Portfolio of luxury promotional merchandise

Nyetimber commissioned us to produce a complimentary portfolio of branded merchandise that included a premium walking umbrella, USBs and pens.

As an established, high-end vineyard, their merchandise was also required to be of a high standard. Renowned for their quality – their chief wine maker, Cherie Spriggs made a stir in 2012 in the drinks industry due to her insistence on high-standards.

‘Over in West Sussex, Cherie Spriggs caused a stir this year when she declared she would not be bottling a 2012 vintage at her English sparkling estate Nyetimber, as the quality of her grapes was not up to her high standard.’ – Lucy Shaw, The Drinks Business, 21 December 2012.

With their standards in mind, we created a quality set of branded merchandise to suit their brand values. A quality portfolio of bespoke branded promotional merchandise that consisted of a wooden branded USB, wooden branded pen and stunning customised promotional umbrella with double canopy which gives it a luxury feel.

Promotional umbrella design options for a luxury gift

Other promotional umbrella finishes that can create a luxury product or client gift, include engraved handles, woven labels, printed tie wraps or Pantone matched perimeter tape.

Other great brands we have worked for include Gordon Ramsey’s Maze restaurant, The Savoy, Liz Earle, le Gavroche, Disney and Adidas.

Why use a promotional umbrella to promote your brand?

Repeated brand exposure each time it rains
A great client gift: it’s useful, quality reminder about your service or product. Practical gifts are welcome and appreciated

There are striking images coming from Hong Kong of protesters using umbrellas as a symbol for pro-democracy which are moving and emotive. Protesters have been using umbrellas to protect them from tear gas and are using them to mark territory they are occupying.

We’re wishing our colleagues and associates a safe and democratic outcome.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/hong-kongs-umbrella-revolution/

Acclaimed sculptor, Anish Kapoor, famed for his huge-scaled sculptures designed to unsettle the viewer and twist their surroundings, is exploring the possibilities of working with the world’s darkest, blackest material, Vantablack. We heard this exciting news this morning and read it in Dazed.

Following a two year development, Great Britain made a breakthrough with the world’s darkest material. This super-black material called Vantablack, developed by Surrey NanoSystems, reaches new levels of sensitivity and performance to create a black hole effect which comprises a forest of vertical tubes so when light hits Vantablack, instead of bouncing off it, it becomes trapped and deflected between the tubes before becoming heat.

So, maybe one day we’ll be able to create a Vantablack umbrella. Wow!

In the meantime, we can make you a black umbrella. In a number of blacks. The full Pantone range of blacks. Pongee black. Polyester black. Matt black. Shiny black. Black frames. Black handles.

You can find our more about Anish Kapoor’s work here.

Brands choose agencies like ourselves, for sourcing projects, services or products because we have the specific skill set, knowledge, experience and supplier network to service a brand. An organisation may have a great marketing team in place but they may be looking to solve a specific need such as digital strategy or promotional merchandise and understandably, rely on us as we have the resources to get the job done, professionally and to budget first time.

We work with many creative agencies looking for confidence in producing umbrellas (or beautiful bags!) We are an agency and we understand the importance of great account management. Our team have worked for agencies and client side, we get it.

Additionally, we understand that when a client wants something, they want it usually yesterday, so we ensure we get back to you when we say we will. We’ll keep you updated, so you’ve got answer for your client.

We understand that when you are giving your client options, you need to understand those options so we furnish you with images, descriptions and samples. To add to this, we also appreciate that a client is spending their budget and are demanding the best so to ensure great quality, we offer a 2 year guarantee on our umbrellas. We know we’re the best.

Understanding your target audience

The most successful businesses are able to design their products and services around their customer’s needs and pain points. Doing this means having a strong understanding of what makes their target market tick. Ultimately, they are always reflecting and asking themselves, why would people buy from them and not someone else?

Understanding your target market and how to stand out amongst the competition is as much about understanding consumer psychology as it is about being able to create brilliant marketing assets, from your brand logo to your social media strategy.

If you don’t understand your customer’s motivations then you cannot be an effective marketer.

Consumer psychologists have come up with their own findings on how consumers make purchases. Their research has honed in on several factors involved in purchasing decisions, many of them subconscious processes. By understanding this intriguing psychological process, brand marketers can become better at what they do.Here’s the framework broken down by its four key influencers on consumer behaviour.

