While Elgin, Illinois-based Copywrite Products LLC produces
dozens of different Olympic products, three in particular-its
in-line skate bag, multipocket pin pouch and duffel bag-reveal
Copywrite's strength in innovation and construction. Copywrite
is the only company producing the first two items and has created
one of the best of the third.
"We realized in-line skating is a [popular] sport that a
lot of people are involved in," explains Thirza Ann Duensing,
co-owner of Copywrite, which makes a line of bags, briefcases,
toiletry kits and stationery accessories. "We also learned the
only people making bags for the skates were the skate makers
themselves. Nobody was taking it to the next phase of introducing a
skate bag with an Olympic logo."
Copywrite's pin pouch is also a hot item. While most serious
collectors carry around large display cases (Duensing says that
some $110 million in pins is expected to be sold by the time the
Atlanta Games are over), few storage options existed for the novice
or for the newcomer who gets swept up in the frenzy of pin trading
at the Games. The pouch contains six cloth pages separated by
acetate. You can also store your wallet and keys in it and wear it
on your waist or shoulder.
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"The bottom line is that good design sells," Duensing
says. "There are a lot of products out there that have been
rather indifferently designed. You see cases of a company logo just
being slapped on a bag. To me, good design will always sell-and it
doesn't have to be expensive."
Quality construction also sells. "These [pin pouches] have
been very popular items," says Duensing, whose company first
made products for large-scale events during the 1994 World Cup.
"We've been selling a lot of them."
Copywrite's other Olympic-themed products include stationery
and writing instruments with the Centennial Torch mark and images
of Izzy, the official mascot of the Atlanta Olympics. It sells its
products in sports specialty stores like The Sports Authority and
to retailers, including Duty Free Shoppers, JC Penney, Uptons and
W.H. Smith.
Advice:"You have to establish a reputation that
lives beyond the event and provide high quality in all areas of
operation. If you don't, you won't have a relationship with
retailers beyond the Games. Olympic merchandising is an extremely
long-term effort, and there are a lot of nuances that come with
that scenario. It's also very risk-laden. You have a long
planning period for production, and you have to be extremely
conservative in your approach to some [areas of
operation]."
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