When the first autumn leaves start to drop, it’s time to start phasing out your summer branded merchandise (T-shirts, ball caps, umbrellas, etc.) and get ready for the winter marketing blitz right before the holidays. The year might be winding down, but people don’t stop buying clothes and mugs when the summer is over. By adjusting your merchandise to align with the changing seasons, you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and increase brand visibility all year long. Here’s just a few of the ways you can invest in your brand during the winter months:
Coffee Mugs
With cold winds swirling outside, winter is the season of hot drinks: spiced coffee, buttered rum, hot cocoa with whipped cream. For this reason, coffee mugs are a popular holiday gift, often paired with hot chocolate mix or candy cane stirrers. Branded mugs are a great way to build positive associations with your brand. For most people, coffee mugs are a permanent staple in their houses, and they’ll start associating your brand with fresh coffee and delicious hot chocolate.
Blankets
When winter comes, it’s time to bundle up, whether you’re attending an outdoor sports game or trying to stay warm in front of the fireplace. Branded blankets are a great way to promote your businesses at camping trips, sleepovers, scout meetings, sporting events, bonfires, and more. Unlike more disposal forms of advertisement, like fliers and print ads, a blanket is something that people keep for months or even years. Whenever it starts to get chilly, they’ll reach for your blanket–and in the middle of winter, that happens quite often.
Hand Sanitizer
The start of winter also marks the beginning of flu season. With a fast-acting formula that quickly kills bacteria, hand sanitizer is a valuable asset to schools, restaurants, businesses, doctors’ offices, and any place that wants to stay clean. During the peak of flu season, people might use hand sanitizer multiple times a day, resulting in repeated exposure for your brand. And unlike other promotional items like keychains and stress balls, hand sanitizer is a useful product that your clients are almost guaranteed to use.
Jackets and Sweatshirts
As the temperature drops, people start to bundle up in warm winter clothing. Branded jackets and sweatshirts are a great practical item that your clients will wear throughout the winter months. The high-quality materials mimic the quality of clothing that they’d buy at the store, but with the added bonus of increased visibility for your brand. And when the season is over, they’ll set your clothing aside for the next year, ready to wear it again as soon as it gets cold outside.
Ice Scrapers
When people wake up the morning after a snowstorm, they typically find their car windshield crusted with ice and snow. An ice scraper is a useful tool that your clients will keep in their trunk or garage for months to come. Made of hard, durable plastic, an ice scraper is simple, affordable, and highly valued among anyone that lives in one of the colder states. And whenever they use their scraper, they’ll associate your brand with safety and helpful products.