RWB Dresses Marketing To a T!

I’m officially an Eagle, baby! WOD up!

I recently came home from the 2023 National Convention of The American Legion exhausted and ready to get into my own bed. My plan was interrupted by the excitement of spotting a small package, from a highly anticipated sender. Inside was my new red tee shirt from Team Red, White & Blue . It’s a red, 耐克 , Dri-Fit shirt that can be worn in various situations, especially when physical activity is on the agenda....and it's definitely on the agenda for whole health and wellness, especially during September National Suicide Prevention Month.

Beyond the excellent choice of the base shirt, I’m finding myself looking at this functional fashion piece as a marketing and exposure lesson. I spent time looking at this shirt and the lessons that it can teach about marketing and exposure. These are lessons that I believe we can use for the betterment of The American Legion.

1.?????? Bold Color – This shirt is red and in a group will definitely stand out. In North Carolina at the Convention, I saw the Legion use bright yellow tee shirts on the community service project and it really made the crew visible. I’m not sure that people want to wear that bright yellow shirt every day, except maybe paired with blue jeans. #GoBlue. Regularly we Legionnaires tend to gravitate towards blue and black, but I hope we add some pizazz to really stand out when we’re out serving the community.

2.?????? Big Logo – I love the large logo on the front of the shirt. It’s clear that RWB is present. I believe that the Legion brand mark would also look great blown up on shirts. I don’t want to see people squinting while extending their necks in our direction, trying to figure out who we are. Let’s have folks wide-eyed in head nodding approval of knowing that The American Legion is on the job, serving “Community, State, and Nation.”

3.?????? Tag Line on Back – “America’s Health & Wellness Community for Veterans” explains clearly and boldly what the identity of Team RWB is. For The American Legion, I feel like “Veterans Strengthen America” would serve to enhance our branding. I would actually like to see that tagline appear in most instances where the brandmark is used. For people like me, who didn’t know what The American Legion was when I joined, seeing that mantra would clear up a couple of big questions. I’d know it was an organization of veterans. I’d know that they were engaged in continued service. Sign me up!

4.?????? Sleeve Brilliance – This right here got me fired up. Team RWB made a marketing-based decision to put their QR code that takes you to their website where people can quickly see what they are up to and more importantly, sign up. Giving people the ability to quickly and easily sign up needs to be a small and inexpensive, yet vital piece of our membership plan.

So much goodness in fabric form. I’m truly impressed with what Mike Erwin and team are doing and I’m urging The American Legion to take some inspiration from the RWB wardrobe to…wait for it…dress up our efforts. Other thoughts:

·?????? They were great table recruiters at a resource/stand-down at Jackie Robinson stadium on the West Los Angeles VA campus. They were lively, outgoing, informative, and inviting without being too aggressive.

·?????? I got an email and a phone call from them soon after joining to welcome me and to see if I had any questions. The Legion is too big to do this, but Posts could 100% benefit from such personal onboarding.

·?????? I’ve been impressed with Mr. Erwin and RWB since my motivated Legion friend Chris Yates raved about them to me years ago. Also, we had Mike on the Legion’s “Tango Alpha Lima” podcast in 2021. Check that out here: SE2-EP51 Tango Alpha Lima: Team RWB with guest Mike Erwin - YouTube.

I look forward to working with Team RWB in pursuit of the Be The One initiative of The American Legion. The Whole Health and Wellness perspective is important to the mental health and prevention of suicide. I urge RWB members to join The American Legion and I urge American Legion members to join Team RWB. We are better together. I’ll write more about that potentially powerful synergy later, but for now, I’m going to proudly put on my proverbial Eagle wings, in the form of this wearable lesson.