We’ve all become used to seeing racing drivers and Grand Prix motorcyclists, and their vehicles, emblazoned with sponsorship decals and promotional symbols, but now Honda’s MotoGP team is benefitting from a new technology created in partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) which combines promotional clothing with sensors that collect and transmit data over a wireless network.

The T-shirts are able to conduct a real-time monitoring of the rider, creating an intelligent garment that is non-invasive and allows sports professionals to analyse the overall performance of an athlete by, for example, assessing if body temperature or dehydration are contributing to a slowing of response time, or whether physical effort during a race is leading to a build up of lactic acid in the rider’s body which can slow recovery time.

The clothing could also combine promotional activity with data gathering – it is possible, for example, for embedded LEDs in a garment to flash in unison with a rider’s heartbeat, which could lead to an interaction between clothing and race commentators who would be able to interpret the rider’s emotional responses via the rate at which symbols on clothing flashed or changed colour.

The clothing will be road-tested during the Qatar Grand Prix in April.

It appears that the subject of school uniforms is a hot one, and not just because children attending school during the recent cold spell have been turning up with several layers under their uniforms to keep them warm. While Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People thinks boys should be able to wear skirts to school because otherwise school uniform codes are a “discriminatory practice” against “gender variant” pupils.

In Scotland, of course, gender differences are rarely focused on who wears trousers, so the debate is a genuinely interesting one around how students “develop a strong sense of who they are” which can mean having a range of options from which children choose is more sensitive to cultural, gender and other differences but doesn’t foster such a strong sense of identity as a limited uniform where people dress like each other to develop a sense of team spirit.

Michael Gove certainly thinks so. According to radio station Totnes FM, the Education Secretary believes that a local school, King Edward VI community college, should introduce a uniform. His comments have left parents, who are still waiting to vote on the plans, somewhat confused at his interest in one school’s policy.

It’s true that uniforms often foster conformity – everybody from airline pilots to Hell’s Angels gains a sense of solidarity from dressing like each other – and everybody ‘outside’ that group gains from being able to identify which individual is a pilot and which a biker, so there’s a value to society from being able to recognise who’s in which ‘team’. But there are other gains too: a uniform can create a sense of self-esteem and remove the differences that stop people working well together: a rich university graduate and a poor self-educated person are identical when they are playing a team game in the same strip or kit, on the same playing field, and that allows them to bond in a way that might never be possible if they weren’t similarly dressed.

There’s another advantage too: branded, printed and monogrammed clothing all allow outsiders to spot the person they want, whether it’s the manager in a restaurant or the striker in a football team – it’s an intelligent approach to teamwork that allows everybody to benefit.

Twice in recent days, promotional clothing has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. To begin with, one retailer managed to list T-shirts for sale that appeared to predict a win in the upcoming England v Scotland match!

It appears that an online stock checking system was incorrectly implemented, so that a promotional T-shirt that had been designed to commemorate the 2008 Calcutta Cup win by Scotland were reoffered for sale, in relation to the opening Six Nations match which has yet to be played. Last time the two sides met, England won.

Scotland fans seem to have decided that relisting old T-shirt was a bad omen: the Scots have a story that many companies produced commemorative ties and sportswear based on a confidently predicted English Grand Slam victory in 1990, which had to be destroyed when Scotland won 13-7. The parallels have left many superstitious Scotland supporters very unhappy!

Also making negative headlines is the new ruling that New York City police officers cannot wear, own or possess anything that carries the famous NYPD shield, unless that item is an official uniform component. The ban has caused an outcry, as many officers chose to wear non-official shield-bearing clothing when they are off duty, as a sign of solidarity, particularly since 9/11.

A spokesman for the NYPD said, “The department wants to deter the unprofessional appearance associated with unauthorized police-related logos and slogans.” However, the president of the police union claims that the ruling is nonsensical and may infringe the right to free speech. Many officers are already asking why the only people in the world who can’t have an NYPD keyring or vest are the members of the NYPD itself.

Both stories highlight the risks involved in pre-empting anything, whether it’s public opinion, a sporting result, or market testing before choosing promotional material. It’s difficult to turn bad press into good news, and taking time to ensure that promotional clothing is legal, decent and accurately portrays the story you wish to tell can save a lot of negative headlines.

