AdvertisingAge.com is running an article this week about the t-shirt's potential as a marketing vehicle. The piece is a bit silly because, ya know, brands have been printing their logos and slogans on t-shirts for eons. But while reading it, I was struck by how closely the benefits of t-shirt marketing mirror some of the key truths of social media.
Consider:
"T-shirts remind you of who you've been. They show the world who you are. But that doesn't mean they have to be devoid of marketing messages."
Couldn't the same be said of blogs, photostreams, linkrolls and social network profiles?
"The shirt ends up helping you remember a trip or a triumph -- something. And it is that connection to a particular time, place and event that makes it so powerful."
Hey - sounds like Twitter to me.
"T-shirts are the lazy man's scrapbook."
This is exactly how I'd describe my Tumblr site or even how I'm using Jaiku at this point.
"T-shirts remain one of the longest-lived promos you could ever throw at a customer... Make a brilliant t-shirt for your brand, and you will have a walking billboard for life."
This is the kicker. Advertisers still think about campaigns as discreet programs with fixed start and end dates -- when the last ad runs or the promotion expires, the campaign is over. If t-shirts are forever, then your Google results help to make sure that social media content is forever-ever. This can be incredibly powerful or unbelievably damaging, depending on what consumers are really writing about you and how well you employ social media channels yourself.
"A t-shirt starts conversations -- that has always been one of its biggest jobs -- and the more comments it elicits the more it gets worn."
I figure that last quote speaks for itself. Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing this whole t-shirt marketing thing. What do you think?
["Advertising helps me decide" t-shirt by Vintage Vantage, with a head-nod to Karl Long.]
