Category: Cost Guides

Product specific pricing guides.
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Winter Apparel: Your Buying Guide

Winter Apparel: Your Buying Guide

Red winter apparel hoodie on bright colourful background.

Branded winter apparel is a perfect addition to your seasonal campaigns or calendar-based events. As explained in our branded apparel article, wearables were the most popular promotional product of 2023. And not for nothing! 

Including, but not limited to the below, winter apparel gives your brand the opportunity to add warmth to the colder months for both your audience and your teams. There are so many styles of each of these for you to choose from and every one comes with a different price tag. 

  • Jackets
  • Coats
  • Beanies
  • Scarves
  • Gloves
  • Sweaters
  • Pullovers
  • Puffer
  • Hoodies

How winter apparel is priced will determine what you can achieve with your budget. From quantities to the details of your decoration, each will influence the number on the bottom of your quote. So let’s go over what factors you need to consider…

Why is some winter apparel cheap?

Like all apparel, the quality determines the price. And vice versa.

Cheap winter apparel is usually made from inexpensive materials, such as fleece, nylon, acrylic or polyester. Also, the garment may be thinner, with fewer layers or linings.

These options are great for your budget and will work well for quick brand awareness campaigns or promotions. However, if you’re equipping your team for the winter months, or are located in a particularly cold climate, higher-quality winter apparel will make an impact on your audience.

Another consideration for promotional apparel, is the size and quality of the decoration you’re looking for.

For example, a one-colour screen print on the left chest of your promotional hoodie is an easy, low-cost option. It gets your brand out in the world on a cosy, cost-effective piece of merchandise.

Decoration pricing varies so widely depending on your requirements. That means there’s a method for everyone. How do you choose the right one for your brand?

Our printing article might help.

Why is some winter apparel expensive?

As the above describes what makes winter apparel cheap, the opposite can be applied to demonstrate what makes it expensive.

Made from high quality materials, like wool, linen, down, leather, recycled, weather-proof and tech fabrics – expensive winter wear can last longer and keep your audience warmer in the cold months. These fabrics cost more, but return more in brand perception and perceived value.

This is particularly important for your teams who are out in the field. Exposed to the elements year-round it is vital that your people are comfortable. In these cases, it’s your branded apparel that can affect the effectiveness of your teams.

This is where the quality is put to the test.

Branded winter apparel also has the opportunity for decoration types not seen in other merchandise. For example, custom jacquard patterns in knitted products, leather patches, and custom zip pulls.

Every detail accentuates your brand, but each can add to the cost of your winter apparel.

What pushes our price up?

All the extras we’ve mentioned can increase the price of your branded winter apparel. Things like the below will also add to the order total:

  • Low order quantities – bulk buying is the best way to keep the cost per unit down.
  • Multiple decoration locations – a simple embroidery on the left chest is great. You may also need us to embroider a message on the right chest; or print across the back. These subsequent decorations will increase the price.
  • Folding and poly bagging – how your apparel is presented when you open the box is important. Instead of mixing all the sizes together in a pile, we can fold and polybag the items individually. This is reflected in the pricing.
  • Multiple delivery locations – freight to one location is free. However, if you’d like us to distribute your winter apparel to multiple branches, we’ll include that in the quoted pricing.

What pushes our price down?

Keeping things simple will help you stick to your winter apparel budget.

If you only need a small, one-colour print on the back of those gloves to get your brand out there, go with it.

It’s also important to note that wardrobe basics are mostly always classics and will amplify your branding with ease. For example, your customers and clients will wear a simple, subtly branded scarf year after year, lowering your cost per impressions as its lifetime increases.

The Advertising Specialty Institute found that outerwear gains 7,856 impressions over it’s two year lifetime. This makes its cost per impression approximately half a cent.

That’s a solid statistic for the marketer in you.

Why is winter apparel essential to your brand?

Winter apparel is not just for your audience.

Cold-weather uniforms are an essential piece of your team’s kit that ensures they’re able to perform their best when the weather is the worst. There are also all the reasons we mentioned in the adjacent post.

Additionally, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) went into depth about how branded winter apparel can benefit your brand.

“For outdoor workers, such as those in the postal, construction and forestry industries, and those who make house calls, such as service technicians and some beauticians and health-care professionals, having a first-rate jacket and matching accessories as their cold-weather uniform can help ensure that workers are able to sufficiently perform their jobs, and convey that the company cares about its workers’ health, safety and well-being.”

Even a well-timed hoodie, paired with a pair of cosy socks is enough to make a difference in your teams’ productivity and mental wellness. 

Consider a winter warmer employee pack to help them get through the darker months.

Whether you’ve got the budget to go all out next winter, or you’re keeping it tight to keep it cosy, there is a perfect piece of winter apparel for your brand. Match the product to your values and message for the biggest impact and watch how it brings your brand to life.

Our team has over 20 years of experience sourcing real products that deliver unreal results. Why not complete our Merch Matcher and let us get the process started.

Cost Guides

Promotional Banners: Your Buying Guide

Promotional Banners: Your Buying Guide

Promotional Banner diagram showing sizes.

