AS A SEASONED INDUSTRY PRO, I’ve experienced many trends in apparel decorating and branded merch over the years. These trends affect what we sell and how we want to position our company’s business-building marketing strategy.

In the past, we have seen a movement to go green or sell eco-friendly products. Today, there is a focus on sustainable fabrics that include organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles. Bamboo and rPET fabrics are all the rage in the branded merch world. (rPET is recycled polyethylene terephthalate PET. rPET reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 71% compared with Virgin PET and requires 79% less energy to produce).

Why Does This Matter?

Candidly, I couldn’t care less about this stuff a few years ago. My son got me thinking differently. He suggested that I care about how the stuff I was selling was made. His generation and the next generation of buyers care about responsibly sourced products. So more and more, our clients care why it matters. To grow your business long term, you must consider how you position your company on these issues.

A few years ago, I attended a skucon conference hosted by commonsku, a software company for the branded merch industry. skucon is a community of forward-thinking promo distributors and suppliers who care about doing good and, in the process, generating good business. There, I met Ryan Moor from Allmade, an apparel company passionate about doing good. People loved the feel of the product and the brand story that comes with it. The brilliant hashtag they use is #feelyourimpact. As the keynote speaker, Ryan closed the conference with an inspirational message about the positive impact we can make in how we choose to do business. By learning from my son and listening to this message, why it matters clicked with me.

Meeting Ryan was game-changing in how I thought about my business focus. I had the privilege of working with the Allmade staff at industry events for a season and saw their authentic passion for how the product was made and doing right by the people making it. I’ve since come to know many who have built successful companies with a focus on caring why it matters. It’s transformed my personal life and my business. That’s why I am sharing it with you here.

I like to quote my good friend and mentor, Global Brand Ambassador Rod Brown, who says, “Ya’ gotta make money!” Why it matters is that focusing on selling products that are better for people and the environment is good for business and your bottom line. Throughout his career, Rod has sold millions of dollars of branded merch. He laments that many of those products have ended up in landfills. His message now is to sell fewer products but sell better products that people will keep. And better products also come with better margins.

We Can Do Better

The branded merch industry has been known for slapping logos on cheap crap that just gets thrown away. We all have gone to events and ended up with stuff we will never use. It ends up in a landfill. Why sell a product simply to have something to give away? We can and should do better.

It’s been said that the most sustainable product is the product you keep and use. Branded merch salespeople can educate their clients on the benefits of offering a better product that will more effectively carry their brand message. Nearly everyone understands that having a company imprint that goes straight to the trash makes no impact and wastes a client’s money.

Quality business is not built on sales; it’s built on long-term relationships that generate sales over a long period of time. These relationships are based on trust. Establish your leadership role by helping your clients understand why it matters for end users to buy responsibly produced products to represent their brand.

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Gaining a Competitive Edge

We’ve seen that while buyers may not ask for these types of products, when presented with the opportunity to buy them, the reaction is favorable. Many suppliers have implemented give-back components as part of their business position. That may have no impact on your clients’ buying position, but it may. Knowing you are supporting the Wounded Warrior Project or providing water in places of need changes the perception of what matters in a business transaction. Working with quality companies doing good things is a win for everyone. Responsible sourcing matters to many.

There always will be price-only-focused buyers, but that is changing. The perception that these better-made products cost more may be valid, but not always. The costs to produce better products are decreasing as demand and manufacturing efficiencies increase.

Don’t Let This Scare You

Manufacturers understand that the next generation of buyers will require accountability for how products are produced. Taking that a step further, large companies may ask for documentation on product production. Like it or not, with large RFPs (Request for Proposals) your ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policy needs to be included. ESG is a framework to evaluate a company’s sustainability and ethical impact.

Another term used in this new marketplace is Circular Economy. A Circular Economy is a model of production and consumption that reduces resource use and extends the life cycle of products by reusing, recycling, and sharing materials and products.

The principles of ESG and a Circular Economy may seem overkill and irrelevant to your client base, but it’s good to be aware of them. While your company may have yet to formally implement these things or see a need to, working with suppliers who have this focus can help position you in this space. The goal is to offer an engaging story that moves past the product and distinguishes you from the stuff sellers.

However you feel about sustainability, it’s encouraging to see the positive ways we are changing to be better stewards of how we communicate brand stories. It’s about reacting to the marketplace, selling to the next generation, and making money!

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