How Companies With Intangible Products Can Leverage the Summer To Their Benefit 

Summer is nearly here – a little more than a month away.  And that means a plethora of summer-themed products will soon be descending onto our shelves and into our real and digital shopping carts. 

Right now, there are adverts for everything from swimsuits to sunscreen to tiki torches to beer – all signaling the arrival of some much-needed Vitamin D and no longer needing to put on three layers when going to grab the trash bin from the end of the driveway.  

Ahhh…summer indeed. 

But while some brands utilize the summer to take full advantage of rolling out a seasonal line of products (we’re looking at you Pac Sun) – other brands are left wondering: what if I can’t put a sun on my product or make it yellow?  

What if you sell something or provide a service that isn’t TANGIBLE? 

We can all wrap our hands and heads around a cold beer on a hot day at the lake.  But what if you can’t wrap your hands around a product?  What if you don’t sell shoes or umbrellas or lattes?  

What if you sell insurance?  Or wealth management services?  Or software?  Or something similarly not-touchable, not holdable, not pokable.  For those brands without physical products, are they just out of luck as it relates to cashing in on the summer boon?  

Hardly.  

Here below are four ways that a brand with an intangible product can still wrap its lasso around the summer and pull its customers in close.

1 – Rebrand Your Website \ Socials 

Just because you don’t have a product to give a makeover to, doesn’t mean you can’t makeover what people DO see of you.  

• Adopt some bright filters for your social media posts 

• Use posts that focus on the outdoors, and summertime activities 

• Reskin your website, or a part of it, to reflect the season 

• Create campaigns focusing on summer, warmth, being outside, etc.  

• Create content (on social channels or a website) that uses summer as a backdrop to talk about what’s important to your company.  

Basically, even if you don’t have a tangible product, you can make summer the focus of your campaigns, and use the season’s distinctives to change how you look, and what you talk about.  Even these slight cosmetic changes will help clients perk up when they see your name in their LinkedIn feeds or go to your website.

2 – Focus Product Results Using Seasons

Every product has a use or a result.  Cars are meant to driven, bikes are meant to be ridden, whiskey is meant to sniff-ted and sip-ted.  Just because you have an intangible product, doesn’t mean that product isn’t meant to achieve a specific result or end.  

So, show off that result using the summer as the backdrop.  As an example: 

If you’re in wealth management, you should show how your product enables clients to truly enjoy the most of their summer (because they’re not worried about their finances).  Things like grilling, floating down a river, mowing the lawn, watching the sun go down…all of these things are deeply summerish and much aided by a worry-free financial mentality. 

Something like: “Time to float a little longer.  Brought to you by __________”

3 – Use Cross-Promotional Products that ARE Tangible  

Okay, so YOU don’t make something tangible.  But maybe that bar down the street does.  Throw an after-work event in their space, pay them to name a summery drink after your company’s founder (“I’ll have a double Richtsmeier, please.”), or have them cater your next Saturday evening neighborhood BBQ.  

If you don’t make something tangible, find someone who does, and partner with them.  Friends are fun, and people like to know that you can have fun.  Especially in the summer.  

4 – Sponsor a Summer Event 

Summer is the time for outside events – races, little league, monster truck rallies, and so on.  And all of those things need sponsors.  Consider sponsoring a golf tournament at your local club, or helping to judge a pie-eating contest at the carnival.  

Getting your name out there doesn’t always have to be about making sure people know what you’re selling.  Sometimes it’s enough for them to see your name.  

Besides, associating your name with something fun, as opposed to say – a car accident is a more powerful and endearing association.  Little sticks as well in our brains as joy.  

Summer Branding Is For Summer 

As always, it’s best to be ahead of the curve, as opposed to catching up.  So whatever your branding moves are for summer, remember, summer doesn’t last long, and when it’s over, your summer branding should be too.  

Just in time for Fall.  

For more ideas on how to use the summer (and lots of other things) to your brand’s advantage, give us a shout! We’d love to hear from you.