It’s no secret that many brands thrive on branded merchandise sales. It has many possible benefits, from increasing brand awareness with new customers, to developing brand loyalty with existing customers.
In July of 2020, Cassie Neiden from the Cannabis Dispensary Magazine wrote an article explaining the success many dispensaries have experienced after expanding and emphasizing the importance of their branded merchandise. In the article, titled “How Retailers Are Using Merchandise to Boost Brand Loyalty”, Neiden references Terrapin Care Station, a dispensary with six recreational locations located in Colorado, and Moss Crossing, a dispensary located in Eugene, Oregon.
Throughout this article, Neiden cites dialogue from Tate Behning, who is the Vice President of Marketing for Terrapin Care Station, and Heidi Fikstad, the Co-Founder and CEO of Moss Crossing.
Fikstad discusses the importance of preparation and evolution when making promotional products for dispensaries. “You’re going to evolve as people,” Fikstad said. “Your staff is going to evolve. People are going to have new and different ideas. You want to be able to run those ideas through a filter and make sure everything is still representing your brand in a really cohesive way.”
“Your staff is going to evolve.
People are going to have new and different ideas.”
– Moss Crossing Co-Founder and CEO Heidi Fikstad
PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
Gianna Petan, a writer for the Quality Logo Products Blog, wrote an article titled “50 Crazy Stats and Facts About the Promotional Products Industry.” In this article, Petan cites several different sources, such as the Promotional Products Association International and the Advertising Specialty Institute to support her facts.
3 FACTS ABOUT PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
1. Consumers are nearly 2.5 times more likely to have a positive opinion of promotional products compared to online advertising. (via ASI)
2. 85% of all consumers remember an advertiser or brand that gave them a shirt or hat. (via ASI)
3. Promotional products can create thousands of impressions. See graphic below. (via ASI)
These three facts are among the most important of the fifty that Petan outlines in her article. Read all 50 facts by clicking this link.
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
While it is important to have promotional products, it is equally important to be strategic about the specificities of your products.
1. Quality Products
In promotional merchandise, having quality products is absolutely critical. According to the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International), 72% of consumers believe that a promotional product’s quality is directly related to the reputation of the company.
2. American Made Merchandise
In addition to having quality products, advertisers have also measured favorability of products that are made in the USA. On average, 53% of consumers have a favorable opinion of a promotional product if that product was made in the USA. In Colorado, and Oregon, the two states that are discussed in this blog, those numbers are 48% and 56%, respectively. View graphic below. (via ASI)
3. New, Fresh Designs and Products
Moss Crossing Co-Founder and CEO Heidi Fikstad spoke about how Moss Crossing has been learning how important it is to “keep things fresh.”
“People might still respond really well to it, because it’s new and fresh to a lot of the customers,” said Fikstad about introducing new products and designs. “Some customers just feel an affinity to [older products] because they were one of our original customers. It’s a really great way to connect to customers in general,” she said.
“People might still respond really well to it,
because it’s new and fresh to a lot of the
customers.”
– Heidi Fikstad
USING MERCHANDISE FOR YOUR LOYALTY PROGRAM
Heidi Fikstad and Moss Crossing use in-store merchandise in a different way than most dispensaries and businesses. Instead of viewing the merchandise as a daunting sales task, Fikstad and her team use it as a tool for the brand to encourage customers to participate in their loyalty program.
A customer may tell a budtender, “Hey, I like that t-shirt.”
According to Fikstad, the budtender could say, “Well, its $15, or 750 points.”
“Essentially, if you’re going to be spending money with us regularly, you can have this shirt for free,” says Fikstad.
Using this method from Moss Crossing and Co-Founder and CEO Heidi Fikstad gives dispensaries the ability to increase brand awareness through impressions, and most of all, it gives customers a reason to return to not just any dispensary, but to YOUR store. Regardless of how you decide to use your branded merchandise, it can be a way for consumers to connect to your business and has the potential to be more effective than digital or traditional forms of marketing and advertising.
