Know-How Exchange : Branding

I think you can go with pens, a much less expensive yet useful item, and achieve visibility and "generosity" when you tell someone to take and keep one.

I further believe that you're thinking accurate. It's one thing if your organization is flush with cash reserves, but it sounds like it's not.

Your boss is looking at public relations fail among employees and citizens if he moves forward with new items as you described. Your organization would be much better served by communicating and acting on a new campaign to care for your parks, and generating additional dollars to pay for safety and beauty, as well as rewarding a staff that makes it possible. That will pay huge dividends. Even at a minimal expense, the caps and mugs effect will have little if any, and possibly generate ill will.

Absolutely right, Gail!! One of my main pieces of advice to any business interested in the type of undertaking described in this question is...focus your energy on building the brand instead of promoting it.

Do visitors of the parks your agency manages feel safe? Are there activies that will bring families back over and over? Is the park clean? If you can answer yes to all of these questions, chances are you've established a brand that visitors will WANT to remenber with memorabilia.

This is what establishes a brand...the great feeling that one gets when they think of a product, service or yes, even a park.

Establishing that connection with visitors is the best promotion effort: resulting in WOM advertising, the best ROI you will enjoy. ..

I wouldn't object to some token that shows civic pride, with parks as a symbol of that pride. Caps seem like one way to do that.

The key will be in the execution and the perceived motivation. Civic pride is good; spending money that was intended for parks maintenance could come across as wasteful, especially when budgets are tight.

So the real answer, it seems to me, will lie in the execution. If you can make this something that your constituency will appreciate and be proud of, then do it. If it will be seen as self-serving or wasteful, then don't.

This is a researchable question. You don't have to guess.

The bigger question to ask is not, ought you to spend the money, but rather, are your fans crazy enough about your message and about their support of your service to WANT to wear a hat, drink from a parks mug, and so on.

Branding is less about promotion and more about affinity and tribalism. Is the tribe you're promoting the kind of tribe people want to be seen associating with?

Additionally, if money is tight, why not propose that your boss pay for the trinkets out of his or her own pocket?

Assessing ROI on these kinds of things is difficult because really, there's little to see in terms of R. Unless you're talking about a major sports franchise. from which serious revenue is generated, logo apparel at the level of local government is more to do with creating additional visibility. To create real R you need raving, bonkers mad fans, and having worked in local government I can pretty much guarantee that that's not how one might describe your audience.

Gary brings up an awesome point about the branding of any service deemed government-related.

Having just moved from NYC and watching the New York City Transit Authority launch its own line of fashion accessories to non-existent interest. (You know, the Subway, THAT NYC Transit Authority, not the sandwich).

Gary's, as well as my, point about having "brand advocates," people who's lives you've touched so much in a positive way, they feel compelled to share it, is critical before you spend tons of money on trinkets that manufacturers won't take back and you'll end up having to sell to a deep discounter, just to get the things off your books.

I've seen similar situations working in marketing in the restaurant business. New ventures interested in becoming the next household name willing to burn through 10s and I do mean, 10s of thousands of investor (mainly from the bank of mom and dad) brand-labeling everything they can get their hands on: napkins, cups, bags, pizza boxes, etc. All this before they've serve their first meal!

Needless to say, we've had to make arrangements for a lot of small eateries to discount or discard millions of units of printed merchandise...

Take some time to observe your customer base (visitors to the parks). How long are they staying? Are they coming back on a repeated basis? Are there areas of the park they gravitate to? Shy away from?

Moms (and dads) are always looking for outdoor space to take their little ones and their kids' playmates. One of your best indicators of how good your "brand" is: a three-year old begs to go any time of day or night!

Do event organizers look to your spaces for outings? Make the properties so attractive that concert promoters will seek them out! Best of both worlds: hats, T-Shirts and mugs that say, "A Night Under the Stars with Sara Singer at ABC Park, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012." Let the promoters pick up a great deal of the cost of souvenirs that locals will wear proudly!

Strive for THAT type of loyalty--on all age levels!