T-shirts again. What a great tool of making money!

In this article 12 Top community managers shared several secrets of better engagement. And one of them was “to go offline” and try to attach your on-line fans to something physical and tangible. What should it be? Flashmob downtown? Free cup of coffee or painting contest?

Social networks decided for clothes. Why not? What can be more physical than a thing you can feel with your skin?

That is why Facebook has recently opened the company shop on its campus in Menlo Park, SF. According to TechCrunch, shop is called “Store” (without “the”) and sells T-shirts, hoodies, jackets and hats with company logo and name.

Strange that it took so much time for Facebook to open its store, because, for example, Foursquare has done that almost two years ago. A lot of similar swag can be found on their store website.

The same did Apple in its “Company Store” on Apple campus. Its t-shirts “I visited the Mothership” and “I visited the Apple campus. But that’s all I’m allowed to say” were must-have for all the Apple  geeks the last several years.

Why do they do it? First of all it’s a form of publicity for the brands, but it’s not the only reason. If these shops exist for several years already, there is a demand for this products, it means that these stuff helps loyal customers to express their love to the brand. Moreover, now employees of these companies can show how proud they are of what they do and whom they work with. And, of course, in the end it’s all about building the community, because you probably think about common interests, tastes or way of life being geek, when see someone in the same T-shirt as yourself. So, brand evangelists, that’s you whom they are trying so hard for.