According to a recent report from Sheffield Hallam University, the two sectors that will benefit most from the London Olympics are gambling and sports clothing. The research suggests that the UK sporting economy will expand and the clothing industry in particular is likely to grow by 15% in the next three years, while the gambling industry is predicted to grow by around 6% over the same period.

The long term trend of the British sporting industry to take a larger share of national economic activity is likely to accelerate as a result of the Olympics, and will spike in specific areas if British athletes win gold medals during the games: already Mo Farah’s impact on distance running has been seen not just in medal tallies and young people entering the sport but in an increase in sales of United Jack running vests and his trademark white-rimmed running glasses. As sports stars like Freddie Flintoff and Jonny Wilkinson develop their own sporting clothing brands, this trend will become a large part of both the economy and the fashion consciousness of the nation.

One of the greatest growth areas of sports clothing is branded winter wear, especially clothing that has UV protection against winter sun. Snow reflects around 80% of UV radiation, which is much higher than the 10% reflected by water, but most people forget to wear sunscreen in winter who would always put on suncream when they wore shorts and a T-shirt on the beach.

Men are much more likely to develop melanoma (a sun related skin cancer) than women because they wear less sunscreening products and tend to exercise outdoors more, giving them a greater risk of exposure to high UV levels on a regular basis, especially if they play team sports such as rugby or football where hats and sunglasses are not generally worn.

We’ve got used to camel, merino, bamboo and hemp as additions to textiles and organic cotton has become a commonplace choice for uniforms where companies are committed to environmental progress, but the newest addition to the clothing market is Yak!

The reasoning behind the idea is that wool from yaks, particularly Tibetan Plateau yaks is warmer than lambs wool and softer than cashmere, making it an ideal for sports clothing and outdoor enthusiasts.

The company behind the launch is a consortium of Beijing-based entrepreneurs including a former British Army officer and an American aid worker, and their promotional activity included kitting out Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, (aka the Snow Leopard) who is the first Ghanaian to compete in the Winter Olympics. He wore their fleeces and winter tops throughout the contest.

The company, called Khunu, hopes that the Snow Leopard will be as durable as their products and is donating 2% of the profits back to the yak-herders in the hope that this promotional activity will also garner publicity.

Once again, printed T-shirts have caused a debate, this time on the football pitch. Liverpoo’s Luis Suarez has been suspended for racist language and his teammates chose to wear a T-shirt with his image on for their match with Wigan this week. It didn’t go down too well with some other players …

Paul McGrath said he was ‘saddened’ to see the Liverpool players in their printed T-shirts and would have been ‘… much happier if they had worn anti-racist t-shirts’ while Jason Roberts (Blackburn Rovers) chipped in on Twitter to ask if other clubs were now going to wear T-shirts with the image of Man U’s Patrice Evra, against who Suarez has been found guilty of using the offending language?

But Kenny Dalgish, Liverpool Manager and Suarez supporting T-shirt wearer was unrepentant claiming that he and the players were showing their their respect and admiration for the suspended player.

It’s yet another piece of evidence that shows how easily printed clothing can become part of a wider controversy – and why it’s important to ensure that your design, slogan or clever promotional idea doesn’t cause confusion or draw criticism from wider society if your intent is to win friends for your product or brand.

This week has seen the unveiling of the uniforms that will be worn by the support staff and volunteers for the London Olympics. Around 70,000 volunteers and 6,000 paid employees will wear the branded clothing which has been designed to be a clear presence for the millions of tourists who will travel to the games.

The clothing has also been designed to balance the practical requirements of uniforms for active people, brand image and promotion of London, of the Olympics and of British heritage. The case study behind the design of the clothing is a useful tool for any company designing work clothing.

The uniform is a functional outfit that divides into two categories:
1.    Games Makers who will be given a jacket, polo shirt, trousers, trainers, socks, cap, and umbrella
2.    Technical Officials receive a jacket, trousers and (for women) a skirt, a shirt, a trilby hat and a tie for men and a scarf for women.
Epaulettes in different colours are used to identify special staff such as white for medical officials, red for team leaders and green for those involved in the anti-doping programme.

This is a good idea for any company that has staff with a range of different roles and functions. Making the various accessories colour-coded helps everybody to know what their job is and what tasks others will be undertaking.

