General issues with branding and fan apparel

[RonJohn]

I’ll buy more gear when they make something I want to buy. But as a student that just graduated, I was hard pressed to ever see something in the book store that looked remotely nice.

Typical refrains I have heard for decades:

"When they make something in gold I'll buy it, but I'm not buying anything in navy" Even though almost all of the tshirts I see in stores are gold.
"I won't buy the wrong shade of gold"
"I want nice quality products and I'm not going to buy cheap stuff"
"This stuff is too expensive"
"If the stores would just carry stuff that I like, I would buy it"

I have seen expensive quality apparel at the bookstore, and people complain about the cost. I have seen inexpensive stuff at Walmart/Target and people complain about the quality. The GT bookstore carried a hat that people had been clamoring for, and all I heard were complaints about cost/quality/distance to the bookstore/etc. The only constant is that people will not buy it no matter what is put into stores. There is always some excuse or another.

Meanwhile, stuff with mutt, Alabama, and Auburn logos sells like hotcakes. Cheap table lamps that are overpriced. Crock pots that people are going to use one time for a game and then throw away. More cheap clothing than should be necessary. Any of that stuff with one of those logos sells out within weeks. Anything with a GT logo will stay on the shelf until it is put on deep discount, or thrown in the dumpster. GT fans complain about merchandise. The complaints change when the available merchandise changes. Retailers are aware of that. Mutt merchandise sells immediately, no matter the color, no matter the quality, and no matter the price. Retailers are aware of that also. It should not be difficult to understand why retailers want mutt merchandise on their shelves, but don't want GT merchandise on the ledger.

 

[Vespidae]

Typical refrains I have heard for decades:

"When they make something in gold I'll buy it, but I'm not buying anything in navy" Even though almost all of the tshirts I see in stores are gold.
"I won't buy the wrong shade of gold"
"I want nice quality products and I'm not going to buy cheap stuff"
"This stuff is too expensive"
"If the stores would just carry stuff that I like, I would buy it"

I have seen expensive quality apparel at the bookstore, and people complain about the cost. I have seen inexpensive stuff at Walmart/Target and people complain about the quality. The GT bookstore carried a hat that people had been clamoring for, and all I heard were complaints about cost/quality/distance to the bookstore/etc. The only constant is that people will not buy it no matter what is put into stores. There is always some excuse or another.

Meanwhile, stuff with mutt, Alabama, and Auburn logos sells like hotcakes. Cheap table lamps that are overpriced. Crock pots that people are going to use one time for a game and then throw away. More cheap clothing than should be necessary. Any of that stuff with one of those logos sells out within weeks. Anything with a GT logo will stay on the shelf until it is put on deep discount, or thrown in the dumpster. GT fans complain about merchandise. The complaints change when the available merchandise changes. Retailers are aware of that. Mutt merchandise sells immediately, no matter the color, no matter the quality, and no matter the price. Retailers are aware of that also. It should not be difficult to understand why retailers want mutt merchandise on their shelves, but don't want GT merchandise on the ledger.

Somewhat true. I haven’t checked CLC data in while, but there was a time when Tech lead on average order size. Tech DOES buy. But it’s small. And there’s not enough volume to deal with the risk. That has always been the problem in the recent past.

 

[awbuzz]

It is kind of funny that the system blocked out the name of a large sports retailer because it could also be used as a vulgarity.

I always chuckle at that. Try keying as Di ck's.

 

[Schlandy]

Typical refrains I have heard for decades:

"When they make something in gold I'll buy it, but I'm not buying anything in navy" Even though almost all of the tshirts I see in stores are gold.
"I won't buy the wrong shade of gold"
"I want nice quality products and I'm not going to buy cheap stuff"
"This stuff is too expensive"
"If the stores would just carry stuff that I like, I would buy it"

I have seen expensive quality apparel at the bookstore, and people complain about the cost. I have seen inexpensive stuff at Walmart/Target and people complain about the quality. The GT bookstore carried a hat that people had been clamoring for, and all I heard were complaints about cost/quality/distance to the bookstore/etc. The only constant is that people will not buy it no matter what is put into stores. There is always some excuse or another.

Meanwhile, stuff with mutt, Alabama, and Auburn logos sells like hotcakes. Cheap table lamps that are overpriced. Crock pots that people are going to use one time for a game and then throw away. More cheap clothing than should be necessary. Any of that stuff with one of those logos sells out within weeks. Anything with a GT logo will stay on the shelf until it is put on deep discount, or thrown in the dumpster. GT fans complain about merchandise. The complaints change when the available merchandise changes. Retailers are aware of that. Mutt merchandise sells immediately, no matter the color, no matter the quality, and no matter the price. Retailers are aware of that also. It should not be difficult to understand why retailers want mutt merchandise on their shelves, but don't want GT merchandise on the ledger.

