Advice from Dragon’s Den
Is SplashMaps American enough for the USA? Nearly 2 years ago the advice from Nick Jenkins on Dragon’s Den was, “only go to America when you have a name back home”. So what’s prepared us now for the New York Rights Fair and what’s driving folk to meet us there?
A home-town feel?
In fact perhaps SplashMaps already has a home-town feel in the USA. After all 10% of our customers are based in the USA, our Angel investor – an inspiration on so many levels – is American too and, though we’ve never marketed or directed our PR at the USA, we’ve still appeared in titles like the “Preppers” magazine, Soldier Systems, which has helped establish the brand in wider markets such as hunting.
Even when overseas, the idea of SplashMaps seems to attract the American love of new things. That’s why, among our other education customers, we repeatedly supply to the American University in Rome.
So why now?
After 5 years of work we now have the ideal portfolio of products that span versatile neckware Toobs, indestructible map sheets and fashion garments. Our brand in the UK is now well recognised in both gift and outdoor sectors, helped by a network of 40 retailers, monthly appearances in magazines with readerships of over 50 000 and the vibrancy of our communities on Twitter, Facebook and directly to our site (the combination of which reaches more than 10 000 people every month).
Rights
And why Rights? Well, rights are a big part of any map business. At SplashMaps we license-in designs from Harper Collins, Ordnance Survey, AtoZ and many others. We also license out our unique designs to event organisers and retailers alike.
At the show we’ll be meeting those that make the maps Americans know love and occasionally like to wear 😉. We’ll have a number of meetings lined up with their outdoor brands and our Department for International Trade advisors are lining-up contacts across the key markets we know we have to tap for success.
And when will you meet us?
The show runs from 30th May to 1st June. If you’re a US based company we’d love to meet you there. If you’re a UK based company and want to extend your licensed content into the states on our amazing quality printed fabrics, now’s the time to talk!