If you’re looking for a way to capture the attention of potential customers in a crowded space, promotional banners are the way to go. You may be surprised to learn that 68% of consumers have said they purchased a product or service because a sign caught their eye. There are a multitude of reasons why physical signage is important for business. The number one reason is that it identifies your brand. Promotional banners like the below supplement all other signage to improve brand visibility out in the real world.

Why do promotional banners work?

Bright colours and large print spaces are not the only design elements at work for promotional banners. By moving in the wind and standing out from the landscape, no one can help but notice. Why?

Human brains are biologically programmed to notice movement. It’s a great skill for dangerous situations and works the same way for banner advertising. Our brains are always subconsciously looking for moving objects. So, fast moving objects, or things that change speed, like a flag in a high wind or a flappy inflatable man, are more noticeable because our brains need to take a pause to assess the potential threat.

Outside, simple messages take advantage of this psychology and are proven to drive 90% more engagement than detailed content that takes time to process. Inside, at an event or trade show for example, banners offer the extra space needed to highlight what makes your product or service special.

Below are the most common banners in business.

Pull-up banners

Pullup banners are the preferred portable, temporary signage for interior corporate and event spaces. They are primarily made from polyester satin fabric that won’t curl or peel on the edges, pulled tightly on an aluminium base and pole. The fabric allows for a vibrant, full colour print, while the bases come in standard and premium designs. The polyester can also be substituted for PVC for an even more durable product.

A pull-up banner offers a very large print space (2m tall x 1m wide for a large banner). This is essential when advertising the many features of your product or service, or displaying your brand in high detail. They take 30 seconds to assemble and pack away and can come with their own padded carry bags for ease of transport. 

Flying banners

Teardrop, feather, surf, vertical and paddle all come under the flying banner category. Each offer a different effect when placed outside in the wind. Teardrop banners, for example, are held under tension and so will not whip in the wind. This means that your brand and message will be visible no matter the weather. Conversely, a vertical banner will wave more freely, while only the bottom corner of surf and feather banners will move with the breeze.

Flying banners come in many sizes, from small (2.6m tall) to large (4.7m tall) and are used to attract attention on the street and add atmosphere and grandeur to outdoor events. Flying banners often come with their own carry cases and the fiberglass rods are strong but lightweight. The sail is made from knitted polyester, they can be printed one or both sides and are designed to withstand the weather for longer. A wide range of bases are available depending on where your banner will be. These include a ground spike; 5kg and 10kg heavy metal bases; water bag; car mount; angled, vertical and horizontal wall mounts; marquee clamp; and folding cross base. 

Why are some promotional banners cheap?

Some promotional banners are cheap. The materials they’re made from keep the price low. A pull-up banner with a plastic base and pole will be less expensive than an aluminium one, but it will be more likely to bend and warp over time. Likewise, a feather banner made from polycotton may fray faster than one made from 100% coated polyester.

It is important to note that 52% of customers are turned off by poorly made signs. 63% are turned off by misspelled signs and 56% by dirty signs. You can increase the life of your inexpensive promotional banner by keeping it out of the wind and sun, but what is the point of a banner that no one sees?

Why are some expensive?

Expensive promotional banners are made from heavy duty materials, like PVC sails and fiberglass poles, as mentioned before. Materials of heavy quality are designed to last longer in more inhospitable climates. Bright sun can fade a print over time, even if it is inside by a window. However, your branding will have a greater lifespan if it is printed with quality ink on a fabric that will hold the print more effectively.

It is important to consider the climate where your banners will be placed. Is your location prone to rain, storms or long hot summers? You may need to spend a bit more to get the right banner for your brand and location. 

What drives Impact's price up?

At Impact, we offer a wide range of promotional banner options. We have access to multiple sizes that are priced accordingly. The larger the banner, the more expensive. Our feather banners have the option of Eco size. It’s not the largest, but it offers the best value for money in terms of brand visibility on print area.

Size and quality are the two basic pricing factors. However, the extras that you need, like base plates and wall mounts, will also increase the total of your order. 

Finally, freight is another thing that can drive up the price on your quote. Shipping to non-metro areas or multiple locations will increase the price of the banners. 

What drives Impact's price down?

Ordering in bulk is the best way to drive down the individual price of your promotional banners. You get more for your money. And when you’re preparing for event season, it’s better to have more on hand than not enough.

Impact also offers a warehousing and fulfillment service to make managing and distributing your stock all that much easier, and cheaper. For example, you’ve bought in bulk – enough to cover everything you’ll need for the upcoming events on your marketing calendar – it will help your business’s back pocket to let us store your promotional banners at out fully insured warehouse, draw down the banners as you need them via our customized Brand Guardian™ store and let us ship them out to your locations in time for each event. You can read more about our Brand Guardian™ stores and warehousing in the blogs. 

Recent studies, cited below, have shown that 68% of consumers think that signage reflects the quality of a business as well as their product. We know that like all promotional products, the quality of your signage, reflects your brand. So, let your promotional banners shout out the right message. Impact can help you find the banners that bring your brand to life at the key moment

Contact our team to book a consultation.

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