Planting the future with GDCC 

- __About Green Dream Clothing Co.:__ A lifestyle brand that plants a tree for every article of clothing sold, Green Dream is "bridging the gap between inner city and country club lifestyles."
- __How they use stickers:__ Stickers are used to promote the brand, be sold online, and for student ambassadors to get the word out on college campuses. Stickers are also used in  packaging and on boxes.
- __Results:__ Stickers have been an easy, cost effective way to do marketing and promote the vision. The stickers have been effective on college campuses (like CU Boulder) and allow millennials to engage with the brand in a meaningful way. 

College graduates often grapple with the seemingly binary decision to either "do good or make cash." A 2014 graduate from Indiana University at Bloomington, Adam Swartz has chosen his own path: doing good by launching a lifestyle brand that is as cool as it is eco-centered.

With a slick logo, cool tees and strapback hats, the style of Green Dream speaks for itself. Beneath the look, the upstart brand and vision is far bigger: a greener future.

![Green Dream clothing company uses custom stickers to promote their brand](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/573bb2a740d99914e37f34d36b061585a07bda27)

When I chat with Adam on the phone for the first time to talk about how he uses stickers in his business, it's clear that he's passionate about that vision — and he's rooted it in thoughtful intentionality.

"My generation is interested in causes that matter — we're into a better environment. It's not an afterthought or an added bonus— we all care about the environment deeply from the start."

For every article of clothing (or pack of stickers) sold a tree is planted. Green Dream partnered with Plant-it 2020, a nonprofit foundation that performs worldwide tree-planting and more, to make it happen. "It's easy to latch onto the GDCC brand ‘cause there is a genuine interest in a sustainable future."

![How to use stickers to promote your brand in public](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/88d002e8570b9945ac7c156cecd9d11b9f8a7c60)

On the business side, Adam is getting the word out about Green Dream using branded custom stickers.

> It's a cheaper way to do marketing and promote the message.

After graduating, he moved from Indiana to the eco-friendly and all around great city of Boulder home of CU Boulder -- Colorado's largest college campus.  He's found college students to be great ambassadors for the brand and spreading the message. 

> Students know the stickers — they've seen them around.

Adam's student ambassadors or his "The Street Team" carry stickers with them around campus at all times. "It's a cheaper way to do marketing and promote the message." They'll give away free stickers to students who proudly stick them on their [laptop](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/laptop-stickers), [phone](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/phone-stickers), or [cars](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/car-stickers) — anywhere that is seen every day by others. 

"The street team always gets great feedback. Students know the stickers — they've seen them around. When someone says, ‘Ah, I love that sticker' an ambassador can give them one right then and there."

The stickers vary from pure marketing to promoting green messages ("Plant Trees") to inspirational words ("Good Vibes Only" and "Dream Louder").

Every sticker features Green Dream's memorable logo, an upside down umbrella — which is full of its own meaning, "Unlike an umbrella that blocks out rain, wind, or hail, our umbrella is flipped upside down allowing for these experiences and thoughts to fall in and help shape who we are, what we dream of, and where we dream of going."

Beyond the street team and word of mouth marketing, Adam's logo stickers are an important part of the customer experience. In keeping with his eco-centric and sustainable mission, old boxes are reused and given a new look with die cut stickers fixed on the outside. And after they've opened their box, inside they'll find a Plant Trees sticker Adam used to secure the tissue wrapping paper. 

![Use stickers to to close wrapping paper](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/b1fcc7e0be73894542e439c183173069ca24ffd5)

After that package is received, the stickers frequently are spotted on social media, on street signs around the country. 

"Friends are always sending me pictures whether it be from London or my old college campus. The support is real."

Stickers have also been a [product in and of themselves](http://www.greendreamcloco.com/shop-1/stickers). Every sticker pack sold also plants a tree — and seeds for the brand to continue to grow.

There are countless ways to promote your own clothing company, product, or brand using stickers. Check out more ways Sticker Mule can help your business grow.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses" />

How to use custom stickers to do good, promote a greener future, and grow a clothing business. 

El Cambio grabs attention with circle stickers 

* __About El Cambio:__ El Cambio Trading Co. is a sustainable clothing company, whose mission is to promote art, charity and sustainability through fashion. 
* __How they use stickers:__ They used stickers to get the word out about the company before formally launching a new website and brand.  
* __Results:__ Within a few months, Alex turned his Etsy store into a known brand with a social media presence.