Psychological influencers of consumer behaviour

Psychological factors are extremely personal, and out of the four, they’re the hardest to pinpoint because they’re rooted in the subconscious: Motivation is what pushes people to take actions in order to fulfill their needs. In the case of consumers, it’s motivation that compels them to buy, and the best marketing campaigns can spark this. There are two kinds of needs: primary, referring to the need for necessities such as food and clothing and secondary, which includes the need for independence, status and community.

Perception refers to how we see the world, which varies from person to person. We take in information through our senses, and our brain layers its own interpretation onto this, which affects our decision-making. Selective attention is an interesting case where consumers focus only on products that address their needs while not noticing everything else.

Beliefs are drawn from perception, with consumers having different attitudes towards a product based on how much it aligns with their own beliefs and values. If your product fails to resonate, then you won’t make a sale. On the other hand, you can always tweak your branding to match your target market’s beliefs.

Learning before purchasing has become more prominent than ever, given the rise of technology and the greater access to diverse products. An average consumer will research on your product, either through looking it up online or directly asking others. Consumers have more choices than ever, and they’re intent on finding the best for the most convenient prices.

Personal influencers of consumer behaviour

To better predict behaviour, marketers group their target consumers into different demographics based on personal factors. Although easier to deduce from the outside, these can change depending on an individual’s circumstances.

Age and life stage are always considered, ranking as the most important out of the personal factors. Children require specific types of products such as toys, school materials, and smaller-sized clothes, while teenagers and senior citizens would buy something completely different altogether.

Personality is a huge influence on what a consumer buys. Especially for industries such as fashion, art, and food, your likes, dislikes, and preferences dictate which product you’ll end up choosing when they all have the same functionality.

Lifestyle shows up in what you do and how you express yourself in your day-to-day, encompassing interests, activities, and opinions. Consumers with a healthy lifestyle are likely to go for gym memberships and supplements, while those who are often busy with their work seek out convenient products such as on-the-go food and planners. This is especially important when planning what to put in your promotional swag bag at your next product launch event.

Occupation and economic situation are two other subfactors. Some brand marketing is aimed directly at specific occupations, such as specialist cameras for professional photographers and business suits for corporate executives. This is related to a consumer’s economic situation, which is usually determined by income. The higher a person’s income, the greater the inclination to buy more expensive products.

Social influencers of consumer behaviour

As human beings, we’ve always been social animals, living within communities at first then larger societies. While growing up, we acquire our identity through the process of socialisation, and we tend to look to other people in terms of behaviour, including for making purchases.

Reference groups are people that significantly affect our behaviour in some way, ranging from friends and family to the wider sphere of neighbours, classmates, colleagues, or even communities with the same interests, whether offline or online. For promotional products that are very visible, such as clothes, bags and gadgets, reference groups can be very impactful. The group often has an opinion leader who starts trends. This forms the basis of influencer marketing, where the opinion leader promotes a product, which boosts its popularity.

Role and status are based on our place within society. Our status describes what part we’re currently playing—for example, being a business owner, parent, or subscriber, depending on the context. Related to this is our role, which is based on the activities that come with our status. One role of a business owner may be managing employees; for a parent, it would be providing for their children. If you can identify your target audience’s roles and status, you can create products or services that help them portray these.

Cultural influencers of consumer behaviour

Culture is defined as the way of life, beliefs, and norms shared by a group of people. It’s another influencer of consumer behaviour. Groups here are often large, even spanning countries, and one becomes part of a culture through exposure to its members, in particular through the family.

Subcultures are formed within a larger culture. While those within a subculture have much in common with the main group, they’re also differentiated by a set of beliefs that aren’t possessed by most others in that culture. Subcultures can revolve around religions, geographic religions, nationalities, and even common lifestyles and interests. It’s important for businesses to be aware of the subcultures of their consumers and to segment their marketing accordingly.

Social classes are present in every society, and all members can be categorised according to these, they can be influencers of consumer behaviour. While it varies for each society, the usual basic divisions are upper class, middle class, and lower class. Income, education, occupation, and other variables combine to determine one’s social class, which can change throughout a person’s life. Those within the same social class have a lot of similarities that can be leveraged by brands. Consumers with a higher social class might be more status-conscious and purchase products that reflect these. On the other hand, those in the middle and lower classes would be more interested in essentials and necessities.

