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The big question… Why?

15 April 2023 Stuart Nimmo Customer Service, Marketing, Power of Print

In an age where buzzwords and rhetoric spin around endlessly. Falsities around being kind to the environment by using electronic communications bluff their way into everyday life. Why does print or physical marketing matter?

We exist to provide the following

• enable successful businesses/organizations to engage with effective physical touchpoints
• assist SMEs / charities to deliver effective physical branding to enforce their presence in their primary customer touchpoints
• enable more accountable communications with known carbon footprint materials

What drives us… in a physical world, where being seen is a significant challenge. The reality of physical provides a great opportunity to help SMEs and third-sector organizations to create reality, and retention whilst resonating with an audience in a meaningful way.

The power of print, aka physical marketing, lies in the ability to connect. Connections are created through, the impact of the message; evoking the senses, visual and touch. Print through its lesser utilization due to mass market digital communications being cheap and overused, means print holds a unique power of trust, and reality, there at the moment, with no distractions. When coupled with creativity in a proper design, and well-written content, it has leverage in a very different way. Add in personalized or localized to make the message even more relevant to the recipient, and the engagement level increases further.

As a multi-disciplinary print provider, we don’t just print on paper, but everything through to large format items like banners and signage, through to garments and apparel. Delivering a wide range of physical items ready to take your brand. Delivery of this range of items, allows us to support our customers more fully in delivering their message, even just reminding people of who they are. Of course, this can be subliminal, working in the background.

We don’t live in silos, unlike some graphic communication providers. We know and understand the power of connecting digital communications with print. We don’t profess to be experts in digital communications, however, understand what you can do. Hence why you won’t find us selling websites, social media support or other digital products. At the heart of what we do is the power of physical media through print. We understand the paper, and the nuisances of print finishing, which allows us to better specify strong campaigns and items in print.

Don’t think we are not connected, we do understand marketing basics, we have professionals in other disciplines we love to work with. We will ask, what is your call to action? How do you want to measure or quantify parts of marketing tools? How are you distributing or connecting with people who might be your ideal audience? These aren’t hostile questions, purely us making sure you have thought through a customer journey, where are you wanting them to go next and why.

As for being accountable, we can identify sources of paper, substrates, garment stock and pretty much everything that flows through our print studio. From the shortest journeys of Kendal to Preston and us in Halifax, or paper manufactured in Portugal. With toner which is compostable, latex large format ink. We are well aware of every item we use in our processes. We’d like to challenge you to think of the carbon used in digital communications- you’ll struggle to fully identify every element or resource used.

Above all, we care about what we do, try to be properly responsible, and have some ethics along the way. Perhaps we are an exception to life in modern business society, we aim to be credible, through being responsible. We work best when in partnership with our customers, helping them to achieve whilst delivering progressive development for all involved. Making us part of the bigger community, valued and adding value where we can.

Product Review: Regatta Men’s Navigate Hybrid Jacket

6 March 2023 Andy Patten

A couple of weekends ago (26th February 2023), I visited the Printwear and Promotion 2023 exhibition with Stuart at the NEC in Birmingham. Printwear and Promotion is one of the first exhibitions I’ve attended in a long while. While I was still determining what to expect in this post-Covid world, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of exhibitors, interactive workshops, and friendly approach towards someone who doesn’t specialise in the sector.

If you’re unaware, the Printware and Promotion exhibition allows the print industry access to the latest products and tech across the spectrum of garment and apparel printing. – Anything from hoodies and T-Shirts to Bags, Mugs, Keyrings & Pens.

I’d, however, describe it as my other half’s nightmare. An exhibition hall full of clothing and shoes with no possibility of buying any of them. I still don’t think she’d have recovered now if she’d visited with us. However, a few suppliers were offering sample stock, and, more excitingly, Regatta allowed visitors to win some of their products. I’m always up for excitement like this, and never more than when it involves a “seaside” style grabber machine – a quick go, and on the first attempt, grabbing a bottle with a piece of paper. A quick trip to the desk revealed I’d won their top prize, the Men’s Navigate Hybrid Jacket. Excitement was at a fever pitch!

