Hi Richard,
Do you know which sort of distribution media you were thinking of for this
merchandise, the target markets and what sort of messages and budgets?
Also is this for WMUK promotion or fundraising?
A few ideas I'd love to see tried once we are a registered charity are:
Promotional:
Mousemats and mugs are two of the best ways of getting a longterm marketing
message into people's homes and offices.
for new/potential editors
Mousemats are unlikely to break in the post, there is a natural affinity
between Wkimedia and your mousemat, (subconsciously our supporters will like
to have their mouse moving round on a WMUK mousemat); Mousemats are a really
convenient place to have a list of Wikimedia projects and a one liner -
"you've probably already tried out our encyclopaedia
www.wikipedia.org, but
have you also visited:
www.wiktionary.org our online dictionary"
etc etc
For experienced editors just the logo and a jumble of different vaguely
familiar templates and codes {{fact}} #redirect [[target]] etc etc
Mugs are a bit more expensive to post and have less room for printing than a
mousemat, but a mug is possibly the most effective way to get your brand and
a short message circulating for yonks round an office or staffroom. "Warm
thanks from Wikimedia for supporting us through payroll giving" with
Wikipedia, Wiktionary etc listed in a smaller font would make for a great
promotional mug design, and I suspect quite a few people would email in for
one if we asked our donors "Have you asked your Payroll department to sign
you up for our payroll giving campaign yet? If so please us your name,
address and Postcode to get a free mug for your staffroom or office
kitchen."
I worry about [Citation needed] stickers, it would be just too
<s>tempting</s> easy to apply them while going up escalators. Might make
good novelty cufflinks though.
Tshirts also have their drawbacks, not least because you need lots of
different sizes and both male and female shapes.
I'd also be cautious about pens. Aside from the wikileaks connotations, they
have less space for logos and messages than mousemats and are less likely to
be communal and therefore widely seen than mugs. Any pen good enough not to
look like a cheap charity pen gives an overly profligate look to the charity
that gives it away, and any pen that looks appropriately cheap risks leaking
and doing your image more harm than good.
On the fundraising side, once we are a registered charity we will be in a
lovely position to supply some feel good gifts for that always difficult Dad
market. Most obviously through charity calenders - I'd love to see Majestic
Titan in calender form. But Mousemats and mugs work here as well, though
obviously with more of a quality picture and less marketing than the free
promotional ones. Calenders have the disadvantage of being a somewhat
seasonal and highly perishable product, so I'd be cautious unless we can do
a deal with whoever gets the racks of charity calenders into WH Smith etc
each Christmas. Mugs and mousemats can if over ordered be stored for years
before being handed out, and at any time of year would make great gifts for
curators etc at GLAM events (especially as they are low enough in value that
even in most Public sector organisations they don't have to be declared as
gifts).
Another fun one would be flipflops especially as a great early summer gift
for the campus ambassador program to hand out to students. But I don't know
what the costs are here, especially if you want special [citation needed]
tread ones.
Hope that's of interest
WereSpielChequers
On 12 September 2011 15:41, Richard Symonds <
richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
All,****
** **
I’m looking into replenishing the chapter’s supplies of merchandise, but
rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls, I’m wondering
if there’s any interesting requests people have. Obviously, we’re
constrained by cost, but if you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Some suggestions that have already been made – ****
** **
**· **Badges printed with the QR code for the Wikipedia page on QR
Codes****
**· **Wikipedia logo-shaped cookie-cutters****
**· **Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation
needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like “Wiki Loves Museums” or “I Write
Wikipedia”****
**· **Business card-size cards with DYKs printed on them****
** **
We’re looking for things that’ll be easily understandable by the general
public – something that would make the average person want to edit. That
said, feel free to make any suggestions, even if you think they might be
unworkable – they might be usable in future campaigns or as part of a bigger
project.****
** **
All the best,****
** **
Richard****
___________________****
Richard Symonds****
Office Administrator****
Wikimedia UK****
** **
richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk <philippe(a)wikimedia.org>****
** **
** **
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