This morning, I selected from my vast wardrobe a shirt that sometimes earns a few comments at the gym – my light green Krispy Kreme doughnuts t-shirt. Coincidentally, I also poured my coffee into a Krispy Kreme mug. Realizing what I’d done, it was obvious that there was only one thing left undone in my accidental promotion of this American doughnut chain. Blog it.
For those of you not familiar with Krispy Kreme, it is a shop that started in the U.S. south, and quietly grew until a decade or so ago, when the brand began exploding in popularity. Why? Two words – HOT NOW. You could go into their stores, watch the doughnuts being made, and sample them right off the assembly line, as hot and fresh and gooey as can be. A guilty pleasure-fest of empty, fat-producing calories. People would rhapsodize about the pleasures of eating Krispy Kremes, and when a new store would be inaugurated, through effective marketing techniques, huge lines of hungry folks – the zealots and the curious – would await the opening of the doors.
Now, from a graphical design perspective, their logo is nowhere near as attractive as many others, and certainly not as appealing as their doughnuts. But KK has earned a lot of brand loyalty, and so – at least for me – they passed the T-shirt test.
And the mug test (fair balance: I also have Starbucks mugs). I did pass on the HOT NOW boxer shorts, however.
Brand loyalty is often shown by a proud wearing of the colors – since you have very positive feelings about a certain company or product, you will gladly wear the T-shirt, the hat, and other elements of the uniform. Sports teams (college and pro) are the ultimate in this type of sartorial advertising, but your brand can gain a place in the wardrobe of its fans.
The first rule is simple: have a great graphical design for the item you’re giving away or selling. Classic, understated logo/tagline designs are commonplace and nice, certainly. Remarkable and funny designs are even more effective if they are congruent with your brand identity. I enjoy wearing my Ravenswood “No Wimpy Wines” t-shirt because it is not only humorous, but it has the wink-wink nudge-nudge element of an “insider” message (I appreciate good wine). And, I never fail to get remarks on my FreshBooks t-shirt, because it has a fake blue tie screen-printed on the front (and I don’t even use the FreshBooks software)!
The second rule is much more challenging. You clients and fans need to love you. You have to earn the right to be emblazoned on their body as they walk out the door. They need to riffle through their 25 t-shirts, see yours, and put it on with pride, ready to tell others how great you are. For no logical reason, they need to enjoy that cup of coffee just a little bit more in your mug. Not only because it’s cool-looking. But because they feel pretty cool having selected you for a brand.
What brands pass your t-shirt test? To paraphrase a recent credit card commercial: What’s in your closet? Share your favorite brands that pass the T-shirt test, and why, in the Comments!
(full disclosure: I should also mention here that there’s a very nice Marketing Profs t-shirt that is on regular rotation in my closet. In fact, I think I better go change right now…)
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It amazes me that people will sometimes buy t-shirts from their favorite cafe’s and franchises. A good is sold for profit which is actually an advertising piece in disguise. Kind of brilliant when you think about it.
“the best ad is the one you don’t have to pay for” is the baseline of a custom branded T Shirt – http://www.originalt.eu...
Let’s see, I have all my swag from Blogger Social, of course, including my Marketing Profs shirt. Mostly I wear my Marine Corps “moto” shirts. Can’t have a more compelling brand than the USMC.
Sidenote-
Yesterday: I started a strict diet that I’ll be on for 90 days.
Today: You write a great description of wonderfully decadent Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
You totally suck.
Interesting post! I was just thinking the other day – whatever happened to Krispy Kreme? I remember it’s initially boom of popularity but haven’t seen any recently and also have not heard of anyone speaking about it. I wonder if it’s because everyone is more focused on how obese Americans are getting and more health conscious? Anyways, totally unrelated to the likeable T-shirt thing but just a random thought.
Right on Cam. You shouldn’t be wearing those USMC shirts around if you aren’t in rock solid shape (not good for the brand). Wear donut shirts until then.
Neil – They’re called “moto” shirts for a reason. Doughnuts won’t motivate me to do anything but eat more doughnuts.
LOL. True that on the moto shirts.
You should do some semper fu on me for my slip up.
In addition to my MarketingProfs t, these branded t’s are in my rotation:
HARO
(Peter Shankman’s http://www.helpareporterout.com)
The New Yorker
Horny Toad (clothing company)
The New York Public Library
This actually sort of surprised me, when I thought about it, because I have pretty strong brand affinities. But then I realized that most brand t-shirts are sized for men… not women. And especially not smaller women like me. So while I have had a closet full of branded ts fall into my hands for various reasons (trade shows, meetups, etc.), a small percentage are suited to everyday wear for the likes of me.
There’s a lesson here: “Attention, brands! Women wear t-shirts, too!”
I want a Horny Toad T shirt!
@Neil Check it:
http://www.hornytoad.com/shop/#ms3
Wow, all this horniness has its headquarters right here in Portland, OR.
I had nothing to do with it, either.
Ann,
You’re probably aware that there are many more t-shirt deprived people in this world -
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/week27/index.html
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/01/femalefriendly_.html
Since Kathy had to leave the blogsphere maybe you can take up the mantra and see who is currently being more female friendly?
I decided not to include a mention of this T-shirt (http://is.gd/29GB) in the post, which has a wonderful branding story attached to it. I just can’t bring myself to wear the thing in public!
@Cam, I’ll follow up with a Dunkin’ Donuts post, then something on Frappucinos, and top it off with, say, a piece on Haagen Dazs ice cream. That ought to get you through the next 3 months!
I have the cutest pink sleeveless t-shirt from vegas that says “Kiss my Dice for Luck” and is has sparkly dice on it.
Consequently, I bought 8 of them for each of my friends. And they were…here it comes…tickled pink.
@Steve: So what exactly is that story…? Something to do with basement crack-filling…?
http://is.gd/29GB
As I was riffling through the Net-Flix offerings, I came across a gem of a film that those in marketing would get a kick (and a smile) out of.
It’s called “OUTSOURCED.”
@ann: I don’t have a personal brand story with the Crack Team, I just like their brand story. Taking the utterly mundane and making it fun and remarkable.
@esther Did you just end a sentence with “out of”????? You’re not hearing the end of this, Mom!
I believe it was Winston Churchill who said, “Ending a sentence with a preposition is an egregious error, up with which I will not put.”
@Steve — I love your Mom.
Awesome. Quoting Churchill!!
Steve, you have a cool mom.
Mom is my best blog critic. A former teacher, she reads all my posts and corrects me when I commit grammatical transgressions. But on rare occasions…very rare…I can catch her. There’s hardly anything I get more pleasure out of!
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I think that there is another factor in the social media world, that of visibility. The brand message needs to be front and center, ready for every facebook upload, tweetpic and flickr. Here is a valuable lesson I learned.
http://urlbrief.com/633830
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