The best shirt for the best salsa in town, Mrs. Renfro’s
When you think of salsa, what comes to your mind? Chips? Tequila? Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate. Do t-shirts come to mind? Well, we are always thinking about t-shirts over here so it made sense to us when we heard that Mrs. Renfro's salsa wanted to use our tees. Mrs. Renfro's salsa just happens to be Brett's (Allmade Co-Founder & owner of Printed Threads) absolute favorite salsa. And if you know Brett, you know he doesn't mess around when it comes to salsa.
The Project:
How to grow both you and your client's product categories and business by creating a unique product solution that aligns with your values and brings a story to life.
The Client:
Renfro Foods, the #1 independent salsa brand in the country was founded in 1940 by the current President’s (Doug Renfro) Grandmother.
Today, it’s still a family-owned and operated business that produces innovative salsas and condiments. The company has a strong reputation for quality and has won numerous awards for its products. A few of the fan favorites are their Habanero Tequila Salsa and their Ghost Pepper Salsa.
While Mrs. Renfro’s has a notable brand, it has yet to fully leverage the power of a t-shirt to excite its customers and grow its awareness. The premise of this project was to see if Brett Bowden, Allmade Co-Founder and owner of Printed Threads (located in Fort Worth) could create a business case and unique product that would allow Mrs. Renfro’s to stand out differently. As a result, it expanded Printed Threads business into a new category.
The Recipe:
Discovery.
Brett started by approaching Doug with an idea, what if we could grow your brand awareness and give your clients something that feels great and helps them feel great about your brand? As the largest independent brand in the country, Doug is always looking for ways to stand out and differentiate from the big players, so this naturally intrigued him.
Uncover the story.
It’s important to find the common thread in every project. That typically starts with the brand story, so Brett talked to Doug about what makes their brand and salsa special: unique flavors, high quality ingredients, knowing their supply chain and having a hand in the process of each step.
List your ingredients.
Knowing the importance of standing out, Brett worked with Mrs. Renfro's agency who designed a t-shirt that Renfro enthusiasts would love and helped Doug tell that story through a video showing the product coming to life.
- The Allmade Shirt. Brett chose the Mineral Dye 100% Organic Cotton in Lichen Green. It’s a new color and is the shade of Salsa Verde. This tee is dyed with natural calcite minerals.
- Hot Design. Working with Mrs. Renfro’s marketing agency(Balcom), Brett's team used their design that highlighted Texas (where Renfro’s is located) and included hand-drawn images of the fresh ingredients that are used in their salsas. The tagline “Everything’s Hotter In Texas” appeals to Mrs. Renfro's customer base.
- Decoration Process. Knowing that quality and uniqueness were what the project was aiming for, Brett’s team used a water base and discharge screen printing process. By doing this, they achieved a super soft print that worked perfectly with the Hot Design and Allmade Shirt.
Craft the product.
With all the ingredients laid out, the team got to work finalizing the artwork. They used the best shirt and decorated it in a manner that created a product that felt great to wear. A product that when someone puts it on, immediately has an association with Mrs. Renfro’s.
Tell the story.
A great way to tell the story is through video. It’s a good idea to show the why & how along with the finished product. Brett asked Doug to come in towards the end of the production run and asked if he would film a short video about why he chose this project and what he hoped for with the result.
What went into making the Mrs. Renfro’s winning recipe?
The result?
Brett found that inviting Doug into the screen printing shop to see the process firsthand, it not only made for great content but gave Doug a whole new appreciation towards how a t-shirt is made and decorated. At the end of the day, what we do and how we do it is not what sells, it’s why we do it that counts. Doug was able to relate to sustainably sourced organic cotton, naturally dyed mineral colors, and the craftsmanship that goes into screen printing a quality design. He aligned it with how he runs his company and got even more excited about the result. A win-win for all involved.
- Mrs. Renfro’s enthusiasts get a quality shirt they will wear for years to come.
- Through the video, Doug can tell thousands of prospective consumers about how this project came to life and what sets Mrs. Renfro's apart.
- Brett created a stronger relationship with an existing client that will have a whole new appreciation for t-shirts and tell its unique story to others that likely need quality t-shirts.
- Allmade has a new fan that will use its t-shirts again for future orders. Because they believe in Allmade's values and beliefs, they will share them with their fan base.
After all, everyone who eats salsa wears a t-shirt, and everyone who wears a t-shirt eats salsa. But maybe, just this once, they’ll try a little harder not to spill salsa on their new favorite Allmade shirt.
Do you want to create these types of opportunities for your business? If so, here are some things to keep in mind so you can have a successful outcome.
- Look for opportunities. How many brands, businesses and clients do you talk to that don’t think about ordering T-shirts that could if they had a reason to?
- Find the common thread. Research for areas that align products and services you provide with current / prospective clients. Think about their mission, values, environmental stewardship, diversity and inclusion, uniqueness, care for the process, and service.
- Create a full product. What we end up making is more than the t-shirt, the design that goes on it and the way it is decorated. It is the sum of those inputs that creates the output that either gets thrown out or worn out. As Printed Threads proudly says, it's the good ideas that are meant to be WORN OUT.
- Allmade Apparel is a great solution that offers a unique spin on the everyday t-shirt. Allmade was founded by screen printers and are meant to be printed on: Watch How Your T-Shirt Can Change the World. Allmade uses all organic and recycled ingredients in our apparel which creates a huge impact with every shirt. Allmade founders go to the fields, factories and warehouses where our shirts are made from ensuring the way they are made and who makes them is treated with honor and respect. When you pull Allmade out of the box, it's a shirt that not only feels great, but it’s a shirt you can feel great about.
- Craft the Design. Go the extra mile when it comes to making a great design. If it takes a few extra dollars to invest in something special, spend it. The client and their clients will forever wear it.
- Specify the Process. If you walk into a restaurant and ask for their best steak, what’s the waiter going to ask you? How would you like that cooked? To get the desired result you have to specify how you want that to be achieved. For soft designs, water base or discharge ink can be a great solution. All you have to do is ask. If you or your decorator need help figuring out how to do it. Our friends at MADE Lab www.madelab.io have classes, and programs to help you do just that.
- Tell the story. A video works great for this but if you don’t do a video, write a blog and take some pictures to tell the story. Your client will share your story and their clients probably will too. It's a great way to get the word out about not just what you do differently, but WHY.
We'd like to thank our new friends at Mrs. Renfro's for using our tees, and to our old friends at Printed Threads for introducing us. We are obsessed with their salsa and hope you check them out too. Finally, as Brett infamously says, no chips, no salsa, no party.
