Enhance your brand positioning strategy with customizable gifts for next Father’s Day.

A brand positioning strategy around gift-giving holidays like Father’s Day can be very effective for many product categories, and customization can give you the edge you need to stand out.

Brands of all kinds turn to a variety of strategies around sales-driving holidays to consistently remind consumers what it is they do better than anyone else:

• Best designs
• Superior customer service
• Most convenient services
• Lowest prices
• Highest quality

Typically, these are competitive strategies. Brands compete for holiday market share on the strength of these core benefit claims.

Those who do best have a strong differentiation strategy. Brands that offer something truly unique stand to take the lead in holiday revenues and win more market share.

Customization can be that differentiator. And special occasions, holidays, and other gift-giving seasons like Father’s Day present lucrative opportunities waiting to be seized.

Timing: Targeting gift-giving holidays like Father’s Day as a competitive brand positioning strategy.

For many brands, Father’s Day is a strategic opportunity.

It’s no secret that the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the biggest for retailers, representing 20 to 30 percent of annual sales, depending on the industry.

The holiday season is a challenging period to target in your brand positioning, however. Competition for a period representing a fifth or more of annual sales is particularly fierce.

Meanwhile, Father’s Day consumer spending has been on the rise in recent years.

• In 2018, Father’s Day spending in the U.S. was about $15.3B.
• By 2021, that figure had risen 31 percent, to $20.1B.
• Once the numbers come in, 2022 is expected to be on par with 2021.

This is exciting news for select brands that tend to do well around Father’s Day and want to do even better next year. Think food (especially meat), grilling, and sporting goods.

Method: Customization as a seasonal differentiator.

If your brand is eager to compete for next year’s Father’s Day market share, consider differentiating from the pack by offering personalized gifts.

The demand for customization has been growing across the board, all around the world.

• In 2019, global personalized gift spending was at $26.3B.
• This figure is expected to reach $41.3B by 2026.
• This is an anticipated worldwide increase of 57 percent.
• 36 percent of this growth is expected to originate in North America.

So you’ve got remarkable consumer spending growth for this North American holiday. And customization is on the rise in the same part of the world.

If you’re ready to get out there and target dads and the folks who love them, it all adds up to a tantalizing new angle on your brand positioning strategy.

Let’s look at a few examples of brands that agree.

Food storage & drinkware.

Corkcicle.

Corkcicle has positioned itself as a highly competitive Father’s Day gift brand. The company leans into gift-giving messaging every season, often directing shoppers to its Father’s Day shop on Amazon.

But when consumers head over to the Corkcicle website to shop for gifts, they’re treated to a “personalization collection” of tumblers, mugs, sport canteens and other items to which consumers can add a recipient’s name.

Swig Life.

On their ecommerce site, Swig Life has a Father’s Day gift guide that features water bottles, travel mugs, bottle coolers, lunch bags, and more.

Swig Life also offers gift personalization through the brand’s Etsy shop. The “Gifts for Him” section is literally positioned on the same page as the personalized gifts section.

In addition, the brand’s Swig Swag page gives companies a way to order gifts for corporate events via a user-friendly form, positioning the brand to capture bulk Father’s Day event sales on its B2B channel as well.

Sporting goods & outdoor apparel.

TaylorMade.

TaylorMade’s brand positioning strategy is all over Father’s Day, a huge holiday for golf. It’s the number one day of the year for golf courses and a big part of why it’s the fourth biggest week of the year for sporting goods stores.

It’s no wonder that TaylorMade has a page on their ecommerce site dedicated to Father’s Day gifts. The brand’s guide features great personalized gift ideas for Dad “that show him just how much you care.”

bigtruck.

Whatever outdoor adventures Dad is into, he’ll enjoy a personalized hat fit for his lifestyle. That’s the message bigtruck consistently sends gift-givers this time of year.

In addition to centering their brand positioning strategy on custom hats in general, the brand has a Father’s Day “Gift and Adventure Guide”. Shoppers are inspired to customize hats for the fisherman, mountain biker, BBQ lover, and more.

JTB Custom can set you up to lean into this brand positioning strategy, too.

Whether you’re ready and eager to expand your product customization program in time for the next gift-giving holiday season or starting from square one, we can help.

We’ve got everything you need to do what these successful brands are doing with gift personalization:

As customization experts, JTB Custom offers end-to-end consultation to help you:

• Get started at a low cost and manageable timeline to set you up for success.
• Build efficiency into the custom production process to maximize your return on investment.
• Source cost-effective manufacturing solutions to support custom production.
• Set research-based pricing that consumers will tolerate.
• Set up our SilhouetteTM software to enable user-friendly personalization, manage orders, facilitate fulfillment, and much more.

Wherever you are in the process of implementing product customization, make talking to us your next step. Talk to an expert today.