The basic colourway is deep red and purple which picks up on the themes of the regimental uniform of the Grenadier Guards uniform, the original clothing worn by the staff at the 1948 London Olympics, Wimbledon tennis colours and those of the Henley Regatta.

Picking a theme that echoes your company’s heritage is a great way to build brand values – this can be a colour, the cut of the clothing or an emblem that you build into the design to remind people of what underpins your company and why it matter.

There’s a lot of up-to-date detail in the clothing too, drawn from the latest designs in sportswear such as the cut, ergonomic seams and the wicking fabrics.

Using modern detailing such as flat seams, poly-cotton fabrics and work socks that help inhibit foot infections can all keep staff happy and comfortable at work.

For many companies, offering a personalised or branded gift at Christmas has several purposes:

1.    It recognises customer loyalty
2.    It creates brand recognition
3.    It offers a thank you to new customers who may not be fully engaged with the brand yet
4.    It establishes the company offering the gift as being substantial and caring.

These are great marketing opportunities that shouldn’t be neglected even when marketing budgets are tight. In fact, thinking creatively around the idea of a business to customer gift is a great way to establish some brand features that will encourage your customers to think of the company as one that supports them in tough times.

Branded clothing has practical value, unlike the traditional forms of corporate gift such bottles of wine or spirits, boxes of chocolates or the more modern and less personal approach of giving vouchers.

At the top end of the scale, monogrammed shirts, or hoodies for younger individuals offer a superb, highly-personalised approach to gift giving. It’s not a cheap way to recognise the customer’s value but for the truly valued client, it’s a brilliant approach. Think outside the box though, and see if you can select something that the customer will really value: sports clothing with a monogram that a customer can use for their favourite sport is an ideal way to say thank you.

In the middle of the market, T-shirts offer a chance to give a gift that gets worn, and is fully appreciated without breaking the bank. If your customers are young, find a young designer to style your company logo in a completely new way, that reflects current trends but if they’re more traditional, go for a classic and simple statement, maybe the company logo as a sleeve print or small embroidered detail with neat and unobtrusive contact details below it.

For the masses, if you have lots of customers and/or want to buy something that can be used for both Christmas gift and general promotional purposes, think about branded hats or lightweight bags. Don’t fall for too much novelty though: amusing images like Santa riding on your logo etc are only funny for a very short time and then fall out of favour and have no value to the recipient. It’s better to think about longevity and choose a hat or bag that will be used year round. Practicality is the key to a successful gift and you can double the promotional whammy you get from such items by running a competition that offers to reward the person who takes the best picture of their hat/bag in an unusual place or in a location appropriate to your business. Post the photos on facebook and tweet about them in your twitter account to get the maximum cross-platform marketing boost from your promotional clothing spend.

Caps in winter are a valuable tool for business promotion and staff well-being! Not only do they help keep your staff safe and well by conserving body heat and protecting the vision from wind, rain and snow, they also serve as a great promotional item.

Winter caps are often worn by joggers and golfers, and those playing winter ball sports. This delivers a lot of public awareness of your brand if it’s emblazoned, printed or embroidered on a cap.

It’s important to decide whether to have a cap embroidered or printed – embroidered caps have a classic appeal while printed ones can carry bigger and bolder images and messages. Colour choice matters too. In winter you need to select strong colours to compensate for the low light and washed out skins of winter employees and to appeal to the jaded eyes of customers and clients who will enjoy a splash of brightness in an otherwise grey day.

After their first Rugby World Cup win in 24 years, All Blacks fans have bought up and bought out virtually every piece of promotional clothing bearing their teams name in the entire country.

Nobody can ever know how well sporting promotions will work out because one of the variables is the performance of the team that wears the sponsored clothing, but when it works, it really works.
Major New Zealand retailers have sold out of stock with one retailer sending out more than 100,000 fan-wear items including hats, scarves and shirts. Most stores, whether physical or online, ran out of stock before the final weekend’s matches.

New rugby shirts were printed to commemorate the win, and they have already sold out too.

Interestingly, New Zealanders also bought many hats, bags and scarves to support the Pacific Island teams who are their near neighbours, showing that once a sporting event catches the information, many smaller promoters and brands benefit from the rush to possess a memento of the event.