Marketeers Engage Delegates & Spread the Word with Innovative Approach from Spreadshirt
LONDON – November, 10th 2010 – Spreadshirt (www.spreadshirt.co.uk), the European market leader and creative platform for personalised apparel, announced its latest Shop Partner deal with BarCamp London (Europe’s largest overnight BarCamp, part of the international network of user-generated conferences www.barcamplondon.com). The deal uses t-shirts as an integrated part of the registration process and has previously improved the drop-out rate from 40% to less than 5%. This follows The Guardian’s success over the election, engaging readers with the now iconic ‘Posh Boy’ t-shirt.
“BarCamp London is a free event, which has in the past meant that attendees sign-up and then don’t turn up on the day,” explains Cristiano Betta, BarCamp London organiser. He continues, “to try and reduce the drop-out rate, we used Spreadshirt’s Shop offering at our last event, engaging our delegates with customisable BarCamp London t-shirts that they collected at the conference. This year we’re already seeing the buzz and engagement created by the t-shirts and are expecting a high turn-out”.
For the 2010 unconference on 13 & 14 November, Spreadshirt’s print on demand technology will allow BarCamp London delegates to choose the design, style and size of their t-shirt. They can customise a BarCamp London design, adding their name, fascinating fact or even a new business idea. Spreadshirt gives BarCamp London an interactive experience for its delegates, to create a t-shirt they want to wear, thus raising awareness of the event and bonding with its advocates.
Philip Rooke, CMO of Spreadshirt explains, “these benefits are not just limited to conferences and events. The t-shirt with involvement has grown into a viral tool. Marketeers are taking advantage of this and we’re seeing some very inventive ways of using apparel coming out of the UK, our fastest-growing market. Marketing teams now have a risk-free way of engaging with their target audiences, reaching new places, rewarding and involving brand champions and even generating revenue. Good quality, customisable apparel gives a company’s advocates something they want, which are then kept and worn regularly; “every time it’s clean” according to our consumers”.
In another campaign where t-shirts engaged readers, Spreadshirt worked with The Guardian creating a t-shirt that ran alongside its April Fool’s day editorial spoof – Step Outside Posh Boy. This t-shirt was given away in a competition and ran as a reader’s offer so it was available to everyone, resulting in 3,000 t-shirt orders in a range of sizes and styles over 21 days. Seven days after the April Fools piece appeared in the Guardian, the Posh Boy t-shirt featured on the hugely popular TV series Have I Got News for You. “With viral campaigns you have to be quick. The speed at which we were able to capitalise on this idea meant that we were able to engage with our brand champions whilst the joke was still topical, and at minimum risk because of Spreadshirt’s print on demand technology. As a result this campaign was hugely popular and proved a great success”, said Kate Morgan-Locke, Consumer Offers & Services Director, the Guardian Newspaper.