I bought a polo this year (from the store) it was not Adidas and not blue. This isn’t an argument.

 

[Schlandy]

To be honest the end of the day, I just want to win football games, but I’d rather us not look so crappy when we do it.

 

[yeti92]

Typical refrains I have heard for decades:

"When they make something in gold I'll buy it, but I'm not buying anything in navy" Even though almost all of the tshirts I see in stores are gold.
"I won't buy the wrong shade of gold"
"I want nice quality products and I'm not going to buy cheap stuff"
"This stuff is too expensive"
"If the stores would just carry stuff that I like, I would buy it"

I have seen expensive quality apparel at the bookstore, and people complain about the cost. I have seen inexpensive stuff at Walmart/Target and people complain about the quality. The GT bookstore carried a hat that people had been clamoring for, and all I heard were complaints about cost/quality/distance to the bookstore/etc. The only constant is that people will not buy it no matter what is put into stores. There is always some excuse or another.

Meanwhile, stuff with mutt, Alabama, and Auburn logos sells like hotcakes. Cheap table lamps that are overpriced. Crock pots that people are going to use one time for a game and then throw away. More cheap clothing than should be necessary. Any of that stuff with one of those logos sells out within weeks. Anything with a GT logo will stay on the shelf until it is put on deep discount, or thrown in the dumpster. GT fans complain about merchandise. The complaints change when the available merchandise changes. Retailers are aware of that. Mutt merchandise sells immediately, no matter the color, no matter the quality, and no matter the price. Retailers are aware of that also. It should not be difficult to understand why retailers want mutt merchandise on their shelves, but don't want GT merchandise on the ledger.

What I'm reading is that GT fans are more discerning than the common mutt

Specifically regarding the "T" hats, I never heard anyone complain about the price of them, were they not a pretty standard hat price of like $30? I do think there were two runs of them, and one run was definitely lesser quality, with looser stitching and a lot of them having crooked or off-center T's. Making shoddy products that look like they came from Temu/Alibaba and then blaming the fans because they don't sell is silly.

Tech fans are not a monolith, everyone will have different preferences as far as what matters most (price, quality, color, etc). I guarantee the same is true for those other fanbases, you can hear the same complaints from members of any of them, but as a whole those fanbases are signifcantly larger and include of a larger number of people who shop at lower price points and don't focus on the quality as much so all the merch will eventually sell.

 

[RonJohn]

Tech fans are not a monolith, everyone will have different preferences as far as what matters most (price, quality, color, etc). I guarantee the same is true for those other fanbases, you can hear the same complaints from members of any of them, but as a whole those fanbases are signifcantly larger and include of a larger number of people who shop at lower price points and don't focus on the quality as much so all the merch will eventually sell.

So if you were a retailer, what GT products would you order and put on the shelf? Would you get high quality dress shirts, that won't have enough people buy them? Would you get inexpensive low quality t-shirts that not enough people would buy? No matter what you get, it isn't going to sell. Maybe the GT fans are SO diverse that only one person actually desires any specific product?

I remember that in 2015 there was a sleeve of Blu-rays of the Orange Bowl at my local Walmart. I believe there were two sleeves of Blu-rays of the Belk Bowl (mutts bowl game from 2014). The Belk Bowl sold out within a couple of weeks. The one sleeve of GT's bowl game was still more than half available the next Black Friday, and was priced down to only a few dollars per Blu-ray. Eventually it just disappeared. I never saw it have a marked reduction in number available. I make an assumption that they just threw them away. That is something that there is only one quality of.

My point it that retailers refuse to carry GT gear because they are almost guaranteed to lose money if they do. It isn't for any of the common reasons that we fans proclaim it to be. Mutt gear isn't in stores because Nike pushes stores to carry it. It is there because retailers know that it will sell, and they will make money. It isn't the fault of Adidas. It isn't the fault of marketing from GT not doing their job. It is because retailers know that GT gear will not sell.

 

[RonJohn]

Something that I posted earlier that I want to highlight. I am not affiliated with Section103 and I do not know him personally. I think he is one guy who is trying to market and sell GT gear. I have purchased from him several times and have been pleased with the quality of his shirts. If you want retailers to sell more GT products, support him and people like him that do sell GT merchandise. The more successful those guys are, the more likely it is for other retailers to carry GT products.

