Whaddya Know... Popular Mechanics Connects With Young Fans With T-Shirts And A Contest
from the plenty-of-tshirts dept
Hearst Magazines, which is the division of the Hearst Corporation behind Popular Mechanics, has teamed up with Old Navy to print t-shirts with old Popular Mechanics illustrations aimed at kids. The classic artwork is supposed to revive interest in the new editions of Popular Mechanics as well as generate some enthusiasm for mechanical gadgets related to transportation (think 1950s rocket cars and electric motorcycle concepts). Along with the shirts, the magazine is also sponsoring a 'Kids Can Do Great Things Design Contest' for children (up to 12) to submit their own artwork. The winner of the contest will get a $500 shopping spree at Old Navy and have the design printed in the magazine -- and if it looks good on a shirt, they'll sell shirts, too.Not too long ago, we mentioned Rolling Stone magazine trying out a similar merchandise program (though with a few more legal complications), so this isn't exactly a novel concept (and we never said it was). But it's interesting that more publications are experimenting with efforts to connect with fans -- and especially younger fans to keep the fan pipeline filled. And one of the key components for this Popular Mechanics example is that it fits with the magazine's audience and also highlights a common theme from the magazine. This is the beginning of creating a brand for the magazine that features why readers should be interested in paying attention to it. Namely, if you're looking for articles and concept artwork related to futuristic transportation solutions, Popular Mechanics is where to go.
If this t-shirt trend continues, though, we'll have to be on the lookout for newspapers printing t-shirts, too. I'm pretty sure there would be a market for WSJ-style hedcut artwork on t-shirts -- and some copyright issues for it as well.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: business models, magazines, popular mechanics, t-shirts
Companies: hearst, popular mechanics
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
t-shirts are a rubbish proxy
print it up with a bit of apparel-unrelated branding...
sell it at a fat markup... based on some cultivated loyalty..
use the excess profits to pay professional musicians/journalists as professionals.
Sorry, but as a business model this sucks: making more crap stuff destined for landfill because we haven't figured out how to make money to pay professionals as professionals is unsustainable in so many ways. When the professionals are producing stuff you can't touch, like music, sooner or later we are going to have to work out how we can get punters to pay for stuff you can't touch. That may or may not involve copyright; it almsot certainly involves trust; but tangible proxy value-carriers like t-shirts are a terrible idea.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: t-shirts are a rubbish proxy
Why? And if it's just "crap stuff destined for landfill" then you're not doing it right.
When the professionals are producing stuff you can't touch, like music, sooner or later we are going to have to work out how we can get punters to pay for stuff you can't touch.
Sure. And we've discussed an awful lot of business models based on stuff you can't touch. Selling things like access, reputation, exclusivity, convenience, trust. Those are all things you can't touch.
But they're also scarce.
The thing you can't sell are things that are abundant. That's just economics.
That may or may not involve copyright; it almsot certainly involves trust; but tangible proxy value-carriers like t-shirts are a terrible idea.
No one has ever said that t-shirts are the answer, so I'm not sure why you imply that.
But I'll also note that you repeatedly say it's a terrible idea, but never explain why.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: t-shirts are a rubbish proxy
And there is the problem with your thinking. If I do not want your stuff, do not try to make me pay for it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42878000/jpg/_42878525_merton.203.jpg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Like Haynes Manuals
In the UK, a company called Haynes produces manuals that allow people to maintain their cars. The manuals have been produced in the same style for years and have very distinctive branding that echoes a better age. The branding has been licensed for use on bags, t-shirts etc. because it is eye-catching and looks good. It is unlikely that this move has done anything to add to the number of manuals that Haynes sold but it has provided a new revenue stream through licensing the images and branding.
This is more about drawing on an untapped inventory of branding and imagery rather than connecting with fans.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
PM gets it
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nice contest
I think this needs to be renamed to 'Kids can do great things except create motion sensors for their science project design contest'
Just to be careful they don't violate some kind of school policy. We have to be careful about sending the wrong message.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Snoop Dogg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Snoop Dogg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I hope Old Navy makes some in kids XL
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
T-Shirts
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
POPULAR MECHANICS cover art
[ link to this | view in chronology ]