At many companies uniforms are pretty basic-- often just a logo on a piece of clothing.
"[Most uniforms] sound a little boring," admitted Jim Chesebro, the director of marketing of Evolve.
The Denver-based company, however, helps businesses take their apparel to the next level, building their brand into the clothing at every opportunity.
"These are custom uniforms built from the ground up. They are not purchased out of a catalog or something that someone else has on the shelves. They speak to the companies' brand," Chesebro explained.
Evolve has created the uniforms for some pretty big names like
Chipotle, Grainger, Qwest and DirectTV. In each case, Evolve's consultants sat down with the company's executives to determine what they were looking for.
"A lot of times we meet with more than just the marketing people. We want to make sure we include all the decision makers with that company, so the brand is completely representated," said Aimee Kern, Evolve's corporate culture manager.
The company then works to determine the needs of the employees.
"With Chipotle we stood behind the counter and we did focus groups and spoke to the employees. With Direct TV, someone actually did a ride along with them. They asked for an extended shirt tail, because their technicians are moving around and crawling around," Kern explained.
The longer length shirts helped the DirectTV technicians' keep their shirts tucked, avoiding embarrassing situations. The company also builds zippers wherever workers need them and can work reflective material into the design for safety, when needed.
"Because it is built to fit the functions of an employee, more
employees are wearing it. More employees are happy about wearing it. They're happy about getting into it on a day-to-day basis," Kern said.
The company offers Web sites which allow employees to order uniform pieces. Evolve even ensures that these websites look like their client's Web branding.
Chesebro says the companies that turn to Evolve are looking for a way to extend their brand. He says they want the employees to carry that branding when they're meeting the public. Because of that, the company looks for every opportunity to include the company's brand or look-- from zippers to the clothing's design; even buttons.
"To the chief marketing officer, that matters. The fact that it's
down to the buttons, it looks like the company's brand that the
employee is wearing," Chesebro said.
He says more and more companies are also looking for ways to be greener and the uniforms are part of this mission. Evolve says it is committed to using sustainable materials.
"Chipotle is switching their crew T-shirts to 100 percent organic
cotton. That keeps a lot of pesticides out of the lake water and
from entering the environment," Kern said.
She says that can make a significant impact for the environment,
since the company orders thousands of T-shirts every month.
Evolve was recently selected as one of the 50 Colorado Companies to Watch by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Every Thursday 9NEWS reports about another company, highlighting its success in this difficult economy.
To see those stories, visit http://www.9news.com/life/programming/shows/mornings/ctw/.
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