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want to incorporate custom
jewelry into their offerings?
Katzman
Don’t feel you need
to know what will work. Most
of our clients come to us with
a logo, event, audience and
budget. We ask lots of
questions and work with
each distributor to design
jewelry and accessories that
will resonate with the cus-
tomer. Jewelry is a very per-
sonal thing. Go classic to
appeal to the masses. Know
your client’s taste and their
sweet spot. And remember, it
should be beautiful. If it’s not
something you or your dear
one would wear, we won’t
recommend producing it.
FAST
FORWARD
66 •
PPB
• AUGUST 2016
THINK
T-Shirts
For Life
Custom Ink taps into t-shirt nostalgia with ad spot
NO NEED TO COVER IT UP:
we all
have a favorite custom tee that’s proba-
bly well past its prime, showing signs of
wear and not nearly as cool as it was
when we first got it. But that t-shirt tells
a story, and it’s part of your life story.
In its latest TV ad campaign,
Fairfax, Virginia-based distributor
Custom Ink (UPIC: C594384) shares
nostalgic t-shirt stories that forever
remind viewers of milestones, special
moments and more, through three new
ad spots. The campaign is designed to
inspire “doers,” the people who love
making t-shirts to mark occasions such
as family reunions, weddings and busi-
ness launches.
In addition to airing nationwide, the
short clips—Beautiful Girl, Circle of
Life and Entrepreneur—can be viewed
on Custom Ink’s YouTube channel.
(Continued from previous page)
AD-ITIVES
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND
private-sector com-
panies don’t often play nice, but when they do it’s in the
name of strengthening the U.S. economy. One recent collab-
oration promises to increase the recent momentum experi-
enced by the U.S. textile industry by funding innovative
research and development in fiber science.
In 2014, the National Network for Manufacturing
Innovation was established to increase U.S. manufacturing
competitiveness through collaboration between industry,
academic and federal partners. Through the NNMI, eight
manufacturing institutes have been established and funded
through competition awards—the ninth and most recent is
the Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles institute in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
With a $75 million award from the Department of
Defense and nearly $250 million in investments pledged by
private-sector entities, a consortium of 89 manufacturers, uni-
versities and nonprofit groups organized by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology will seek ways to advance fiber science,
producing technical textiles that can be used in myriad appli-
cations: think lightweight, high-heat flame-resistant fabrics for
firefighters; sensor-embedded products that replicate the
properties of fitness trackers, and antimicrobial fabrics that can
be used to treat battlefield injuries onsite.
In Defense Of
Fiber Technology
TECH TALK
Textile innovation gets backing from the federal
government