Section 103 — Exclusive, comfortable licensed college team apparel

We evaluate a school’s retail landscape and create what fans are clamoring for, from the basics they can’t seem to find to our exclusive, conceptual designs based on the school’s brand, history, and traditions. Each thoughtful design is screen printed on the softest, best-fitting products we’ve...

www.section103.com

 

[Thwg777]

Something that I posted earlier that I want to highlight. I am not affiliated with Section103 and I do not know him personally. I think he is one guy who is trying to market and sell GT gear. I have purchased from him several times and have been pleased with the quality of his shirts. If you want retailers to sell more GT products, support him and people like him that do sell GT merchandise. The more successful those guys are, the more likely it is for other retailers to carry GT products.

Section 103 — Exclusive, comfortable licensed college team apparel

We evaluate a school’s retail landscape and create what fans are clamoring for, from the basics they can’t seem to find to our exclusive, conceptual designs based on the school’s brand, history, and traditions. Each thoughtful design is screen printed on the softest, best-fitting products we’ve...

www.section103.com

I have their Feliz Bobby Dodd sweatshirt and like it a lot.

But it is frustrating when their best tee is in some nondescript gray…

 

[RonJohn]

I have their Feliz Bobby Dodd sweatshirt and like it a lot.

But it is frustrating when their best tee is in some nondescript gray…

View attachment 16386

I remember him posting about that. If I remember correctly, he said that he couldn't get approval for that shirt as an officially licensed GT shirt. I think he said that because he couldn't get it officially licensed that he made it a different color to not have any issues with the licensing agency. He used to post on here, so maybe he will read this and can correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Thwg777]

I remember him posting about that. If I remember correctly, he said that he couldn't get approval for that shirt as an officially licensed GT shirt. I think he said that because he couldn't get it officially licensed that he made it a different color to not have any issues with the licensing agency. He used to post on here, so maybe he will read this and can correct me if I am wrong.

I don’t doubt you at all (and don’t mean to sound argumentative)… it’s ludicrous that GT would forbid a good design in our color yet allow ‘50 shades of yellow / blue’ everywhere else… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Schlandy]

I like the section 103 stuff a lot and I think that it fills an great niche in the market, however regardless of the smaller market size I still feel like I have the right to expect more from our apparel people/adidas. I can think of a lot of smaller schools with even smaller fan bases that I’ve seen some awesome stuff for and more consistent branding, so I still see ZERO excuse

 

[RonJohn]

I like the section 103 stuff a lot and I think that it fills an great niche in the market, however regardless of the smaller market size I still feel like I have the right to expect more from our apparel people/adidas. I can think of a lot of smaller schools with even smaller fan bases that I’ve seen some awesome stuff for and more consistent branding, so I still see ZERO excuse

The uniform deal with Adidas is for "uniforms" and for marketing that Adidas gets from having the Adidas logo on GT uniforms. People continually misunderstand. Even though GT is an "Adidas school", fan apparel can be made from Nike, Under Armor, etc. There is no exclusivity given to Adidas for fan apparel. Likewise, there are seldom any fan apparel obligations of the "uniform" company.

If GT fans were purchasing swag as soon as it was put on a shelf, the retailers would stock as much as they could. Retailers refusing to carry GT gear has nothing to do with Adidas. It has nothing to do with the GT Athletic Association. It has everything to do with supply and demand, or lack of demand. The athletic association cannot force Target to carry GT gear. Adidas cannot force Target to carry GT gear. Target decides what they want to put on their shelves, and they tell the suppliers. Adidas makes what retailers will carry. Nike makes what retailers will carry.

 

[Vespidae]

The uniform deal with Adidas is for "uniforms" and for marketing that Adidas gets from having the Adidas logo on GT uniforms. People continually misunderstand. Even though GT is an "Adidas school", fan apparel can be made from Nike, Under Armor, etc. There is no exclusivity given to Adidas for fan apparel. Likewise, there are seldom any fan apparel obligations of the "uniform" company.

If GT fans were purchasing swag as soon as it was put on a shelf, the retailers would stock as much as they could. Retailers refusing to carry GT gear has nothing to do with Adidas. It has nothing to do with the GT Athletic Association. It has everything to do with supply and demand, or lack of demand. The athletic association cannot force Target to carry GT gear. Adidas cannot force Target to carry GT gear. Target decides what they want to put on their shelves, and they tell the suppliers. Adidas makes what retailers will carry. Nike makes what retailers will carry.

It’s not complicated. As a kid, South Alabama was an Auburn stronghold. 20 years after Katrina, there has been a huge influx of folks from Louisiana into the region (same culture) with the result that it is now heavily LSU-Bama on the shelves.

Try and buy Auburn SWAG in Orange Beach. There might be some, but it’s a fraction of what it was. I tried to buy a Yeti coffee cup at Crotch Sporting Goods and was told, “We don’t carry it. Doesn’t sell.”

