Decoration Diaries: How One Distributor Wowed His Client With a Branded Apparel Kit

John Helder, branded merchandise resourcer for HALO Branded Solutions, Sterling, Ill., has almost three decades of industry experience. Though he credits the distributor for introducing him to more providers to help boost apparel sales, Helder finds teaming up with apparel decorators no different than the relationships he has with suppliers now that he has knowledge about the best decoration applications for each fabric. Even so, he's still constantly learning more in order to serve his clients better.

“As our outsourced vendors add new capabilities, we educate ourselves to offer [those] to our clients,” he said of applications like flexible inks, raised rubber heat transfers and glitter inks.

But ideas sometimes go beyond finding the latest decoration method. When his concrete installation client wanted to maintain the high price point of its previous employee gifts, but avoid redundancy, Helder, who is based in Mount Olive, N.J., created a multi-piece collection that wowed his client.

“I do believe it has a higher perceived value,” he said of the kit he curated versus a single, high-cost item.

Keep reading this installment of Decoration Diaries presented by Next Level Apparel to learn more about how this gift was executed.

After two years of Carhartt jacket giveaways, John Helder's client was in need of something new. Helder put together a branded apparel kit that included T-shirts, sweatshirts and more. (Seen here: Unisex Cotton Crew by Next Level Apparel) | Credit: Next Level Apparel

The client’s need: The client is a concrete pouring firm. They had given out Carhartt jackets for two consecutive years to their work staff. Since it is such a durable product, the need for a third jacket wasn't there. We decided on a tool bag filled with a number of apparel items to equal the same value as the jacket. The bag was also decorated, as were the long sleeve T-shirt, crew neck sweatshirt, hoodie, knit winter and traditional ball cap.

The execution: Short sleeve tees were substituted. A heavier sweatshirt was added. [There were] multiple decoration locations and methods. The bag, [hat, cap] and hoodie were embroidered. The crewneck [sweatshirt] and T-shirt [were] silk screened, but no complex requirements.

The obstacles: Everything went perfect—even the assembly until the tool bag was closed. Then the sizes inside became a guessing game. The decorator had little stickers that they used for polybagging and applied one on ... each bag for easy identification.

The outcome & advice: Both the client and recipient were very pleased, especially since they now had multiple branded apparel items to wear throughout the week.

For details on how to participate in a future edition of Decoration Diaries and share your apparel decoration project success, email Amanda Cole at acole@napco.com. Click here to read more Decoration Diaries, or click here to download "The Promo Distributor's Guide to Apparel Decoration," a free resource from Promo Marketing. Decoration Diaries is presented by Next Level Apparel.