Join the Club

Clubs and associations promote a feeling of comradery and exclusivity. Now, you can capitalize on their promotions by providing customized products.
July 8, 2008

By Liz Aull

Clubs and associations have been around for centuries. The English poet Thomas Occleve (c. 1368 – 1426) was one of the first to acknowledge membership in a club, in his La Court de Bone Compaignie (The Court of Good Company). Since then, clubs and associations have sprung up for a variety of reasons, targeting all sorts of members. Professional societies, service clubs, sports clubs and country clubs are just a few examples.

Clubs and associations exist to draw together a particular group of people with something in common. And luckily for you, such people need promotional products. There are three primary reasons that members of clubs and associations purchase promotional products:

1.    They want the items for themselves, to promote their group and what it stands for. “Promos are a great way to make people really feel like part of a group and to commemorate events,” says Mark Yokoyama, director of marketing for e-Promos, New York. “They're also tangible evidence that the membership dues have been put to good use.”
2.    Promotional products are used during membership drives or as gifts for new members.
3.    Members sometimes sell products to raise money for the organization, says JoAnn Beckman, director of marketing for Vitronic, a Mason, Ohio-based wholesale supplier of promotional products.

Customer Contacts
Your contacts in a voluntary organization may be very different from those in other — generally professional — industries. Very often, a volunteer who has never purchased before will coordinate buying promotional products, which can be a new obstacle for you. “It can be challenging to walk folks through the process when they’ve never done it before,” says Yokoyama. “It requires some education, from art requirements to why it isn’t always possible to do really small runs.” Janet Gould, president of York County Able-Printers in Mount Wolf, Pa., notes that sometimes these clients like to design their own artwork. “We often have to tweak it and make it camera-ready,” she says.



However, larger groups that put on major affairs often use event planners who are generally well-educated in purchasing promotional products. For example, Network Interstate, an embroidery and promotional products company in Houston, works with many oil and gas companies in Texas. “Event planners are big for those energy companies,” says Lily Clark, owner of the company. “Sometimes they’re in-house employees, and sometimes they’re outsourced.” Network Interstate often works with specialty groups within the main company to host events such as golf tournaments.

While you can depend on many groups for regular orders, others may be less likely to purchase on a consistent basis. For example, Yokoyama notes that since clubs are extra-curricular, some people may be less involved, and therefore, less likely to need promotional products. On the other hand, many clubs and associations have very active members and do a lot of promoting. Gould says that the clubs and associations her company works with are all repeat customers. “We get a lot of orders in the spring and summer for items that they want to sell or give away during fundraisers,” she says.

Gidget Tracy, owner of Proforma TCT in Houston, explains that promotional products are often used for brand recognition. Her company has worked with a coastal and marine conservation organization for the past 15 years. She supplies the organization’s promotional products for two distinct uses. First, members of the organization purchase products during membership drives and planned events. Second, the group purchases a retail line sold in a chain of sporting goods stores. Most of those items are purchased by people interested in what the organization does.

Product Preferences
Voluntary groups like clubs and associations are generally interested in tried-and-true promotional products. T-shirts, hats and stickers are, of course, popular items. Tracy keeps track of what’s in style to offer her client. “I watch what people on the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association of America) are wearing,” she says. Since much of Clark’s business comes from group-sponsored events, her products relate to the event, such as golf shirts and bags for a golf tournament. Gould finds that these groups are likely to order 50/50 cotton/polyester shirts. “They don’t want to iron it,” she says. Her groups also like the company’s magic ink shirts that change colors in the sun.



Joining a club or association that interests you can be a great way to pick up new business. While handing out your business card at every opportunity has its appeal, another way to network — and have some fun — is through the people you meet. Chances are, you’ll run across someone who needs promotional products. And you might find a group of people who have the same hobby that you do.

Liz Aull is a freelance writer in Atlanta and a contributor to Impressions magazine. She can be reached at liz@aull-image.com.

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