Whilst a lot of this might sound academic, developing a working understanding (or at the least an appreciation) of these decision making factors will allow you to get a deeper understanding of your target market and allow you to differentiate yourself and your products from other brand’s. Knowledge is power as they say!

Get in touch!

Experts in bespoke umbrella manufacture, we also supply branded merchandise for your portfolio. Find out more about sustainable branded products at Wurlin or custom made bags to compliment your branded umbrellas can be manufactured by Bag Workshop.

Send an email over to info@wurlin.com to get in touch and share ideas.

We see in colour. We dream in colour. We think in colour. So what’s in a colour?

“Pow!”

“Ooooh.”

“Wowee?”

“Cor!”

A logo tells us about the soul of a company. The colours they use tell us if they are loud or conservative. Progressive or traditional. We make those assumptions based on colour, how they talk about themselves and what they ask. These things also help us advise on which model of umbrella to choose, for what a company wants to achieve.

Loving this psychology of colour from The Logo Company

Have a think about what your logo says about you.

We use a rather fun horse head to model our umbrellas. We’re not the only ones who like Neddy to help them out.

We’ve enjoyed this story of someone wearing a horse head to meet American president Barrack Obama.

Using Neddy helps us make our imagery concentrate on the beauty of the umbrella, rather than the model. We also like a giggle.

Take a look at this news story from the BBC about Scottish horse boy, this really made us laugh.

More Horse related stories here

We work within a variety of industries to provide different umbrellas for a number of purposes. That can include giving umbrellas as gifts to clients, using in an appropriate situation as well as a visual promotion.

Property developers and estate agents are among some of our more regular clients. An umbrella is often required when managing and conducting viewings for prospective buyers. It provides a great space to promote your brand as well as protect the user from the rain between property viewings.

It offers a number of subtle nuances which provide an assumption about the quality of service you offer, without you having to spell it out through a thoughtfully produced umbrella.

Use of clever or dramatic artwork can set you apart from your competitors. We’ve produced some beautiful work for clients recently. The Parisian and London skylines on umbrella panels as illustrated below, are fine examples of how striking an umbrella can look.

A powerful piece for Rathbone Place, used a map of London on the internal canopy which was carefully hand-crafted to match the artwork perfectly. The finishing on this umbrella also included a label on an external panel plus a Pantone-matched button on the tie wrap. Other options to consider when thinking about a super-looking premium umbrella are an engraved handle or bespoke carry case.

The word umbrella originates from the word ‘Umbra’ which means the shade cast by an opaque object. In 1609 there is a mention in the English Poet John Donne’s letters. He uses the term ‘ombrello’. This was then altered with the influence of the word ‘Umbra’, from ‘Umbella’ to ‘Umbrella’: the word we recognise immediately today.

The Umbrella began to be used in England around c.1700 as a shelter from the elements. However Umbrella type sun shades had been used around the world in various forms for centuries. The Ancient Egyptians used a version of an Umbrella as did the Ancient Civilisations of China, Greece, Rome and the Aztecs. In Africa and the Orient an umbrella was seen as a symbol of dignity- which is something the Umbrella Workshop agree with!

The first rain umbrella carried by a man was thought to be in 1760. Jonas Hathaway, a noted traveller and philanthropist and obviously a man of taste to be carrying an umbrella!

At The Umbrella Workshop we are proud of our Umbrellas and delighted to be creating a product with such an interesting heritage.

Umbrellas in the 18th Century

For a detailed account of the usage and documentation of umbrellas in 18th Century England, please see this great resource, from the Jane Austin Centre, just down the road from our Office.

Choosing a promotional item that can also serve a useful purpose is an important element to consider when marketing your business or product. Promotional umbrellas make for an extremely desirable gift. Items that are used daily, such as promotional pens, printed mugs, branded clothing are great for low-cost giveaways, but can have quite a short life and may be quickly discarded. Promotional umbrellas however are not a gift that would be discarded, at worst they might be passed on to somebody else.

There are very few promotional products that can offer you such a large branding surface as a printed umbrella.

According to statistics the average number of days the UK has rain is 154 per year. Your promotional umbrella will be in frequent use and each time it rains your promotional umbrella has the opportunity to reach a new audience as the recipient acts like a walking billboard for your business.

