By: Guy Varela
On July 1, we introduced our new 107.7 The Bronc merchandise line on our very own online store. 107.7 The Bronc’s General Store has finally dropped for summer and it couldn’t have been any better timing.
With new styles and designs, the new and improved online store highlights the variety and wide selection of our merchandise. And as fans of The Bronc you have endless options to choose from.
Beyond The Mic had the chance to interview Jim D’Ovidio, owner of Brown Dog Marketing, to get his thoughts on The Bronc’s merch and talk about how this whole process has been with his team.
“I’m excited with the new store that we’re opening up, we’re able to offer a lot more styles and a lot more options. I think after a while people get tired of wearing the same colors. We’ll still keep the university and radio station colors, but also introduce new styles and color options.” said D’Ovidio.
Brown Dog believes that the advantages of having new styles, especially the new tie-dye and new t-shirt colors can become fan favorites.
“You can mix up the t-shirts with a new pink or blue color, and also have a little fun with a short sleeve, long sleeve, or hoodie variation that we’re offering in the tie-dyes, and I think that’s fun and I expect to see a lot more people purchasing clothes like that.”
Reflecting on our new eco-friendly clothing options, D’Ovidio sees this as an opportunity to expand The Bronc’s merchandise to hit an untapped market.
D’Ovidio also mentions that our shipping costs are significantly lower than our merch drop last fall. From greater variety to lower costs, all these changes benefit our dedicated fan base.
“The eco-friendly shirt is made of polyester and one shirt in particular was made out of six recycled plastic water bottles. With the Port Authority brand, 92-98% of water is used to dye garments and then be recycled and used again. With that brand, depending on the item, that will vary, but it will be more eco-friendly. The consumers can make that decision to purchase eco-friendly shirts. It’s important to give your listening audience, members, and alumni that option.”
“The other nice thing with the new website is that our shipping cost is anywhere between 40-60% less than what it was with the old store. We ship from several different locations, and we’ve cut down our carbon footprint and cost, and your audience is going to see a lower shipping cost. The big difference from last year is that we’re able to offer a lot more variety with clothes and drinkware, and the cost is going to be less. We can always add more merchandise, which is great!”
It’s 107.7 The Bronc and Brown Dog Marketing’s strong business relationship that ultimately led to the Bronc General Store and this new business partnership.
“I’ve been working with The Bronc for about seven or eight years, so this is exciting to show off your brand with the new styles in stock! When students start seeing more people walking around with the new styles on campus, there will be some excitement along with promoting the radio station.”
D’Ovidio reveals that creating new online clothing websites doesn’t take quite as long as you would think.
“On average, to start up a website for a new client can be about two weeks going back and forth, and that depends on the client. We usually work with corporate America, accounting firms, and law firms, but this is fun and to work with 107.7 The Bronc is exciting. We can get an online store up and running in two weeks and (in this situation) we liked to discuss back and forth with options for the colors and designs.”
Lastly, D’Ovidio tells us what his personal favorite piece of merch is on our new website.
“I think I’m going with the tie-dye hoodie, because I don’t own a tie-dye hoodie. I’ve got some tie-dye t-shirts, and I’m a huge Jimmy Buffet fan with multiple tie-dye shirts, so I could go with any of the tie-dye hoodies.”
We all look forward to seeing how this merchandise launch goes, and we couldn’t be any happier to release it now that it’s summer. Purchase your new 107.7 The Bronc merch at the all-new 107.7 The Bronc General Store to represent our award-winning radio station proudly! Remember, a portion of all proceeds go to supporting our student learning experience, state of the art studios and radio station.
