By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert

A few years ago I was walking a beauty industry trade show, scanning booths and—of course—checking out everyone’s branded merch.

Then I saw it.

The best merch at the entire show.

From an anal bleaching booth.

Yes, really.

Shoutout to Bryght for making my day then and still now. If that’s your sense of humor, the rest of their promotional merchandise line is worth seeing.

But the moment stuck with me for a bigger reason: it was a perfect reminder that weird branded merch ideas can work.

The problem isn’t the weird idea.

The problem is how merch is usually produced.

The Minimum Order Problem in Branded Merch

Traditional custom branded merchandise usually comes with minimum order quantities.

That means if you want to try a creative or risky idea, you’re not ordering one or ten.

You’re ordering 80, 100, or 250 units.

Which is how brands end up with boxes of corporate swag sitting in storage because the joke didn’t land the way they hoped.

Weird ideas are fun to try.

They are much less fun when you’re stuck with a closet full of them.

Why Print-on-Demand Is Perfect for Experimental Merch

This is exactly where print-on-demand branded merch shines.

With print-on-demand merchandise, nothing is produced until someone actually orders it.

No guessing.
No inventory risk.
No leftover boxes of custom promotional products collecting dust.

Instead, you can list your most creative ideas in your company merch store and let the audience decide what works.

Let the Market Decide Your Best Merch

When brands use print-on-demand corporate merch, it changes the way ideas get tested.

Instead of asking:

“Will people like this enough to justify 100 units?”

You get to ask:

“Why not try it?”

Your audience will tell you what works by what they buy.

Worst case scenario?

No one orders it, and you delete the listing.

Best case?

You accidentally create your most memorable branded merch product.

Maybe even a mug like this one. 🍑