative way. They asked the university to supply a campus map and a hi-res image of the library. The distributor mocked up the blanket with a beautiful image of the library on the upper half part of the blanket and a campus map on the bottom. This way, the new students would be comfy in their dorms but also know where the library was and how to get around campus.”
Jennifer Reece of Kanata Blanket Co.: “A hospitality client wanted to give a nice holiday gift to her top 100 customers as an appreciation gift. Kanata Blanket embroidered the company’s logo onto the Soft Touch Velura™ in two colors, flint gray and beig,e to create a custom gift. The blankets were a big success for the Hyatt! The customers that received the Hyatt blankets were very pleased and told my client they would keep their blankets forever. They could not believe how nice and soft they were.”
“The Boundless Network hosted its annual sales meeting called ‘Founders’ Circle,’ at its corporate headquarters of Austin, Texas. The annual event was attended by more than 100 sales partners and 50 supplier reps from the US and Canada. The customer wanted a product to remember the event and its 10-year anniversary. Our Promo Fleece -- a soft, lightweight throw that offers tremendous value for promotions on a budget -- was used in sample bags, which were given to attendees of the event to promote Boundless and other suppliers. The customer was thrilled with the product and was pleased to have a quality product at a fantastic price point that displayed their logo well. The white embroidery against the dark background really made it stand out, so that recipients of the blanket would remember the event and the company for years to come.”