John Grantham first started noticing the pattern a few years ago.
It happened when clients at Budd Bay Promotions and Apparel would open a box and see their logo on a shirt or hat for the first time.
It happened when they learned that Budd Bay would set up an online store for their employees and take care of all the sorting and packaging on their order.
And, it happened when the Lacey company would go above and beyond, delivering a one-off service or helping a business brainstorm ideas for a new product.
Inevitably, the clients would say the same two words: “Very cool!”
The often-heard expression has become the new tagline for the company, which started life as Budd Bay Embroidery fifteen years ago. Grantham says it came about naturally while they were working on their vision statement. “It’s not to brag that we’re very cool,” he says. “That’s what we want to hear our customers say. We get a kick out of it now when people come into the store and say that.”
For some clients, the reaction is prompted by seeing their brand in print. “When they open their first box, they love to see their logo on garments or mugs,” says Grantham. “Their first reaction is going to be, ‘Very cool!’”
Larger companies are used to seeing their name in lights, so it takes more to impress them, he contends. In such cases, they rise to the occasion. “We’ll create online stores that make it much easier for their employees to order things,” says Grantham. “For large clients, we’ll do single item service.” As an example, when Lucky Eagle Casino needed one blanket embroidered, Budd Bay picked it up, embroidered it, and delivered it – all for $30. “People really recognize the service we’re bringing to them, so when it comes to a larger order, we’re at the top of their minds,” he says.
They’ll also help when an organization needs multiple versions of the same item. South Puget Sound Community College recognizes employees for their years of service with a lapel pin. The challenge? They needed different pins to honor the five year, ten year, fifteen year, and all the way up to 40-year marks. “Normally this would be a minimum 300-quantity order,” says Grantham. “You’d never get through all of your 40-year pins. We helped to develop a way of doing it so they could have both a short run and a taller order.”
A similar situation occurred with Capital Medical Center, which offers ‘Survivor’ shirts to its cardiac patients at yearly intervals. “They have an annual event and they needed 150 t-shirts with 25 different designs,” says Grantham. “We’ve come up with a way that we can do three shirts with one design, four of another design, etc. with custom colors for each level. It’s about being solution oriented.”
For clients who are stuck, Budd Bay will also help with the design process, coming up with “very cool” ideas. One year, a business was trying to come up with a t-shirt design for their spirit day event. “We threw out some design ideas and said, ‘Here’s something different,’” says Grantham. Ultimately the business ended up using another company for the shirt itself, but they appreciated the willingness to provide creative input. “They were wowed by the fact that we’ll offer suggestions that make them think outside the box or take some of the work off their plate,” he says.
Another way Budd Bay streamlines the process is by packaging everything for clients, individually if necessary. “We’re thinking beyond the product and asking what you’re using it for and how it needs to be packaged,” says Grantham. For North Thurston High School Football, each player has practice jerseys, shorts, regular jerseys, and other miscellaneous items. “Instead of them having to sort out what size each student ordered, we bag them individually so the name appears on each bag. They’re handed to all of the kids and it makes it so much easier,” he explains.
The company is continuing to look for different ways to expand and reach more of the community. Recently they took over the gift shop in Capitol Medical Center, a move Grantham attributes to his wife Linnea. “She’s always thinking about new and creative things,” he says. “She goes to gift shows for that purpose and it gives us these added sources for unique gifts.”
The new tagline fits with the direction the business is moving. When the focus was more on embroidery, the tagline was ‘Enhancing the Fabric of Our Community.’ Later, as the store re-named itself Budd Bay Embroidery and Specialties, the tagline became ‘Local Branding on a World of Products.’
With the current emphasis on creative, responsive and high quality services as well as innovative products, the branding reflects the reaction they want to get from customers. And that is – dare we say it? – very cool.
For more information about Budd Bay Promotions and Apparel, visit www.buddbay.com or call (360) 709-0483.
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