"Back to school" is a phrase that parents love and kids, well, not so much. However, the BTS season is the second largest shopping season, second only to the Christmas season and "Black Friday."
Although, according to an article on 5wpr.com, approximately $913 million of BTS spending will be done by students, the market also encompasses their families, teachers/staff – and the entire community.
Widespread Opportunities
"The back to school market is exciting because it ranges far and wide," says Margit Fawbush of Norwood/BIC Graphic. As examples, she offers, there are public and private institutions, daycares, universities, online programs, traditional programs, charter schools, PTAs, booster clubs, sports programs, fundraising events, teachers associations, education non-profits, and so much more.
"There are several niches that offer additional opportunities and should be explored to organically grow distributor business, Fawbush points out." For example, educational organizations have the same concerns for employee wellness and onboarding as corporate America does. "It's tough to recruit good teachers and to keep them. It's also important to help manage health benefit costs by encouraging wellness. So many of the corporate wellness programs currently seeing popularity can be applied to this market as well."
Another important niche, she notes, is faculty and donor recognition. Effective and dedicated teachers should be recognized for their contributions as do the donors and alumni committee members that help the school financially. To this end, Grethe Adams of Southern Plus provides a fun promotional example for a teacher appreciation gift – the Sweatshirt Blanket, which "can be used for athletic events at the school where the teachers can show off their school spirit with the oversize imprint on these blankets," she suggests. However, it can also be used at home while snuggling in front of the fireplace or on a weekend picnic. The versatility of the blanket, in that it can be used both indoors and outdoors, and being unisex makes this a great gift for teachers.
Looking at schools for potential sales it's all about the GRADES," asserts Tom Donlin of ADG Promo. As follows:
G – Graduations. Graduation parties are big events and school branded promotional products are perfect prizes
R – Reunions. Class reunions from the 5 year reunion to the 50th a great time for a promotional memento.
A – Academic Achievement. Teachers love to reward students with something special for kids going above and beyond.
D – Days of meaning and Dances (homecoming, prom, band concerts, etc.). School branded picture frames and commemoratives are very popular for these events.
E – Extra-curricular activities (debate team, drama, student council, yearbook, chess club, ). T-shirts, hats and other identifying products.
S – Sports. From selling advertising seat cushions to the awards for the banquet at the end of the season, sports are a huge potential opportunity for sales and fundraising.
Because school systems often have budget constraints or limitations to promote, Adams points out, they often look to PTA/PTO fundraisers and donations or community and corporate sponsorships. "Proactively connecting the dots between the funds that are needed by the school(s) and the promotional opportunity for community service organizations and local businesses trying to create more brand awareness makes this an easy sell," she says. "Just look at the sponsorship banners hanging around the sports fields at any school, and you’ll see that there is desire to gain awareness by businesses within schools."
Donlin agrees, adding that many schools and parent teacher organizations host carnivals and bake sales as fundraisers, and they frequently use promotional products as extra prizes for the events and games. "The events generate lots of interest and the game prizes range in price from $1 to $5. Our Carabiner strap key chains have been big item for these events due to the huge selection of matching school colors and the $1.25 price point. Our low minimums on T-shirts and flashlights have also made them big hits at these events."
Of course, school sports are huge as far as logoed opportunities for the schools and the businesses that support the sports and the bands. Remember, too, many school bands are frequently invited to march in community parades, adding another layer of opportunity (Memorial Day Parade and the school bands). As a product example for teams and bands, Donlin explains, "Our full-color HDI products have been great items for school teams and fundraising because of the variable data and personalization options. We worked with local distributor on a project for a high school band wanting to raise money for a trip to bowl game. We came up with a coffee mug with a photo of each band member, their name and a fun creative group shot of all the section members (trumpet players, flute players. etc.). The mugs were then pre sold to family members."
Campus bookstores are more widespread than ever, Fawbush points out. It's not just colleges, but more K-12 private and parochial schools are selling logoed drinkware, bags, apparel, and more to build awareness, school spirit and to raise necessary funds. "Daycares and preschools are also selling branded merchandise to parents, or giving them to new students as a welcome gift. The rise of franchised preschools is opening up a whole new market in education – whether sourced by a corporate office or by the local school owner/director – these schools demand quality products and can afford them," she explains.
Breaking In
Education is consistently in the news, whether it's about a local school or system, or a national issue. Read and learn about your community's school system, its issues, its needs and its desires. Become knowledgeable about state educational issues as well, so you can be keenly conversant when you meet with administrators and local businesses that support the schools and daycares.
