

The Startup T-Shirt Stereotype - mp3jeep01
http://blog.braidapp.com/the-startup-t-shirt-stereotype

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earbitscom
I think you forgot brand ambassadors, people who actually wear your shirt
because they love your service, want to promote it, and proudly do so. These
ones are the best, because when asked what the company is or does, they'll
know what to say and enthusiastically do so. I know bands who wear our shirts
and absolutely tell people what Earbits is when asked, which you don't get
from someone who says - I don't know, I just got this free shirt at a
conference.

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caseyschorr
Exactly. You need to shower the right people with t-shirts. It's no different
than any other form of marketing - you have to have a plan. You have to know
who to target. When done right, targeting your ambassadors and showering them
with gifts of swag can really boost your marketing.

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donretag
Many times companies are annoyed when I say I do not want their t-shirt while
at conferences/events. I do not want your t-shirt. I do not wear branded
clothing and quality good-looking t-shirts are not expensive.

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caseyschorr
NewRelic integrated a free t-shirt offer into their signup process, driving
leads through the funnel by offering a free shirt if the new trial customer
installs the NewRelic monitoring agent. Here's a case study we did on them,
30% increase in leads by integrating t-shirts + marketo + salesforce together
using the Printfection platform: [http://www.printfection.com/resources/case-
study-new-relic/](http://www.printfection.com/resources/case-study-new-relic/)

T-shirts work. Especially for all of these SaaS platforms and tech companies
where all of the marketing is virtual. Everyone is doing email and inbound
marketing. However, sending out t-shirts in the mail, that's different. People
remember the (one or two) companies that have sent them swag in the mail.

There's nothing like a t-shirt giveaway via Twitter, or a random VIP thank-you
gift that arrives in the mail. It shows you care, because sending a shirt
costs a lot more in time + money than sending an email.

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tomkarlo
The OP leaves out two major subgroups: People who wear the shirt because they
(or their friend / partner) is associated with the company, and folks who
think the t-shirt is cool or nice. I don't wear t-shirts every day, but if I'm
going to wear one, I'm not unlikely to choose a decent one that's loosely
associated with something I worked on myself.

Lots of startup t-shirts suck, but there is occasionally one that's pretty
nice and well-designed. (It helps if you have someone who knows what they're
doing design it.)

But yeah, if you take some crappy bottom-dollar third-world t-shirt and stamp
your logo on it 6" high, don't expect many people to wear it. And too many
companies think that's a good idea.

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mp3jeep01
Good call on the other groups. We're lucky enough to have @idangazit designing
ours, so I believe they'll turn out alright =p

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post_break
If I get a shirt from a company it's like a coupon for me to be their best
friend. Blinksale sent me a shirt after we signed up and I wear it all the
time. Logmein sent me a shirt for using a beta product, my company uses them
for remote stuff and again, best buds.

I'm a tshirt evangelist. If you have a great service, and send me a shirt,
I'll rep your stuff and pass referrals. But I think the key is that it has to
be personal. I won't do it just for a shirt, I'll do it for the relationship
and service included.

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airza
I wear my stripe CTF shirt a lot because it's super comfortable, doesn't look
absurdly terrible, and was a reward for doing something cool. So i'd recommend
that.

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rmason
Most startups give out t-shirts. Most startups fail. If you want to succeed
then you have to think differently.

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earbitscom
Haha. Most starups have a website/CEO/attorney/coffee maker. Most startups
fail. Don't have a website/CEO/attorney/coffee maker.

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namenotrequired
Most startups try to make it big. etc :)

