Who doesn’t love huge, colorful, vibrant beach towels to lie on, or snuggling in lush robes? Seriously, who? Nobody we know. This is why the towel and robe promotional sector is always so popular. There are so many opportunities here.
Murray Siegel of Towel Specialties, notes that “The obvious opportunities are going to be around companies with corporate travel events to resorts and spas. But here’s a myth buster: while that is a popular usage category, it does not account for how most of our beach towels are used. The other obvious opportunities are going to be around swim teams or anyone planning a promotion by the pool or beach.”
The key for the “not-so-obvious” is to have an open mind and not rule out showing a beach towel just because your client doesn’t have a beach event coming up, he emphasizes. Beach towels are commonly used for employee recognition and safety programs, company picnics, and gift with purchase opportunities.
Sy Ereren of Terrytown emphasizes, “The one-and-only beach towel can be considered the promo industry’s most elusive and coveted product. The real question lies in how can you turn a beach towel into a money-making machine? When used as a promotional product, a beach towel can be multi-faceted in that it has an impressive area for a logo to be seen, and you know that the towel will be used endlessly.”
Sporting events and public activities often are memorable experiences for participants. Rally towels became popular in the mid-1970s as the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers’ “terrible towels” waved by fans. Now, many NFL teams give logoed rally towels to their fans. According to the website for Rally Towel, rally towels are now common at numerous sports games. “Custom rally towels made the leap from fan paraphernalia to promotional products once businesses realized the potential marketing reach these custom towels offered.”
As major sponsors of professional teams used rally towels as an advertising tool to promote their brand, their logo, and their message, smaller, more local businesses saw the opportunity to follow suit – and this is perfect for promotional distributors to get businesses more involved in community events, such as charity golf events and marathons/walks.
However, according to the Rally Towel website, “Custom towels aren’t limited to just sporting events and athletic venues. One of the most recent ways these towels are being used is as wedding favors. The happy couple has a custom message, the date of the wedding, even an image, printed on a themed towel that matches their wedding colors and each guest receives one. As the couple enters or leaves the receptions, the guests can rally for the happy couple, waving their towels over their head.”
Internally, businesses can use rally towels for their employees, both as a way to engage and encourage a positive company culture, or simply for practical purposes, such as for workers in the trades who may appreciate having a towel to wipe their face or hands after a tough job.
Trends
Sublimation has really revolutionized the category over the last five years, Siegel says. Customers who wanted the edge-to-edge four-color process had to deal with high minimums and long production times. With sublimation, he points out, the minimums are now easily reachable and production time is on par with screen printing or embroidery. “More importantly, sublimation allows purchasers to be more creative with their designs which, in the end, allows them to spark the excitement and impact that they seek,” he comments.
Additionally, he says he is seeing end-users move away from traditional (and lower priced) 50” x 60” throw blankets and gravitating toward the larger sizes.
Fabrics have changed in this sector, Lewis observes. For example, zero twist has become popular. Zero twist has no twists of yarn per square inch, making the fabric plusher. Additionally, she says, “We did find the need to carry organic cotton robes since the world has become more eco-conscious.”
Luxury is trending, as is spa attendance. Hilasal USA offers lush velour kimono/coverups in two sizes, 42 inches and 48 inches long, in both black and white. Rimann offers a plush two-color Italian waffle robe with shawl.
For a more fashionable presentation, Terrytown provides a spunky line of designer spa wraps in polka dot, leopard, zebra, and in appealing single colors.
Murray Siegel of Towel Specialties shares a particular case history that really underscores the value of a promotional towel: “My favorite case study is from a major East Coast university (about 150 miles from the ocean). They gave beach towels to each freshman as part of their orientation package. They also provided instructions with each towel that asked each recipient to take a picture of the towel in an unusual place and tweet the photo with the pre-assigned hashtag. Within a year, there were photos of students holding the towels at Shea Stadium, the Grand Canyon, Underwater, and, my favorite, by the Great Pyramids in Egypt.”
There may not be a better price-per-impression product than a towel.
Rally Towel: “The Rally Towels company was on full display in the stands as Dolphins enthusiasts twirled them around when the team beat the legendary New England Patriots, their rival, by one point. The energy on the field was palpable as Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill lined up for the “Boise” play as he was stuck at his own 31-yard line as time ran out. He lateraled the football to one of the receivers – and surprise! surprise! – he was actually able to make it the full 69 yards to give the Dolphins a 34-33 victory over New England. You can bet your bottom dollar the Miami Dolphins rally towels were waving in full force after that.”