Many of us in the Mowalla office have logged our fair share of promotional and street team hours. In all my years of wearing brand gear I've had one huge pet peeve- the poorly designed, promotional T-shirt. 

Feeling confident in a Beefy-T is like wearing a trash bag and being adored at NY Fashion Week- yah, when pigs fly. So, it makes sense that I would be tickled pink reading the following article from Event Marketer’s website- http://ow.ly/1eGlM  Finally, an article condemning this ill-fitting promotional dinosaur. (A pig flew by my office window immediately after, but I was thrilled none the less.) EM’s article also highlights a very cool campaign Pepsi came up with to target 18-25 year olds by revamping old promo-T’s with new graphics and art- very cool, indeed. 

I know very few people that look like a fashionista in a baggy T-shirt. If your brand’s gear is not flattering, it will not be worn-even to the gym. We are living in the epoch of the personal brand, where the latest runway knock-offs are available at big-box retailers. Brands spend countless hours and dollars on their identities. Buzz words like green and eco abound. Everyone seems to be adjusting their personal lives and businesses to accommodate...accept, promotional T-shirts.

I am befuddled that I still run across poorly designed, ill-fitting promo-gear, and by the brand prowess of some of the worst offenders. Budgets aside, this mistake in fashion judgment is just as bad for the bottom line. In spite of being cost efficient if purchased in bulk, the promotional Beefy-T seems wasteful and tasteless- two adjectives I would not want associated with the Mowalla brand, and I’m sure our clients would want to avoid as well. It also leads into today's social networking quandaries of being authentic and valuable to your consumer. The Beefynater is neither of those. I implore all marketers to take heed and encourage their clients to create giveaways with value- things that they would want to wear themselves.

Applying this golden rule will not only heighten the experience of wearing your brand for your audience, it will cut down on the high doses of  bad marketing that wind up in landfills. Kudos to Pepsi for being fashion forward and eco-conscious. Seeing this blue-chip company change indicates we could be on the road to well designed and valuable promotional wears from all brands-large and small.