What branding options are essential in Print on Demand?

Launching a brand is now very easy: in a few clicks your shop is created, it's great.

Making it known to the public is more complex and it is vital to work on your brand image, which is called "branding".

A little explanation...

Before getting to the heart of the matter, it would be wise to provide you with a few explanations about our background, in order to better understand the options we have chosen to offer you.

Well before launching into print on demand, we created tpop.fr, an online shop for personalised products: this experience enabled us to discover many things and to acquire various skills both on the technical and marketing levels.

We have had to "touch" many areas: graphic design, IT development, referencing, advertising on social networks, etc.

At the same time, we have continued to develop our print shop by constantly adding new printing techniques and machines.

In 2018, we decided to put these skills at the service of other creators by developing our automated print on demand service.

Why print on demand?

We felt that there was a lack of an easy-to-use tool on the market that would allow you to create a brand in a simple and ethical way (eco-responsible products and a commitment to "0 plastic" were in our specifications).

We wanted above all to offer a quality service and to carry out this project, it was important to be familiar with the different textiles on the market (and there are many, believe us), the many printing techniques and also to be familiar with online commerce.

The application was therefore thought out and developed by systematically putting ourselves in the place of the e-tailer and by simplifying the creation process as much as possible.

The aim is to save you time in marketing and communication around your brand.

Branding

Branding is an important aspect of the sales process and it is essential for a shop to work on its brand image through the distribution of its products.

We also went through this process and encountered the same problems at the time:

• How can I make my brand known / famous?
• How do you make a name for yourself in the world of e-commerce, where there are more and more new shops?
• How can you differentiate yourself from other shops?

Controlling the chain from start to finish allowed us to test various branding techniques, but also to calculate the cost of each option.

Everything has to be taken into account when you decide to add something to your package, you should never lose sight of the fact that you have to make a profit from the sale of each product.

Here is a list of the different branding options offered by our application.

What branding options are available with TPOP?

Finding them is easy: within the application, click on Preferences and select "Branding."

Several options are then available, which you can activate or not.

1 / Your logo

Good to know: you can add your brand logo to the top left of the delivery note.
The image must be 800x600 pixels (800 pixels wide, 600 pixels high).

If you check the box "I want my brand logo to appear on the parcel" you activate the free option of the sticker printed on the parcel label (however, this will always be in black and white, so feel free to contrast the colors of your logo as much as possible).
This is what an order sent with a sticker featuring your brand will look like:

It is important to display it as much as possible on the packaging. Your customer should be able to recognise your brand at the mere sight of your logo.

It must be legible so that it can be quickly recognised.

In fact, we have dedicated a blog post to the creation of a logo. If you don't have one yet, go and read the article.

2 / Personalised message on the slip

This space allows you to write a phrase that will appear on the packing slip inserted in the package at the time of shipment.

This is a message dedicated to your customers: let your imagination run wild, anything is possible, be creative!
You can thank them warmly for their order, ask them for example to leave a review on your shop's social networks or if you are in a generous mood, offer them a discount code on their next order.
It costs nothing, so take advantage of this option to get in touch with your customer.
It is essential to address your customers directly whenever you can: you will establish a relationship of trust between you and the customer will perhaps want to recommend a product on your shop

3 / color of your slip

We let you choose the dominant color for your delivery note: simply click on the small black square and select the colour (you can also indicate the exact hexadecimal code of your color in the corresponding box).
It is essential for your communication to find a color that will represent your brand.
It is an interesting marketing asset that will allow you to stand out from the others and to be visible to the customer.
Everyone has now assimilated that red is the color of Coca-Cola and blue that of Pepsi, its competitor...

4 / Your social networks

With this option, you can add your social network accounts (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) to the packing slip. Again, this allows you to communicate to your customers the different addresses where they can find the news of your shop for free.

5 / The sticker in the package

Here's an ultra-interesting option that's a big plus for your branding: the sticker added to your parcel.
Simply download mock-up by clicking on the link. You'll then be shown an image of a circle, with instructions to remove the orange area and replace it with your own design.

We advise you not to fill it with a black/dark background to avoid an unsightly mix of inks.

