The following sentence appeared in the best selling novel, Defending Jacob:“He stood with his skinny calves against the couch, in gym shorts and a black t-shirt with the Zildjian logo across the chest.” In point of fact, music product logos are among the most recognizable. You don’t have to be a player to identify the distinctive trademark of the above-mentioned Zildjian or Fender, Peavey, Yamaha, and Gibson. Exposure is universal and, as such, one would surmise that most (if not all) full line dealers would be hawking these wares along several lines: traffic building, impulse purchase, brand promotion and tie-in sales. That being said, this observer had his finger walk through industry websites in search of music apparel logo with the following results: not surprisingly, suppliers did the best job of promoting their logo items, while dealers (with some rare exceptions) did little to acknowledge the items online. The main exceptions were Guitar Center, which displayed several pages of logo apparel along with web-only music product sites. According to our apparel survey this month (see page 64) of a random sampling of 200 dealers, slightly more than two-thirds carry these products. However if one were to read between the lines, the responses were less than enthusiastic.
While you cannot compare the traffic or enthusiasm of a concert versus a dealership, it has been reported in Billboardthat the per capita spending on merchandise roughly parallels the price of a ticket. For example, last year’s Rolling Stones concert tour generated nearly $40 per head count. The same article quoted an industry executive as stating that, for many artists, merchandising is their biggest source of income. One might question whether our industry is positioned to capture more of these dollars, both with product and artist apparel. Newbury Comics is a 28-store New England-based chain that has made the transition from comic book purveyor to record outlet and ultimately to a pop culture outlet. Are we leaving some revenue on the table?
Further case in point, how does the public respond to brand and logo apparel? For Nike, licensing rights to the National football League represents approximately $350 million in annual sales and, while there are many reasons for pro and college sports to change uniform styles on a regular basis, certainly the opportunity to sell “new” team merchandise lays a role in the decision making process. Witness the changing of the guard, when LeBron James moved from Cleveland to Miami, his number logo apparel was discounted in his past home and topped the charts in the southland. Even the U.S. Postal service, last in the creative department, has launched a clothing line of menswear heralded to be “on the cutting edge of fashion” called “Rain, Heat, and Snow” in honor of the USPS motto.
It may be time to think outside of the box, or more specifically in this instance, to open and/or re-evaluate the opportunities for plus profit sales. Quoting Jake Biggerstaff of Strings Attached Music in this month’s survey, “We find that most musicians – from beginners to the pro guys – enjoy and will purchase a shirt or hat, to proudly display their choice of gear. Also, it’s a great free giveaway when a new customer purchases an instrument. They feel like they are getting special treatment from you and it builds loyalty. It’s great for the younger students and at Christmas-time too! (And it gives the ladies something to shop for and keeps them occupied while their guy shops for a new guitar.)”
