2024 - Promoting ExtremeHW

[iamjanco]

my recommendation?  k.i.s.s.

 

Just a simpler logo on the front w/the url on the rear

 

 

 

[UltraMega]

23 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

my recommendation?  k.i.s.s.

 

Just a simpler logo on the front w/the url on the rear

 

As far as merch like t-shirts goes, it's not one or the other. There can be simple options and some more creative ones. Just seems like the more options the better, within reason.

[iamjanco]

[UltraMega]

40 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

I don't think a screenshot of a list is a meaningful counterpoint. The merch isn't a big deal, but IMO there's room for more than just one design for shirts. 

 

I definitely don't think "less is more" is the right plan for selling anything like t-shirts or mugs in general. For EHW needs, I think 2-3 more creative options would be fine. 

Edited January 16 by UltraMega

[iamjanco]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion; mine's just based more on commonly accepted marketing strategy.

[UltraMega]

4 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

Everyone is entitled to an opinion; mine's just based more on commonly accepted marketing strategy.

 

I didn't know you were an expert on t-shirts. 

 

Even with your logic in mind, less in more doesn't mean just 1. 3 or so designs would definitely be on the "less is more" end of the spectrum. 

[iamjanco]

It's not about t-shirts; it is about a coherent/cohesive marketing strategy. But do as you will.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16 by iamjanco

[UltraMega]

24 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

It's not about t-shirts; it is about a coherent marketing strategy. But do as you will.

 

 

There are currently no shirts since E wasn't happy with the print quality so it's irrelavent for now. That said, if you think having 3 or so different options for shirts is a bad marketing strategy then OK. I think that is obviously not the case, no one is going to be turned away from the site if there are a couple t-shirt options, and it's crazy to me that anyone would have a strong opinion against that. Feels like you just want to debate for the sake of debating. 

 

I think we all liked that dark wireframe design, for example. It just didn't work out for other reasons like the background not being clear and too low res, but it was a good design. 3 or so designs like that would be great. 

 

If you think 3 or so designs like that would be a bad marketing strategy, frankly, I don't think that is logical reasoning. 

 

Edited January 16 by UltraMega

[Sir Beregond]

On 11/01/2024 at 12:10, Avacado said:

If pushing out our newer content on the current channel can be done than that would be a bonus. In order to inflict dopamine hits for Gen Z, we will have to adapt video content for sure. I need to bug Simmons about the podcast, we need that back

Podcast sounds interesting. I can be the resident "back in my day, a candy bar graphics cards cost a nickel!" guy. I'm kidding, I would love to participate though.

 

Another things video could be used for is tech news like our news section if we could make it interesting.

[pio]

3 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

Podcast sounds interesting. I can be the resident "back in my day, a candy bar graphics cards cost a nickel!" guy. I'm kidding, I would love to participate though.

 

Another things video could be used for is tech news like our news section if we could make it interesting.

I'd be down to doing podcasts.  IIRC the idea was floated around before, like 6 months or a year ago.  Let's do it.
 

The T shirts thing - guys, @iamjanco does have a very valid point about brand marketing.  As a brand, EHW really should try to promote a similar design across all types of merch.  It's just smart marketing, which is what this thread is about.  Anyone that wants to do a custom one off, go for it!  Seriously!  Just don't put it up as "official".  "Official" stuff should all look very closely the same, within reason of course.

Edited January 16 by pioneerisloud

[ENTERPRISE]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. 

 

I already have T-shirts lined up ready to go so far as the designs but sampling needs to happen still. Once this has completed then I will add the new merch to our store. Note there are also Deskpads coming. 

 

I think it is fair to say, there is more than one marketing strategy we could look at. I don't think necessarily you have to stick to one strategy. A healthy and appropriate combination of multiple can work. You only tend to get tied into one particular strategy mentality if you have a marketing company assist/do it for you as they will obviously adhere to a singular strategy.

[Sir Beregond]

15 hours ago, UltraMega said:

 

There are currently no shirts since E wasn't happy with the print quality so it's irrelavent for now. That said, if you think having 3 or so different options for shirts is a bad marketing strategy then OK. I think that is obviously not the case, no one is going to be turned away from the site if there are a couple t-shirt options, and it's crazy to me that anyone would have a strong opinion against that. Feels like you just want to debate for the sake of debating. 

 

I think we all liked that dark wireframe design, for example. It just didn't work out for other reasons like the background not being clear and too low res, but it was a good design. 3 or so designs like that would be great. 

 

If you think 3 or so designs like that would be a bad marketing strategy, frankly, I don't think that is logical reasoning. 

 

I get what both of you are saying, I think you are too hyper-focused on t-shirts that you are missing what Jan is saying.

 

T-shirts are one thing. All @iamjanco was saying is that t-shirts as part of the whole branding and marketing strategy should have a cohesive design strategy starting out. Part of what makes a brand identifiable is that you can see a logo + a color theme and immediately know what it is. Cohesive with the rest of the branding being done and the other marketing tactics that will also be using EHW designs in its efforts makes sense here. And then its usually the more creative design ideas that maybe break a bit from core branding/design cues then become the one off t-shirts as your brand establishes.

