An often overlooked accessory in the promotional products market is, without a doubt, the handy umbrella. It is a masterful blend of form, function and fashion. When Mother Nature lets it rain, the umbrella can be a life – well, really a hair and outfit – saver.
It’s a safe bet that many of your clients can enjoy some tremendous success utilizing a promotional umbrella as part of their overall marketing and visibility campaigns.
Dan Edge of Peerless Umbrella exclaims, “Umbrellas are one of those items that everyone needs! Many people don’t seem to ever want to buy themselves an umbrella; it’s usually an emergency purchase when being out and about and it starts to rain. Therefore, when people get an umbrella as a promotional item, they are very appreciative.”
Chelsea Heller of Windbrella agrees, noting that most umbrellas are obtained as gifts and not purchased. Keep in mind, too, she adds, that umbrellas are not solely used just to protect against rain; for many people, they protect against sun exposure. Plus, “umbrellas have surpassed a lot of promotional products due to the printable area as opposed to smaller items, such as pens, with less area to print.”
And, says, Edge, owning just one umbrella isn’t really sufficient. He usually advises that everyone needs at least three; a small one for the car, a large one for home to use for rainy day errands, and one that can be kept in a briefcase or backpack. “Lastly,” he emphasizes, “umbrellas are good for the promotional industry since they are non-gender specific, no sizes to worry about.”
Grethe Adams of Southern Plus concurs, explaining, “With one of the largest imprint areas of any promotional product, umbrellas are literally walking billboards and ideal for promotional use.” In addition to making perfect sense from a marketing standpoint, she says, the practical aspect of an umbrella makes them highly attractive to receive.
Another benefit Adams observes is that many recipients do not have a strong preference as to style and color of the umbrella as long as it does the job. Compared to other accessories that are more personal and therefore may not be used because the recipient doesn’t like it.
Promotional umbrellas are now high tech, and are thus attractive for end-users/recipients for whom technology is important, and for those who enjoy extra value, says Jeffrey Nanus of AAA Innovations. All of AAA Innovations’ umbrellas now come standard with RainAlertz, the company’s exclusive mobile app that enables its umbrellas to let the end-user know when rain is in the forecast. As part of the package, AAA Innovations designed a text alert that arrives on the end-user’s phone with a branded message… for example: “Looks like rain today. Your friends at the Home Shopping Network have you covered. Don’t forget to bring your HSN umbrella today.”
Selling umbrellas as part of a creative marketing campaign, according to sources, isn’t difficult. Nanus notes that there are several concepts that may help. One is “coverage.” For example, a bank, insurance company or a Realtor that “covers their client’s needs” can effectively use an umbrella.
An umbrella is a staple, and highly useful item, says Edge, it can be sold to every type of industry. An umbrella is also a necessary item for any outdoor event, such as golf tournaments. “Most events are rain or shine, when outdoors, you need to be concerned about the weather, so an umbrella can save the day,” he says.
Heller agrees, noting that umbrellas “have no boundaries” and can be used as promo items for all types of businesses, including corporations, car dealers, funeral homes, hospitals and real estate companies. “We compiled targeted marketing sheets for the top 19 industries that buy promotional products,” she says. “They are geared with umbrellas in mind with selling features making it easy for distributors.
Adams offers several examples of potential promo umbrella sales: “Umbrellas are perfect for auto dealers as a gift when a customer buys or leases a new car. The two go hand-in-hand as most people keep an umbrella in their vehicles. Realtors should give an umbrella as a house-warming gift, ensuring lasting exposure among the neighbors and hopefully be top of mind if anybody in the neighborhood wants to sell their house. Similarly, insurance agents should give an umbrella to new clients to get added exposure.”
Basic folding umbrellas are always going to be the most popular styles, according to Edge.
Last year, Peerless introduced The Rebel, an inverted closing umbrella that keeps the water away from the user after closing the umbrella. “This season, we have followed that up with a compact size, called The Renegade,” he says. “It features an auto open/close feature, and an inverted rib. We are expecting this to be the hot item this holiday season,” he emphasizes.
When it comes to selling AAA Innovations’ RainAlertz, describes Nanus, “these can be sold as mobile/digital advertising. “Any day when there is a 60 percent chance of rain, the end-user will receive the text message.”
AAA, he adds, also markets “the world’s strongest golf umbrellas, which are patented and backed by a lifetime warranty.
Windbrella’s key products, says Heller, are its Georgetown Folding and Golf collection umbrellas which have the Windbrella Vented Mesh System™ design. “This offers more stability in high wind and rain. This has always been our most popular feature along with our newly designed all fiberglass frames,” she says.
Being that so many people are on the go, Adams observes that telescoping umbrellas, with their compact size, are always popular and are easy to bring to work, as well as keep in the car or purse/briefcase. They come in all sizes, she explains, “and while the smaller 39"-43" arc umbrellas are the biggest sellers, a larger canopy of 48"-62" arc is often preferred by men. Keep this in mind when working with diverse groups to make sure the umbrellas will meet everyone’s needs,” she advises.
In addition to telescoping styles, asserts Adams, the convenience of an auto-open umbrella is always in demand. Southern Plus’ new premium AOC-48, with its auto-open and auto-close features also has a stand-out handle, vented panels and compact size. It has a higher price point, which Adams says has not been a deterrent as the value is realized in the longevity and frequency of use.
Southern Plus also offers a custom water-mark print umbrella where an all-over imprint appears when the umbrella gets wet. “This creates that ‘Wow!’ moment you want for a memorable promotion,” she describes.
Autumn can be a rainy season, so cover your clients by ensuring that an umbrella can be a successful promotional piece as part of an invigorating marketing campaign.
CASE STUDIES
Chelsea Heller of Windbrella: “One project that we have done for many years that has been successful and fun is an all-over print of looking down through a microscope at a stem cell. This new form of printing, which is called sublimation printing, has shown us that with a full color, full photograph the possibilities are endless to what can be printed on an umbrella.”
Dan Edge of Peerless Umbrella: “A few clients used umbrellas as trade show mailers. They sent out the sleeves of the umbrellas with a cute note card telling customers to stop by the booth to claim the rest of the piece. When the customers brought the sleeve to the booth, the company gave them the umbrella that fit it. It had a higher than normal traffic rate and the company was very excited about the outcome. People don’t typically buy umbrellas for themselves, so when they get a good quality umbrella, they are sure to keep it for a long time.”