A few weeks later, I’ve been wearing the Regatta Navigate Hybrid Jacket on and off, and I’ve got to say, I’m impressed. I know a name like Regatta has high expectations in the clothing spectrum, especially for their outdoor kit. However, this lightweight jacket punches well above my expectation for such a light garment.

The jacket features Regatta’s Extol Stretch Technology which, in their words, is an “Ergonomic and flexible fabric for high energy activities”, and I can’t disagree. This fabric on the sleeves and hood provides enough warmth, but also freedom, and movement. The main body comprises Polyamide panels, which add a little more warmth but are also perfect for a small company, club or society logo on the chest.

The Regatta Men’s Navigate Hybrid Jacket features two lower pockets and a chest pocket, all ample for your day-to-day needs and truly is a jacket you can wear all day without feeling it. I’ve been surprised a couple of times by how light yet warm the sleeves are, and Regatta’s Extol Stretch Technology does seem to work well.

I’ve yet to find many negitive points, if any, to be honest. I’d say the size is a little “regatta” and you may find yourself needing to “size up”, but for a lightweight, day-to-day jacket, you can’t go wrong with Regatta’s Men’s Navigate Hybrid Jacket.

A day on product knowledge learning…

26 February 2023 Stuart Nimmo

So, all in a day of learning. Yes, I spent my Sunday at Printwear and Promotion doing the touchy-feely bit and getting the product into my hands to help us specify great solutions for our customers.

A different show from previous years, less might be one word, but what was there was certainly worth the time.

Probably to our biggest wholesale channel first, considering we’ve not actually met our account rep in person, it was great to know that voice alone gets you recognised. Gildan has a new Softstyle Midweight Fleece Adult Hoodie, which yes made the mark, with 15 colours in the range, it’s not quite to the level of the other big Hoodie manufacturer, but we can say, there will be stock of this, as this wholesaler and brand a renowned for keeping good stock levels. So, a sure winner there! If you’re sporty, the advent of a well-known name of Craft coming into the portfolio of this supplier is a real winner too. And, yes I will be product testing certain items myself (that says a lot!) However this isn’t in the catalogue yet – give it a few weeks and we’ll be chomping at the bit for it.

A Craft Fleece Top with nice branding patch on left-hand side.

For our workwear clients, here’s the winner through this wholesale channel – Jobman workwear, yes the Craftsman Trousers, are certainly a product to take a look at. We also liked the Softshell Jacket as well – again specification at the price point is a great option – more than the Regatta Ablaze, but in a different league. If you are a brand snob and workwear has to be absolutely top-notch, the option around Helly Hansen is there, and the Manchester T-Shirt again really packs a punch.

As big fans of Hoodies, we had to stop by AWDis – purely the range is awesome, with more colours than you can shake a magic wand at. Whilst we have some in our Halifax Showroom, we don’t have the full range, Great for apparel which needs to bring brand colours really to home. We also took a serious look at AWDis Just Cool and knowing some of our personal trainer clients and fitness industry clients, there is some interesting development in products which will allow your branding into more places, including crop tops and excellent leggings. The other Hoodie which we are fans of is Anthem – this has become our staple top-of-range go too. Yes, we came away with a sample of the mid-range Anthem Hoodie and did spend a bit of time looking at the zipped hoodies as well.

Other highlights saw us exploring options around merchandise to bolt on to apparel – watch this space. We also had substantial conversations with a significant outdoor clothing brand about potential packages we might be able to offer. Plus exploring further product offerings which might help us to enhance our offering.

So our advice – if you’re looking for apparel and workwear, ask, we’ve seen a lot, and gotten to know a lot of products. We have sample stock available for you to see for yourselves in our Halifax showroom.