Recently while at a local NYC bar, Absolut Vodka ran a Bloody Mary contest in which people who ordered a Absolut Bloody drink received a free t-shirt. But this promotion was much different then the bar promotions you are used to seeing. Absolut turned their promotional shirts into a “favorite t-shirt.”
Gone are the days of liquor companies handing out a white beefy in an XLarge size to everyone in the bar. Liquor companies have finally learned that those shirts quickly end up on the floor or at the bottom of the t-shirt drawer. Absolut has changed their giveaway policy like many other companies, giveaway away less shirts, but use a higher quality shirt that people will want to wear.
At the bar select people received a tri blend Next Level apparel v-neck shirt in red with a distressed logo. While the t-shirt cost might have gone up, the feedback from the recipients of the shirts will make up for the loss in quantity, and here is how:
1) Shirt gets worn! Instead of going to the bottom of the drawer, Absolut went with a soft shirt that people will actually want to wear the next day. People around the bar were commenting on the softness of the tri-blend material. Passing the shirt around so that everyone could get a feel of the quality.
2) More impressions! Instead of 100 people getting a free tshirt, maybe now only 50 get one! But if those 50 people wear that shirt 5x, that is a ton more impressions then the shirt sitting in the bottom of the drawer.
3) Quality: The guests that received the shirt, quickly thought they were receiving a higher end American Apparel shirt. Next level has strategically designed their labels to be similar to American Apparel, but at surprisingly lower cost.
4) Distressed: The shirt was picked, and Absolut went with the higher quality shirt, but to top it off, they distressed the logo so the user would have that already worn look to it.
Spending less and giving away more shirts does NOT always mean more impressions and better marketing strategies. We have seen a change in the marketplace, brands now are spending more or equal amounts but going with a better valued product that will last longer and get more use out of the consumers. More wears equals more impressions!
Now any company can be the brand that gives it’s customers a new favorite shirt!