 

Anyway I don't disagree that you can obviously have more than 1 t-shirt design. Just keep them fairly consistent in theming starting out.

Edited January 16 by Sir Beregond

[UltraMega]

2 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

I get what both of you are saying, I think you are too hyper-focused on t-shirts that you are missing what Jan is saying.

 

T-shirts are one thing. All @iamjanco was saying is that t-shirts as part of the whole branding and marketing strategy should have a cohesive design strategy starting out. Part of what makes a brand identifiable is that you can see a logo + a color theme and immediately know what it is. Cohesive with the rest of the branding being done and the other marketing tactics that will also be using EHW designs in its efforts makes sense here. And then its usually the more creative design ideas that maybe break a bit from core branding/design cues then become the one off t-shirts as your brand establishes.

 

Anyway I don't disagree that you can obviously have more than 1 t-shirt design. Just keep them fairly consistent in theming starting out.

I'm not really focused on it at all, just responding to jancos comments. 

 

If anything, I think it's strange that there are such strong opinions about 1 shirt vs a couple. They will all have an extremehw.net. logo on them, I'd say that makes them pretty consistent. Why most of the people here prefer a shirt that is just the logo and nothing else, Idk. But it is what it is, I don't really care. Personally, if I had an ehw shirt I'd want it to be less boring than just a logo. I don't think a shirt with nothing more than a logo on it really serves much purpose as far marketing because people don't respond to a logo with no other info. Something that had a sort of tech enthusiast design + the logo would be better unless you just want to look like a best buy employee or something. 

 

Just wanted to add, I don't think of the merch as a marketing thing. We're not going to attract users by having merch or wearing shirts out in the world with an ehw logo. The merch is just a way for E to have a bit of revenue for running the site, and more options would likely mean more sales and more revenue for E. 

 

And really, I just want there to be a shirt I actually like. A plain logo is not my style. 

Edited January 16 by UltraMega

[iamjanco]

edited, my comments in red for the sake of my sanity clarity:

 

3 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I'm not really focused on it at all, just responding to jancos comments. 

only my friends get to play with my username ;

 

If anything, I think it's strange that there are such strong opinions about 1 shirt vs a couple.

it's not a one shirt vs. a couple of t-shirts argument; rather, it's about brand identity. nobody said you couldn't have (e.g) different colored t-shirts.

 

A plain logo is not my style. 

yeah, I get that.

 

 

cheers.

 

 

 

[UltraMega]

45 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

edited, my comments in red for the sake of my sanity clarity:

 

 

 

cheers.

 

 

 

I don't think a couple of shirt options has any impact on brand identity, so I simply don't agree with your entire premise at all. It seems completely arbitrary and way over the top. A couple of shirt options would have no impact on brand identity unless the other options were really stupid. 

[The Pook]

46 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

only my friends get to play with my username 

 

Q: What's D'Jango's favorite pants? 

A: 

Spoiler

 

[bonami2]

Don't need to go crazy on t-shirt guy. Anyone can recognise alienware by name. We should focus on this. The EXTREMEHW logo is already pretty cool.

[UltraMega]

The only crazy part is how much we have to talk about the idea of having a couple options for shirts as if it's a major decision. It's really not a big deal at all. Framing it like one is the crazy part to me, and I just keep trying to maintain that overall point since it keeps being commented on. 

 

I'm not talking anime girls and abstract images. I mean something like the black wire frame design but made to work better with t-shirt prints, or something like the design we already have for mugs, but in a shirt. I don't think a reasonable argument can be made that a few more options like that would hurt brand identity, or have any real impact on brand identity at all. 

 

If we're going to go into this much depth about it, then I don't see how the current logo on a shirt without much else really help much either. For anyone who doesn't know what EHW is, the logo doesn't tell them much. What does ExxtremeHW mean? Is it Extreme Homework? Adding something that at least indicated it was computer related would definitely be on brand. 

Edited January 16 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

Thanks guys. 

 

As I say, there will be more T-shirts soon and I will add in some images related to technology that helps to pull in the name relative to a subject matter. What I will say is that so far as marketing the community, the merchandise is not the top priority right now. While the merch certainly helps in this area, It is a piece of a bigger puzzle and there are pieces that have higher importance

 

Realistically, the Merch only penetrates so far as the immediate community and its marketing power outside of that by wearers is low (right now) but in time it could pack more punch.

[neurotix]

1 hour ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Thanks guys. 

 

As I say, there will be more T-shirts soon and I will add in some images related to technology that helps to pull in the name relative to a subject matter. What I will say is that so far as marketing the community, the merchandise is not the top priority right now. While the merch certainly helps in this area, It is a piece of a bigger puzzle and there are pieces that have higher importance

 

Realistically, the Merch only penetrates so far as the immediate community and its marketing power outside of that by wearers is low (right now) but in time it could pack more punch.