Fanbase matters.

 

[RonJohn]

It’s not complicated. As a kid, South Alabama was an Auburn stronghold. 20 years after Katrina, there has been a huge influx of folks from Louisiana into the region (same culture) with the result that it is now heavily LSU-Bama on the shelves.

Try and buy Auburn SWAG in Orange Beach. There might be some, but it’s a fraction of what it was. I tried to buy a Yeti coffee cup at Crotch Sporting Goods and was told, “We don’t carry it. Doesn’t sell.”

Fanbase matters.

Yet, people on here continually blame the "uniform" provider for the lack of swag on store shelves. It happens every single year.

 

[Vespidae]

Yet, people on here continually blame the "uniform" provider for the lack of swag on store shelves. It happens every single year.

The uniform provider isn’t that significant. It helps, but “group affiliation“ helps more. In the 1980s, Tech had research operations across the state. You could find GT fans in Waycross, Macon, Savannah, Augusta, and of course, Atlanta. Today, its heavily Atlanta.

Auburn isn’t much different. Auburn’s fanbase dwindles to zero just ten miles from campus. It is highly concentrated today in Montgomery, Birmingham and Atlanta. The difference is that as a state school with more enrollment, the numbers are larger. And FWIW, most everyone hates UA as a provider and looking forward to next year when there’s a switch to Nike.

Tech’s mission is no longer to develop Georgia’s technical base. That mission is increasingly being served by others. Tech’s new mission is research dollars. There is not much group affiliation to that.

I don’t have an answer. My time at Tech was 45 years ago. It is a fundamentally different institution today even if the buildings are the same.

 

[Schlandy]

Long term plan will hopefully help. The school is and has been attracting more companies to Atlanta and is also growing. So hopefully more alumni stay around the state to buy crappy gear made by adidas or whoever it is! (I’m just kidding). But I do think more atttactive design would help sell some stuff, but also I don’t care if target or any local store carries it. Way easier to stock to demand online anyway

 

[RonJohn]

Long term plan will hopefully help. The school is and has been attracting more companies to Atlanta and is also growing. So hopefully more alumni stay around the state to buy crappy gear made by adidas or whoever it is! (I’m just kidding). But I do think more atttactive design would help sell some stuff, but also I don’t care if target or any local store carries it. Way easier to stock to demand online anyway

Even online retailers have the same issue. To have stock of an item, you have to have a commitment. Somebody has to produce the item. Somebody has to store the item. Those have costs associated with them. Amazon could carry the gear, but I think in a lot of situations Amazon doesn't have any skin in the game until items sell. If I understand that system correctly, the Amazon "seller" would have to pay to have items produced, and would have to pay storage fees to Amazon to hold them. Then IF the item sells, they would pay a percentage to Amazon and only get part of the sales price. The "seller" would have capital tied up in stock and would have storage fee costs. Even in an online retailer situation, there needs to be some certainty that an item will sell and not sit in the Amazon warehouse for a very long time.

 

[jojatk]

I like the section 103 stuff a lot and I think that it fills an great niche in the market, however regardless of the smaller market size I still feel like I have the right to expect more from our apparel people/adidas. I can think of a lot of smaller schools with even smaller fan bases that I’ve seen some awesome stuff for and more consistent branding, so I still see ZERO excuse

It’s pretty clear you just want what you want regardless of whether it makes financial sense for the people from whom you want it to provide you what you want. If you expect them to do what you want then it has to make financial sense to them. The bottom line is that that’s the problem you’re facing. The providers think they can’t make money doing what you expect. Are they right? I don’t know. And neither do you. Neither of us has the data or models from which they are working. I’m sure some of them are not as advanced from an analytics standpoint as others are and are just doing what’s least expensive that they think will still give them a chance to make their numbers even with the low volumes they expect. And some are probably lazy and just assume that GT fans won’t buy enough to justify the expense of making stuff in the colors you and I both prefer. But others do have pretty extensive data driven predictive sales models and clearly they aren’t telling those producers what you think it should. Obviously it’s telling them that they will not maximize their profits if they move in the direction we both like.

Yeah you can expect whatever you want. And you can claim anything anyone points out that is reasonable is an excuse. Nobody is trying to excuse the behavior but rather point out why we think the apparel producers are doing what they are doing. Personally I wish you were right because I like the nice gold and white stuff better than much of the grey and navy blue stuff. I wish just as hard as you do that we were getting what we want.

 

[Bogey]

It is crazy to me for our main store retailer, the GT book store, not to have a suitable dressing room where customers, especially women, can try on their selections. I was in the store one day when i over heard a lady telling her husband that I am not a spending over $100 for something I can't see how it fits.