Why are umbrellas popular with companies?
The average person, rain-lover or not, regards umbrellas as necessary household objects that are needed on rainy days, nothing much more… However, in reality, umbrellas can be turned into much, much more, the possibilities for branding and creative designs are endless. A customised umbrella is a “perfect gift for clients and employees”, 83% of people remember brands after receiving corporate gifts, and as approximately 33 million umbrellas are sold each year according to a study in the USA, if even a proportion of those umbrellas are corporate gifts or branded umbrellas, that is a lot of branding and marketing potential! No one really likes to own identical items, and everyone is bored of the classic black throw-away umbrella, making umbrellas the perfect gift for employees of a company, and a must-have accessory in all luxury hotels too!
Though Beau Nuage loves the rain, supplying an impartial view, here are a few reasons why umbrellas are popular with companies:
1. Umbrellas are one of the most universal, global objects that have existed for centuries, used everywhere in the world (where it rains, but even where it shines), so they can spread their message in the above-mentioned way on a large scale! This also means that no matter where a company decides to sell their branded umbrella, or where they give it as a gift to employees, the umbrellas will most likely be used and not thrown away, ensuring that other people can therefore see the branding too.
2. Umbrellas are very visible and have a useful shape to utilise for marketing purposes, as often when you are walking on the street, all people see is your umbrella, especially in narrow walkways where people have to pay particular attention to stop collides. This way, if there is a message on the canvas, passers-by are guaranteed to notice it- it’s almost like you’re a walking billboard, making it easy for companies, hotels and artists to make their brand name or message appear! Promotional umbrellas are estimated to generate 1,100 impressions over their lifetime EACH! So, they might even be more effective forms of marketing than other adverts… on rainy days of course.
3. Umbrellas are without a doubt a symbol of protection, safety and practicality, as they manage to always rescue us from wind and rain in a straight-forward way. Therefore, brands benefit from being associated with our little bodyguards as this way, every time you grab your umbrella to protect you, you remember who you can thank for that precious product- the brand on the canvas.
4. Thanks to the shape of the umbrella it is very easy to artistically adapt the umbrella and customise it. In addition, the production line doesn’t have to completely be restructured, making it practically possible for brands to tweak the products, which is great for customers who benefit from these new original umbrellas!
5. Even though umbrellas are difficult to produce as they have many elements which need to be assembled correctly to make them strong and wind resistant, and they often need to be tested too (especially at Beau Nuage where 100% of the umbrellas are checked before dispatch), they are relatively affordable options for companies wishing to put their brand on a product. This is reflected in the sales statistics at the start, as umbrellas wouldn’t be this popular if they were very expensive!
However, we advise that if you are interested in buying umbrellas for your own company, it is important to refer to umbrella specialists and not general manufacturers, because umbrellas are very difficult objects to make and it is crucial to work with umbrella specialists with no intermediaries.
Since 2016 Beau Nuage is engaging in many partnerships with the most luxurious and successful brands and hotels in France and the UK.
For example, here is a marvellous collaboration with the Savoy hotel. You can see the inside of the canopy displays the dome in the hotel tea room, to make it feel like you’re still indoors when you are actually out in the rain! If you are inspired by this collaboration, you should definitely keep your eyes peeled for future collaborations, Beau Nuage will not disappoint!
Kincso