In recent years silicone customized wristbands have become quite popular among the youth and a large number of the adult population. Silicone customized wristbands are often worn to demonstrate support for a cause or as a fashion statement and in some cases the customized wristbands are worn for both reasons!

As always marketing strategists and advertisers tend to be wary when monitoring the viability of perceived fashion statements as marketing tools. This is because what is deemed a current trend this month might lose appeal the next month. No one wants to be the guy who had the idea to buy 500,000 customized wristbands wholesale, only to have them stockpiled, due to the fact that no one wants to buy customized wristbands anymore.

A lot of trends that people believed were going to last have disappeared overnight. Some never even made it to the fad stage and disappeared leaving the unwise wholesale buyers, marketers and makers of these products in a serious dilemma.

Most marketers remember fads such as the jelly shoes of the eighties, Lace fingerless gloves, Frisbees (remember them?) and we all remember how hot fanny packs were in the nineties but now they’re considered a serious fashion no-no.

More often than not what we buy tends to be an expression of the times like disco or an expression of fashion like bell-bottomed trousers. An old fad is quickly succeeded by a new one especially in the fashion arena. But there are a couple of items that made it past the fad stage including the wristwatch, zippers and the umbrella. The question remains: Are customized silicone wristbands a thing of the now or the future? Should anyone consider using customized wristbands as a marketing tool or as a means to raise funds during charity campaigns?

In order to figure this out we have to understand what factors contribute to turning a fad into a constant need. Knowing this we can come to a consensus in the case of customized wristbands and knows whether to buy them or avoid them for the future.

There are three major factors that are responsible for changing a fads status from trend to acceptable standard and they are:

Geometry, Size and Design – The design of an object contributes a lot to its lifespan. In marketing and fashion, the accepted consensus is that objects that stay closer to geometric form are more likely to withstand time than others (the flatter and more rectangular a TV gets the more popular it becomes). Another factor in design is the size of the object, smaller is often better than bigger (cell phones, computers). Personalized wristbands satisfy these criteria. They are circular in shape, which is true to geometric nature. They are light and easy to wear.

Availability of Better Substitutes – When an object has a purpose, it can only be replaced by another object that fulfills its purpose better. Personalized wristbands are cheap and affordable and they satisfy their purpose rather well. It is also true that when something is easily affordable; it’s hard to get a replacement.

Culture – When an object becomes part of a widespread acceptable culture it is often hard to dissociate the object from that culture. This is true even in the case of negative and positive stereotypes. The act giving is positive and charity wristbands are consistently being associated with giving and are steadily becoming part of the giving culture.

These are a few strong points; many more exist to buttress the viability of the customized wristband. So whether you buy wholesale or retail for fashion or charity, customized, personalized or otherwise, the consensus seems to be that the silicone wristbands are here to stay.