"Be aware of the current educational environment by asking teachers, students, and parents what types of products would be most helpful," Fawbush advises. "Get involved in your own PTA/PTO if you have school-aged children, or look into local educational advocacy or fundraising groups to see what they are donating or fundraising for. Get involved in your own alumni association – its great networking too."
She also suggests talking to your existing contacts at a school to see what other departments could use your assistance in planning a promotional campaign. Larger institutions have HR departments and either marketing or public relations people who want to promote the brand internally and externally. Ask who handles the annual teacher's awards or who to contact at the fundraising office.
"Educational institutes seem to be triggered by products that represent the school colors, quality and usability around campus," observes Donlin. "Proposing products that hit this criteria is a great start. From there, it's all about presenting mock ups or even spec samples at times. When showing these products, it isn't so much just showing the product as it is demonstrating how the products can be used as a revenue builder for the school. Building interest and value into school products by personalizing them can really help to drive interest allowing a win-win for everyone involved."
Donlin adds that in constrained economic times schools are always looking for ways to raise money to support a wide variety activities and school events. "Often distributors are the perfect conduit between their local businesses customers and the schools," he says. Visit local musical instrument shops to see what type of creative promotional campaign they may want to do in conjunction with or support the school bands. Other pairings may include dancewear shops for the school dance teams, golf shops and courses for the school golf team, local bookstores for reading programs, and more.
Fawbush offers some ideas. "As schools become more technology focused, so do the students. Requiring laptop cases, tablet cases, stylus pens, USBs, chargers, etc. All these can be branded by the school or organization donating them. This opens up a whole new product category for distributors to sell. In years past where just a pencil/pen would be a perfect promotional product we now see customers looking for the new Pen with Stylus options to fit the evolving demands."
Also consider the safety and security issue, a growing concern for all schools. Some schools, Fawbush points out, are now mandating that faculty wear security badges, necessitating badge holders and/or lanyards – lanyards are also great student welcome gifts.
Fawbush summarizes, "While the traditional back to school market – catering to student supplies and programs – is always important, there are ancillary opportunities to help schools and educational organizations."
So go ahead and make the grade!
CASE STUDIES
Tom Donlin of ADG Promo: "A local kindergarten wanted to do something special for Mother's Day, The teacher had all the kids do a special painting for their Moms. The teachers then took a digital photo of that painting... That photo was then put on one side of our HDI Accent coffee mug, the other side had a big heart and read simply Happy Mother's Day! Not only did Mom get the original painting but a lifelong memory in the form of a coffee mug."
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ADG recently worked with a distributor on a project for graduating seniors. We suggested our HDI water bottles with personalization and placed the seniors' graduation photo on a 17-oz. water bottle with the school crest and the phrase, 'Congratulations Jane Doe Class of 2015.' Each senior received a bottle at the graduation party. As part of a fundraising effort to help pay for the party, 11-oz coffee mugs with the same artwork were made available for parents and grandparents to purchase.
Grethe Adams of Southern Plus:
A high school was looking for ways to raise money and sell season tickets for its upcoming football and basketball seasons. The school had some significant debt from opening a new (larger) stadium, and needed to not only fill the seats, but help pay for them. Their Booster Club knew the normal season ticket price was not going to get it done. They needed to dramatically increase prices, but wanted to add value to offset it.
The school selected three items from Southern Plus to use as gifts with purchase for five levels of participation: the Padded Strap Sack (7031), the Sweatshirt Blanket (9001), and the Stadium Chair (120). To setup, they allotted ample prime seating sections for corporate sponsors and VIPs, and created various other sections with variable price points to suit every budget (much like the professional stadiums do). They offered the Strap Sack for the gift with purchase for first level participation, the Sweatshirt Blanket as level two, the combination of the two items for level three, the Stadium Seat for level four, and all three items for level five and corporate sponsors. They sold mores season tickets than ever before, and at three times the price. All three items were also made available for sale at all the games as a fundraiser. These were the best selling items in the school's history. The blanket doubled as a team banner at the games, and could be folded, inserted into the strap sack and used as a warm seat cushion (for those who didn’t have the stadium chair.) The same model was used for the Basketball ticket sales as well. The School was particularly pleased at the way the items all worked together to solve a need for the fan/ticket holder, and ultimately the school!"
The 120 Stadium Seat was purchased by a school booster club initially as a gift to its top membership level. The seats could soon be seen at all the school games, resulting in requests from the teachers, students and parents about where they could buy the stadium seats. The booster club therefore ordered more of the stadium seats and started selling them at home games, generating additional profits for the club."