 

We really need a shirt and I'm fine with the same design that was used on the previously available T-shirt, just printed differently so it holds up better. I assume that was your reasoning as to why it was removed from Etsy; the printing came off or something. I shoulda got one when I had the chance.

 

If you find or found a different printing provider that can do dye-sub or screen printing, and works with Etsy, I really don't see why you need to delay ordering a sample, evaluate it, and put it back on the store. Can't this happen relatively in the background while you focus on "the bigger pieces of the puzzle" as you called it?

 

Aside from that, telling people about EHW and giving them the URL is something I have done for a while. Even with people non tech savvy. For example, my doctor, my psychiatrist, some physical therapists when I was still doing it, and family members. Whether or not they checked the site out at all, I have no idea. But who knows, a lot of people here work in IT, so telling your coworkers and giving them the address is one small way to grow the site.

 

[ENTERPRISE]

15 hours ago, neurotix said:

 

We really need a shirt and I'm fine with the same design that was used on the previously available T-shirt, just printed differently so it holds up better. I assume that was your reasoning as to why it was removed from Etsy; the printing came off or something. I shoulda got one when I had the chance.

 

If you find or found a different printing provider that can do dye-sub or screen printing, and works with Etsy, I really don't see why you need to delay ordering a sample, evaluate it, and put it back on the store. Can't this happen relatively in the background while you focus on "the bigger pieces of the puzzle" as you called it?

 

Aside from that, telling people about EHW and giving them the URL is something I have done for a while. Even with people non tech savvy. For example, my doctor, my psychiatrist, some physical therapists when I was still doing it, and family members. Whether or not they checked the site out at all, I have no idea. But who knows, a lot of people here work in IT, so telling your coworkers and giving them the address is one small way to grow the site.

 

 

I have indeed found a new supplier for the T-Shirts and I am trialling one as we speak. However please note that life is not always "Just do it already". Cash is king, and to be frank, ordering samples to trial costs, just as much as the store actually has to be financed BEFORE orders come in. The production for all orders has to be financed directly by EHW, to which you need to have the funds to ensure that you can cover a good majority of orders to avoid delays and disappointments. Remember that users who spend their cash on an order, EHW see's none of it for a little while as all funds are held before being released. So it is not the case of spending your money to manufacturer and ship the order, EHW has to cover everything up front. 

 

To put things into perspective, I am a sole worker in the family which has to cover mortgage, utility bills, debts etc etc. While user premium subscriptions and kind donations goes someway towards the running of EHW, I pay the rest, including any merch related ventures and marketing. 

 

So as you can appreciate while time is a constraint on my end at times, money is a bigger one. Rest assured I am going as fast as my wallet allows

[neurotix]

7 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

I have indeed found a new supplier for the T-Shirts and I am trialling one as we speak. However please note that life is not always "Just do it already". Cash is king, and to be frank, ordering samples to trial costs, just as much as the store actually has to be financed BEFORE orders come in. The production for all orders has to be financed directly by EHW, to which you need to have the funds to ensure that you can cover a good majority of orders to avoid delays and disappointments. Remember that users who spend their cash on an order, EHW see's none of it for a little while as all funds are held before being released. So it is not the case of spending your money to manufacturer and ship the order, EHW has to cover everything up front. 

 

To put things into perspective, I am a sole worker in the family which has to cover mortgage, utility bills, debts etc etc. While user premium subscriptions and kind donations goes someway towards the running of EHW, I pay the rest, including any merch related ventures and marketing. 

 

So as you can appreciate while time is a constraint on my end at times, money is a bigger one. Rest assured I am going as fast as my wallet allows

Sure thing, I am happy to hear you are trialling one now, and didn't really think much about the financial situation or aspect. Much less about you being sole provider in a family.

 

Edit: Sorry I was so pushy that you had to spell it all out for me publicly in big bright letters. I can be dense at times, my fault.

Edited January 18 by neurotix

[SoloCamo]

Just throwing it out there and it may have been discussed prior to this thread, but any consideration to actually putting the URL itself with the logo?  The logo itself is cool but it alone on stickers, mugs, etc. doesn't actually direct you to a site and can be interpreted (at least for the stickers) as a motorsports, parts, tools, bmx, etc. company. 

[neurotix]

17 hours ago, SoloCamo said:

Just throwing it out there and it may have been discussed prior to this thread, but any consideration to actually putting the URL itself with the logo?  The logo itself is cool but it alone on stickers, mugs, etc. doesn't actually direct you to a site and can be interpreted (at least for the stickers) as a motorsports, parts, tools, bmx, etc. company. 

 

Yes. I did this in December 2022. I added .net to the logo before making t-shirt designs, so people know it's a website not something else. It is on a lot of products in the store.

 

 

Edited January 19 by neurotix

[SoloCamo]

5 hours ago, neurotix said:

 

Yes. I did this in December 2022. I added .net to the logo before making t-shirt designs, so people know it's a website not something else. It is on a lot of products in the store.

 

 

Ah didn't realize that and I should have probably checked first.  Ironically the sticker I won from a recent folding event is one of the only items that actually don't have the URL on it.