There are a number of options to choose from when purchasing promotional umbrellas, because our umbrellas are bespoke we are able to offer a huge range of options. With our experience in the promotional umbrella market we can help guide you to the right product for your marketing campaign to ensure that your umbrellas suit the recipient.

We have put together a list of some of the things you may need to think about when designing your umbrella. You can take advantage of our free design service to take your ideas and turn them into reality. Our experienced team of designers can help you get the most out of your budget to create a unique and truly eye-catching umbrella.

Design Considerations

• What colour should you choose? Those working in the corporate sector may appreciate a more subtle design, people in more relaxed industries may not mind an umbrella in bright colours with logos, web addresses and pictures.
• What type of umbrella should you choose? This will very much depend on your clients and their demographic. If your product is aimed at females then you may choose one type of umbrella, or golfers another. Whoever your client is we will have the product to suit them.
• Will you place your entire company details or perhaps just a logo or web address? We can provide you with a variety of options from which to select your final product.
• How will you deliver your promotional item? You could give them out at trade shows just as it rains – your clients will be extremely grateful that you have helped them out just when they needed it.
• Giving away cheap umbrellas at a televised event just as the rain descends, could give your company television coverage that would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and reach hundreds of thousands of potential clients, what better way to create a huge impact for your brand?
• Deciding when to give out your promotional umbrellas can have just as much impact as the umbrella itself, we have lots of ideas and experience that can ensure your campaign achieves maximum success

Custom Made Promotional Umbrellas

Promotional umbrellas can offer you great advertising opportunities let us help explore the avenues open to you.

For orders of 100 or over we can produce bespoke promotional umbrellas. This means that you (and your clients) get exactly what you want, both for umbrella design and colour ways. We also offer many additional ways to brand your umbrella including interior umbrella printing, dual coloured umbrella panels and woven badges.

We will work with you to create a promotional umbrella unique to your organisation at a highly competitive rate. We specialise in Pantone matched, brilliantly engineered umbrellas that are affordable and made to order. It’s performance guaranteed.

What is promotional marketing?

Simply put it’s a marketing strategy which aims to get potential customers to choose your product or brand. The primary objective of promotional marketing is to keep your product or brand in the mind of the customer. You want them to buy from you so it’s essential to promote your business effectively.

Create a distinctive brand identity

Your logo is part of this and you have probably thought about the design, colours and message but this is only part of your identity. Your brand identity represents your values, services, personality and ideas so it is important you get this right.

Get your message out there

So you’ve got your eye-catching logo, you have thought long and hard about your brand identity… what next? You need to get your brand visible to potential customers. First thing’s first: know who your target customers are as this information is key to your campaign.

Promote your business

Once you have an idea who you are targeting you can think of the best way to get your message across. If you have more than one target market this message could be different. This is a competitive time and you want to stand out from the crowd. There are plenty of ways to promote your business including:

• Mass media advertising ( business directories, magazines, newspapers etc)
• Public Relations  (press releases, launches, events, tours)
• Sales based methods (competitions, discounts, coupons, gift vouchers)
• Direct marketing (letters, emails etc)
• Digital marketing through websites and mobile phones
• Social networking

Promotional marketing focuses on getting your brand noticed and subsequently chosen by customers, ultimately that is what you need to succeed.

Spending time thinking carefully about your strategy can save you time and money. Some ideas to think about are:

• Who is the target of your campaign?
• Which incentives might work best for your intended customers?
• What is your available budget?
• Who will be responsible for running the campaign?

Promotional marketing is something that we know a lot about at Wurlin and we can get your brand noticed. Promotional products are an excellent way to keep your brand visible. It is important to choose the right promotional product for your campaign.

Promotional Umbrellas

These offer a great return on investment, not only practical but they promote your logo or brand every time they are used.

Promotional USB

A highly practical promotional item to give to clients, printed with your logo and you can have your brochure pre-loaded on to it and make it non erasable, so potential customers always know where to find it. The possibilities are endless.

We recognise that consistent branding is paramount to your business and we can help with a number or innovative and creative ways to ensure that your campaign is a success.

Tell us what you want to communicate and we will do the rest. Our design team will come up with products and designs that target your audience cost effectively.

Contact us info@wurlin.com

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