> I always carry our logo stickers around with me."

What is the best way to start a clothing company? 

For two college students, the answer is simple; do it while studying, traveling the world, with a partner that you’ve never met in person, and with a mission that goes beyond the clothing.

Alex began selling his hand drawn designs and tanks through an Etsy store. After selling out of all of the designs, he decided to make it into a company. Through a friend, he found Sami and asked her to help with his social media presence and to create an online shop.

Without investors or startup cash, they were looking for a way to grab attention for the new company. He wanted to start right away without paying for a large advertising campaign.

![how ElCambio turned its Etsy store into a brand](https://storage.googleapis.com/sm-content/blog/42218b2c426bb52b53256567556c210cf25ea767)

## Getting the word out (without going broke)

Alex and Sami realized that the answer was staring them right in the face. The best way to get the word out was to make it easy for their friends, family, and even strangers to connect with the brand and tell others about it.

They wanted something that was easy to give out, inexpensive, and could be seen by lots of new people.

> It was our version of a business card! We'd hand them out to friends, people we met, anyone that asked about the design.

After designing a new logo from scratch, Alex and Sami put their logo on circle stickers.

Before launching the new website, they were handing out El Cambio Trading Company stickers, placing them around the world, and giving them to friends.

"We ordered our stickers from Sticker Mule before we ever bought business cards," says Sami. "In fact, it was our version of a business card! We’d hand them out to friends, people we met, anyone that asked about the design."

People loved the stickers and started spreading the word by snapping pictures of the stickers and tagging it with #ECTC. Soon, the stickers were showing up all over social media with photos of the stickers on [water bottles](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/water-bottle-labels), [laptops](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/laptop-stickers), lightposts, and more.

Each sticker, photo, mention, and hashtag helped Alex and Sami launch their new clothing company.

## Generating conversations and sales

With word spreading, El Cambio started selling their unique tanks online through their new website.

To drive referrals and sales, each order gets a few stickers inside the box. El Cambio also uses their stickers as tape to get all of the packaging together. From the wrapping of the tank, to the outside of the package, their message goes everywhere the packaging goes. The stickers added the benefit of giving people confidence in El Cambio as an established company. 

> The reality is you only wear a shirt once in awhile but if you put a sticker on something you use every day it gets in front of more people and generates conversations.

Although giving away something free helps spread word about your business, it can be tough to give away the actual product for free.

Handing out stickers with a logo is a great way to leave customers (and future customers) with something of value without breaking the bank. "I always carry our [logo stickers](https://www.stickermule.com/uses/logo-stickers) around with me," says Sami. "They are in my bag right now! When people ask what I do, I simply grab one and say, 'Here’s a sticker, check it out!'"

## A global idea localized

These two college students launched their clothing company. But, it is much more than cool designs on tank tops, El Cambio Trading Company is a sustainable clothing company whose mission is to promote art, charity, and sustainability through fashion.

Started by Alex Kinczel in 2014 , each El Cambio design represents a different international charity and has been inspired by Alex’s years traveling the globe with his school LIU Global. 10% of the profit from each sale is donated to the charity represented by the design. “We believe that businesses have the responsibility not to exploit, but to give back to the earth and those who we work with,” says Alex.

Currently, Alex and Sami sell their tanks online, but they’ve found success selling the shirts on the ground as well at festivals and markets.

Anyone that stops by gets a free sample of their logo as a sticker or button. Giving visitors something to take with them is an easy way to help someone who is interested but not ready to buy right away. They ask visitors to take the sticker, put it on something they own, and then tell people about it if they ask.

## What's next

As the business grows and graduation looms, Alex and Sami plan to keep using stickers to grow and grab more attention as they look into growing their business into brick-and-mortar spaces and other online stores.

Their plan is to sell new designs as stickers and to use them in a photo contest to generate more interest through word of mouth and social media.

There are countless ways to promote your own clothing company, product, or brand using stickers. Check out more ways Sticker Mule can help you grab attention.

<ButtonCta text="100+ ways to use Sticker Mule" href="https://www.stickermule.com/uses?ref=blog" />

Within a few months Alex turned his Etsy store into a known brand with a social media presence using circle stickers.

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Planting the future with GDCC

El Cambio grabs attention with circle stickers