The Pro: Quincy Edwards, Bright Ideas (asi/146026)

Client: A prominent university
Job: Provide a variety of branded products for a week-long camp the university hosts for incoming freshmen.
Dollar Value: $90,000 (per camp)

Overview: Magnificent Merch

Through Quincy Edwards and Bright Ideas, camp participants are outfitted with swag that looks custom.

Upperclassmen camp leaders typically receive a backpack, hat, socks, T-shirts, selfie sticks, charging blocks, headphones, umbrellas and a specialty gift.

Meanwhile, campers get a cinch pack, lanyards, T-shirts, visors, notebooks and pens. Everyone receives high-quality branded water bottles. Here are the steps Edwards took to win and annually retain the order.

Step One: Earn the Opportunity
Bright Ideas’ Quincy Edwards delivered quality service for other buyers at the university. The strong performance won her a referral to the department that organizes an annual leadership-focused summer camp for select incoming freshmen. Spearheaded by vetted upperclassmen leaders, the camp introduces matriculating students to school traditions/resources, provides community service opportunities and more. The camp merch budget was big, but to earn it, Edwards was going to have to impress. “They wanted fresh ideas,” says Edwards. “They wanted something different from what they’d been doing.”

Step Two: Impress With Innovation
Edwards tapped into her ample reserve of creativity to turn the client’s desire for an innovative swag solution into reality. She came back with an array of virtual samples on a variety of products. Each showed novel ways school branding and unique graphic elements could be combined to make off-the-shelf products appear as if they’d been custom-built. Impressed by that and Edwards’ caring, consultative service, the client enlisted the Bright Ideas pro to execute the order.

Step Three: Master the Logistics
Exerting a Herculean effort, Edwards ensured the merchandise from different suppliers was being produced accurately and on time. Her work included verifying that products arrived at a third-party partner for kitting and shipping. “These items are broken up and shipped to different locations around campus,” says Edwards. “We had to have our details in line before confirming the orders.”

Step Four: Augment the Brand
For the client, it was important for the promo products to build the camp’s brand, establishing it as a distinctive, prestigious offering worthy of respect on campus and at other schools. With their custom appearance and retail-inspired looks, especially on the apparel, the solutions Edwards provided helped accomplish the objective. “My client’s camp is known not only on campus, but also throughout the whole East Coast for the items that are given out,” she says. “Many other schools refer to the unique and creative ideas the client has been able to gift.”

Step Five: Always Be Improving
Edwards first partnered with the university on the camp order a couple years ago. She remained the go-to promo pro for subsequent orders in 2018 and 2019, resulting in a combined total of approximately $270,000 in revenue. But don’t for a moment think she’s maintained the business by resting on laurels earned from the first summer’s delivery: Months in advance of the camp each year, Edwards sends her key university contact unique product and branding ideas. “We always want to give them something new that’s going to build excitement around the camp and emphasize what a special experience it is,” says Edwards.

Cultivating a Custom Look Through Design

For each summer’s camp, Edwards and her client select a design theme to be carried through various products in conjunction with university branding.

“For example, last year the backpacks they chose had a design on the interior of the bag that looked like a geometric triangle pattern,” says Edwards. “We used that as the base for the cinch packs, notebooks, water bottles and other items. Then, on top of that pattern, we applied the normal logo. It gives the appearance that the items chosen were custom-made. We achieve this with tone-on-tone imprints.”