Hey,
I thought I would post about Brands and some information on them. For a while now I have been throwing the idea around of starting a brand i.e. shirts, hats,hoodies etc… but it turns out it is a lot harder then I thought. I have made a few shirts and a couple of them turned out quite well, while others were a waste of time and materials. That is only the start to the problem, coming up with a name is one of the hardest things to do unless you use your last name or a nickname, next is making sure nobody else already had registered the name you have picked. After that is sorted out trying to get your brand established (after of course finding a supplier for the shirts/hats/sweaters and a printing company to print all your products) is one of the toughest things unless a famous person decides to wear it or show it off it can take months if not years to get your brand out in the public. Lots of terrible brands have come and gone but only the smartest ones adapt to style changes and stay fresh and make people want to buy,wear the product.
The next thing to think about is are you good enough to make your own designs or do you have to hire somebody to design your Brand. Most people can come up with a few dozen design idea’s but you literally need thousands of ideas to keep your brand moving forward and stay on top of the latest trends and fashions.
I read an article recently that stated now is the hardest time for a new company to come into any market and sell a product, 20 years ago we didn’t have the internet to flood the market with Chinese knock-offs as well as all the traditional media’s were still in place. Meaning 30 second TV commercials on only a hand full of channels, magazine ad’s, and radio ads, now a days we have over 500 channels to chose so most likely they will not watch your commercial. Back then we didn’t have niche specific magazines only a hand full of magazines for large audiences so advertising in a sports magazine was simple, but now with thousands of magazines to choose from how do you know which one is the best for you. With the introduction of satellite radio many people don’t even have to listen to commercials since it is now commercial free radio. So it is definitely a difficult barrier to pass.
That is just a few of the hurdles someone would have to overcome in order to get their product into the market place. The best thing to do is make a few of them show your friends wear the product and just self promote, create a website to sell the product and start low key, don’t go out and rent retail space buecause most likely you will be closed within a few months.
Hopefully this is helpful information and might inform you about branding. Keep checking back and within a few weeks I should have a few pictures of the shirts I have made in the past as well as some of the new ones I am currently working on.
- Chris