PPB August 2020

Headwea r and Foo twea r by Danielle Renda Nikcoa / Oriental / Papaya Salad / Rawpixel / Shutterstock.com. Photo illustration by SPARK Publications. Say It With Accessories Brands can use trendy headwear, unique footwear and personalized patches to get in front of end users in the most fashionable way possible, while making a memorable statement from head to toe. P romotional headwear and footwear offer brands a unique opportunity to incorporate their message into everyday ensembles. For example, consumers can don a red, faded wash cap with a neutral outfit or slide into a pair of sweet, colorful slip-ons and voila!—they have a casual look fit for a day of running errands, relaxing on the beach, hopping on a flight and everything in between. For brands, offering a promotional product that is not only functional, but one that can become a go-to item in wearers’ closets, only means more exposure for a company’s logo, message or cause. But that also makes it all the more crucial to really nail it when it comes to choosing and designing promotional products that effectively help promote the advertiser’s initiative, make a statement or raise awareness. Over the past few years, there have been a goodmany campaigns involving branded hats and shoes. During the 2016 presidential election, President Trump’s campaign soldmore than onemillion of his American-made red caps embroidered with “Make America Great Again,” raisingmore than $45million, according to Newsweek . The caps became so symbolic during the election and in the years since that CNN has described themas iconic. A year later, more than 200,000 supporters came together for theWomen’s March inWashington, donning hot pink beanies with cat-like ears to support the Pussyhat Project, a social campaign designed to raise awareness about women’s issues and human rights. The hats were blank, but nonetheless their color and shape became symbolic to the cause they represented. Many of the participatingmanufacturers took the message a step further by donating the proceeds to select organizations, like Planned Parenthood. In fashion, Nike designed its EQUALITY campaign in 2018 involving a giveaway to promote racial equality, while also presenting an incentive 28 | AUGUST 2020 | INNOVATE