The sticker measures 8 cm in diameter and this option costs 1 € per shipment. To activate this option, don't forget to tick the box "I want to offer a sticker to my customers with each order".

Here is an example of a sticker, made for our shop:

It's up to you to be imaginative now!

In addition to your logo, other interesting information can appear on your sticker, such as your slogan or a humorous phrase. You need to leave a mark on your customer so that they remember your shop but also want to stick it on something in their home or car.

The great thing about stickers is that your brand remains in your customer's mind.

6 / Package inserts

What could be more meaningful than a little attention when opening a package? We offer you to send us a stock of flyers, business cards, handwritten cards, magnets or other accessories, which we will insert inside each order.

How does it work?

You send us a small stock of your goodies and then contact us via the dedicated form in the application.

Upon receipt of the parcel we will notify you and then activate the option: this will then cost you 0.80 € per parcel + 1 € per day of storage and per storage box (price including VAT).

Then, when an order is placed on your shop, we will insert your nice goodies into it. For more details and information, please visit our support centre.

7 / Collar marking

Here's an often-requested option: collar branding.

So, we're going to announce color right away and probably surprise you:
NO, collar branding is not a must-have branding option (even less so for those who are launching their brand).

How are these famous collar markings made?

Broadly speaking, there are two processes:

- Digital printing (DTG): the same type of printer is used as those that apply the ink to the T-shirts.

The advantage is that you can print a colourful visual, but there is little point in doing this for a collar, as it simply serves as a reminder of your brand.

This technology has its limitations and does not allow for very fine lines to be printed. It can be illegible and not very nice, and it tends to show through (so the logo is visible in transparency on the back).

We have decided not to use this solution.

- Screen printing: this is the technique we use because it offers the best results in this case.

You can achieve a nice thin line (up to 0.2 mm) and a low thickness: the visual will not be seen through the textile.

On the other hand, there are no gradients in colors, the rendering is always monochrome.

This is certainly the most suitable technique, but there are still constraints, especially for us printers.
Your visual must absolutely be vectorised, respecting a number of criteria, and then it is duplicated in order to fill a "plate".

Next, a screen is engraved: this is an expensive operation, once the screen is engraved it is lost... It is then the same process as screen printing, except that your logo is applied to a sheet of paper coated with glue.
See below what it can look like, with here the logo of our shop:

Then we cut out all the logos, which will be applied one by one to the collars of each textile by heat pressing them.
That's it, your collar marking is printed and won't move from there for a long time!

I'm sure you can now understand why we are reluctant to offer print on demand collar printing.

Since automation is not possible, this option slows down the shipping of your orders.

Your end customer wants one thing above all else: to receive his parcel as quickly as possible. The neck label is far from being your customer's primary concern.

Believe us, we were able to test this branding option on our tpop.co.uk shop and what we found was clear: the customer is not particularly receptive to the printing of the collar, but rather to the speed of the shipment and the care taken with the packaging.

If you look at the reviews on our shop's FB page, you will notice that the most frequent positive criticism is the delivery time respected, as well as the "overall" image given by our service.

We can still offer you this option, but you need to have a minimum sales volume of 100 products per month to be eligible.
In this case, simply contact us and together we will work out your neck marking.
As you have seen, there are many technical and aesthetic details to be respected and our graphics team will advise you in a joyful and cheerful manner to obtain "the most beautiful label".

Please note that this option will cost you 2.50 € (excl. VAT) per marked collar, which is not a negligible fee when you are new to print on demand.

Please note that it is also possible to use this option when you want to order stock, i.e. at least 150 similar products.

8 / Automatic translation of the slip

This is not really a branding "option" as it is automatically activated, but it is worth noting: your parcel slip will be translated according to the country of destination.

Currently, the languages supported are English, German, Spanish, Italian and French.

Once you have chosen your preferences, don't forget to click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the page.

The final word...

As you can see, we try to provide you with as many branding options as possible to make you stand out from the crowd.

You must make sure that your customer does not forget your brand once they have placed their order and, above all, that they want to place an order in your shop again.

We wish you many, many sales!

Be wise, or not.