Often times, managing how your brand is used and abused by your internal teams can be like herding cats. While one office wants to change the color of the logo to match their local sports team, another location wants to separate the elements because “it looks cool like that.” It’s no fun being the logo police. We get that. Here’s how a company store can help you enforce Brand Compliance (without making you the bad guy!).

For many of our clients, their online branded merchandise store is used to maintain the company branding guidelines. By having one central hub for every branch office, franchise or outside sales rep to visit for branded collateral, you are able to control not only the products, but also the colors, size of the logo and authorized campaigns. Perhaps even more importantly, though, you can prevent a rogue office from using a competitor’s color or a questionable item with the company logo on it.

While this type of brand control is useful on a regular basis, just imagine how effective it is during mergers, acquisitions or when the company is re-branding. ROBYN has worked with companies in a variety of situations that required non-disclosure agreements and the subtle elimination of existing stock while developing products that are 100% in compliance once the new arrangement is announced.

Of course, this doesn’t mean your branded merchandise program can’t offer the users options. For instance, you may choose to feature a Nike Dri-Fit sport shirt in three different colors with a choice of logo style and position.

The company store can even be used to establish guidelines for apparel for casual days, tradeshows or company-sponsored events by including these details in the product description or by creating specific categories on the website for each classification of branded shirt. Clothes are just the beginning, though. The ROBYN Company Store Solution can also manage brochures, stationery, business cards and customizable flyers… to your standards!

Your online company store… It’s here to protect and serve!

Want to attract attention at your next tradeshow? The recipe is simple… Provide a tasty treat and back it up with branded materials that compliment your theme so your audience remembers you!

“People are really in to food!” exclaimed Sandy Hagen, owner of the Express Employment Professionals’ franchises in Mt. Vernon and Bellingham, WA. “We love the Starbuck’s cake pops. We wanted to serve them because we knew everyone would love them and come to our booth.” These smart marketers didn’t stop there, though.

“We started with the theme ‘Success with Express is a piece of cake!’ and it took off from there! Stress relievers shaped like pieces of cake, plus pens and notepads with color artwork,” said Sandy. “The bags with the beautiful matching imprint were the most popular, though.” Each one was skillfully folded to fit into the clear plastic cupcake holders… with a faux strawberry garnish, of course. “It took some practice to get those right,” Sandy laughed.

Schmoozefest is an annual event hosted by the Economic Development Association of Skagit County in the northern part of Washington to encourage networking between local businesses. “It’s the biggest event of the year for us because we get to meet business owners from all over the county. Our goal is to schmooze with everybody,” said Sandy. “And, we try to top ourselves each year, which is going to be even harder next year. People are still talking about the year’s booth!”

Tradeshow success is measured by the number of contacts you make, but even more importantly by the number of people who remember you. Developing a theme and providing creative give-away items to reinforce your brand and the experience ensure a spot in your prospects’ minds (and stomachs, in this case).

We would love to help you whip up your own recipe for success!
 

We all like to feel as if there is someone nearby to answer our questions. Whether it’s a helpful concierge at the hotel who directs you to a great local restaurant or the knowledgeable waiter who explains how a signature dish is prepared to perfection, it’s the human touch that makes the difference. A person to answer our questions and help us along our journey gives us confidence in the new encounter. It matters.

This is exactly how visitors to your corporate branded products website might feel, too. No matter how thoroughly we anticipate and plan for every imaginable question, your visitors will come up with unique situations and will seek expert advice. It’s for this precise reason we developed a comprehensive Customer Service Package for our company store solutions that includes both email and toll-free telephone support.

From the beginning of the process, we encourage our clients to purchase their own domain name for the branded merchandise e-store and to manage it themselves. Sure, we have the ability to do it for you, but it’s your brand and we believe you should own it. With this in mind, we then ask that you create a customer service email address at the domain name and point it to us. We take it from there.

Every interaction your visitors have with customer service is branded with your company, yet your team is never bothered with the visitor questions. Our dedicated customer service professionals are experts with our platform and have all the pertinent information for the products on your store just a mouse-click away. And, because we answer the phones with your company name and use your domain name in our email responses, your visitors trust they are dealing with an extension of your brand, not some stranger in another country. This truly delivers the personal touch your audience craves.

The benefits are two-fold, however, because your team is now able to focus on mission-critical objectives while the ROBYN customer service team handles:

• Exchanging sizes on apparel
• Replacing items damaged in transit
• Helping timid internet users navigate the store
• Answering questions (i.e. – spending accounts, gift certificates, purchase orders, etc.)
• Checking order status
• Placing orders (some rush orders might require a phone call in addition to an email)

This saves you time, money and a whole lot of headaches.

Customer service is a vital part of every interaction. Taking care of your company store users and your team is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to them.