Washington State Nurses Assoc. - Escape from "T-Shirt Hell"

Nobody wants to find themselves in “T-Shirt Hell”, but that’s where one union’s communications designer felt he lived every time there was a union contract campaign. 

Ben Tilden, Senior Digital Strategy Specialist for the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), knew there had to be a better way to get merch to members. The statewide union represents nurses at more than 45 facilities, each with local union membership ranging from 20 nurses to over 2,000. 

Ben came to F.I.I. for ideas, and together we created a union merch program that:

• Eliminated anxieties over supply chain snafus
• Ensured consistency in branding and compelling messaging
• Increased satisfaction among union members
• Created calm in a previously harried marketing group

Ben presented the details to executive management and labor staff in a document he titled “Escape from T-Shirt Hell”. Here’s WSNA’s escape plan.

4 Contract Campaign Merch Challenges we Solved

“In the past, we had to get quotes from 2-3 suppliers, get specs on different shirts, bring that info back to the local to make decisions…. It took a lot of time. Then, it still took maybe 5-7 weeks to get the t-shirts printed and delivered,” Ben recalls. The marketing department suffered a number of pain points when contract campaigns came up:

• Painfully Slow Merch Fulfillment: Rapid response merch was impossible, with fulfillment taking up to 5 weeks.
  
• Supply Chain Challenges: T-shirts in the union’s signature royal blue color were inconsistently available from their supply chain. “Sometimes our union suppliers would just have no blue ink,” Ben explains.
  
• Unsatisfactory T-shirt Styles & Fit: Members were unhappy with the fit and comfort of the union T-shirts they were able to get.
  
• Disorganized Merch Orders: Each local wanted something different and ordered independently, overtaxing the marketing group’s bandwidth.

5 Steps to Taming a Union Merch Beast (& Slashing Fulfillment Time by 80%)

After some collaborative creative thinking, we delivered these wins for WSNA:

• Cut fulfillment time by 80%, from 5 weeks to 1 week
• Ensured a consistent supply for rare royal blue shirts 
• Improved t-shirt quality and comfort and elevated standards to USA Made/Union Printed in keeping with the union’s values
• Standardized ordering and production, keeping pricing stable and streamlining design staff workload considerably

Here’s how we redesigned their merch program for maximum performance.

1. Shifted to Bulk Ordering

WSNA orders their brand-compliant royal blue t-shirts in bulk, by the thousands instead of small quantities randomly ordered. This ensures there’s supply on hand, while also saving the union money by purchasing at bulk quantity pricing.

2. Standardized Pre-Production & Storage

F.I.I. provides pre-production services and affordable storage of these large batches. The fronts of all t-shirts are branded with the WSNA logo. Then they’re stored at F.I.I.’s warehouse.

3. Leveraged On-Demand Efficiencies

When a local campaign need arises, WSNA simply requests the number of t-shirts required from F.I.I. Those shirts can be shipped as is, with the pre-branded WSNA logo on the front. Or, they can be customized on the back using Print-on-Demand capabilities.

4. Customized Messaging Fast

Custom designs with 3-5 key WSNA organizing messages are pre-loaded into F.I.I.’s system. (The plan is to add a new design annually.) If a local wants one of those messages on the back of the shirts, they’re printed on demand and shipped out fast. Locals can also request a completely custom message on the back of their shirts, with just a 2-3 day difference in shipping time. (But with the great designs the WSNA marketers created, this rarely is requested.)

5. Supercharged Fulfillment Speed

Shirts arrive in as few as 7 days to support campaign messaging. This is a vast improvement over the union’s previous fulfillment experience, which could take 7 weeks to receive t-shirts. Now rapid response merch is there when it’s needed!

Happier Union Members, Better Branded Messages

By standardizing the t-shirts in storage with the statewide WSNA logo, Ben has confidence that, “When the media show up to a local action, one clear message shows through.” 

“Honestly,” Ben says, “I give F.I.I. 80% of the credit for coming up with the original ideas to change our merch program. We worked from there to brainstorm a plan together that handles 95% of our union’s t-shirt needs.”

Improving the union’s online store solved a bunch of other issues for WSNA as well.

Before working with F.I.I., WSNA had an online store with imported products that weren’t union-made. On top of products not being aligned with the union’s labor values, customization was limited, and there was no good way to know what members were ordering. “We didn’t strongly promote the store because of these issues,” Ben reflects.

And now? “We’re so pleased to be working with a merch supplier whose values align with our union’s,” says Ben.

F.I.I. created an online store solution for WSNA to offer members union swag at cost, in partnership with Worx Printing. It’s there for any individual member who wants something. And it’s great for new product launches, like those WSNA creates annually for Nurses Week.

“Now our union merch store is something we are proud to promote!” Ben reports.