Musical artist Deaton Chris Anthony offers a branded hat that fastens via a USB.
You’ve heard of snapbacks, fitted caps, flex hats and strapbacks.
Now, there’s a dad hat that fastens via USB.
Photo from Deaton Chris Anthony. Find the hat here.
The stroke of creative genius comes from Los Angeles-based musical artist and fashion designer Deaton Chris Anthony. And candidly, I’m jealous: I wish I would have come up with the idea.
It’s a simple, but effective stroke of ingenuity.
When worn, the USB tucks into a small opening in the canvas or mesh cap, similar to how the extra slack of a strapback would. The closure tightens and loosens to various head sizes via a nylon pull fastener. Available in 11 colors, the “Nothing But Net” hat is the first cap ever to clasp via USB, according to Anthony. I couldn’t find evidence to contradict him – at least through my admittedly unscientific googling and searching of ASI’s ESP, a database of products from across the promotional products industry.
When not being worn, the USB can be removed from its slot and plugged in. A recent Vogue article noted that the teched-up headwear is an easy way for DJs and musical artists (or really anyone) to keep a fully loaded USB on them – a USB that features their creative work, ready for sharing. Certainly, Anthony had that in mind when he developed the USB cap.
“We’re using this hat as a tool to collaborate with other artists and also to be able to push merch within music forward,” Anthony told Vogue. “I think something that I’ve noticed since I started making music was realizing that the fashion side of the music industry, or culture and music in general, isn’t really hashed out. There’s way too much potential to really do cool things in fashion and music, because I do think that they are one-to-one.”
Beyond his USB hats, Anthony has a line of handmade branded merchandise that he sews together from various existing garments, like sweatshirts, to make new singular creations. The Vogue article has more on that if you’re interested, though I can’t say the styles resonate with me personally.
Still, I wanted to call the promotional products industry’s attention to the “Nothing But Net” hat for a variety of reasons. For starters, good old-fashioned inspiration! Seeing cool new products can spark imagination and help you come up with unique solutions of your own.
Second, because Anthony’s ambitious, creative merch efforts highlight the appetite among musical artists to grow their brands – and incomes – via merchandise sales. Promo distributors can help with this growing niche. The more novel, on-brand solutions promo pros come up with for artists, the better the chance the merch marketing will stand out and connect with audiences. That should lead to success for musical artists – and ad specialty distributors. So put your creative dad cap on, so to speak, and plug into fresh ideas for crafting can’t-miss product solutions and campaigns.
Akron General Health System wants to be known for its listening skills and recently launched a marketing and consumer-engagement campaign titled, “My Health. My Life.”
“Because Akron General’s goal is to understand the health-care needs of each member of the community, the campaign was launched to communicate this,” says Gina Page, senior account manager/PR with Hitchcock Fleming & Associates (hfa).
Research conducted by Akron General and hfa showed that individuals in the community want a health-care system that listens closely to what they have to say and works collaboratively with them to share important information about their health. The campaign is helping start conversations to achieve the health-care system’s goal. “Our new campaign revolves around education, empathy, collaboration and meeting the wellness needs of everyone at any age,” says Thomas Stover, M.D., president and CEO of the Akron General Health System.
Akron General has thousands of employees and T-shirts were given to them to leverage the staff as brand advocates and to promote the new tagline. “It’s been a huge momentum builder as the positioning is something that every Akron General associate truly believes in,” says Page.
Marketing teams at Akron General and hfa designed the multi-tier campaign that included print, local and cable TV, social media, radio, online, outdoor, paid search and sponsorships. The initial TV spot debuted in April, but some elements of the campaign began in late March.
Be sure to contact your distributor partner to develop your own effective campaign that will lead to successful results.
If you’re at any number of public places in Pennsylvania during the school year, perhaps you’ll witness what Joe Lyons describes as “The Sea of Orange” – dozens or even hundreds of school children clad in orange shirts imprinted with a white bell. You might guess it’s a field trip, but it’s not the school you’d expect. The kids, after all, attend virtual school. “We’re very dedicated to the social development of our students. It’s part of our mission,” explains Lyons, executive director of communications for the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School (PAVCS).
The sea of orange reveals just one major way the face of education is changing. Online K-12 learning is a $300 million market representing over 1 million students and growing, at an annual rate of about 30%. The PAVCS alone enrolls 3,800 and holds events across the state, including a “Discovery Days” event that functions both as a year-end celebration and the school’s open house/enrollment kick-off. During those events, the school hands out a variety of logoed merchandise, including imprinted apparel, journals and visors. In addition, the school advertises in print, radio, television and Internet media.
“Charter-school laws in Pennsylvania require that you install open enrollment,” says Lyons, “which means that you have to be open to everyone. The way they ensure that is that we are all required to do marketing.”
Virtual charter schools may represent the wave of the future, but it’s quickly becoming the reality of the present. Students across the country and world now enroll full-time or can supplement their normal classes by taking additional ones online.
For Mike Connor, president of school consultancy Connor Associates Strategic Services, online learning has arrived. “In terms of mastering educational content, it’s going to be more cheaply delivered and delivered toward the way a kid learns through online learning,” he says. “I think that’s going to change the whole ball game.”