Branded Merchandise can be created in many different ways. Let’s talk about travel merchandise, and how it applies to your business. Where the branded merchandise in Tuscany was reserved, tasteful, and artist-focused, the swag in Rome was 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲. 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵: 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 […]

I just got back from a weeklong bike-packing trip around Tuscany, Italy. 𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐛𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 200 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞. It was gorgeous, challenging, highly sweaty and adventurous 🚴‍♀️🚴🏼⛰ (Let’s just say, we did 𝘯𝘰𝘵 realize how HOT it is in Italy in July 🥵.) Here are the Top […]

Merch that’s Ugly-on-Purpose is now a capital-t Thing. At least, that’s the only way I can explain the Pizza Hut hat from Chain that is so highly coveted that it has sold out multiple times. Why occasionally having branded merchandise that’s ugly is helpful for your business. 𝐀𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 […]

Let’s be honest: you’re 𝘸𝘢𝘺 too busy to design, order, and ship the branded merch you need for your business. In the list of things you need to do for your business, let me guess where branded merchandise and swag falls: ↘️↘️↘️↘️ Merch usually gets assigned to whoever and lands at the bottom of a […]

Taco Bell, what the 💩🙅🏻‍♀️ is going on with your merch? This store violates everything I know about best practices for branded merch:👎 The shop is super logo heavy, and their logo is… old and uninteresting👎 There’s nothing creative, playful or reflective of their brand or brand values There is one thing they get right, […]

The ⚜️gold standard⚜️ for branded merchandise is this: does someone who has no connection to your brand still want to own and wear it? (𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘵: 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰.) 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 of branded merchandise so freakin’ good […]

Let’s look at an artist whose merch gives me a 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 every time I see it: Olivia Rodrigo. Every single item of branded merchandise on Olivia Rodrigo’s page embodies her music and personality, from the design of the items to the way every item is styled. It’s also worth noting that Olivia herself models […]

My love for race merch might (𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵) supersede my hate for junk swag. Which leads me to ask: is there 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 a good time for junk swag? My answer might surprise you. 🤔 My husband finished the GFNY France Grand Fondo yesterday, an 85-mile bike race in the hills of northern NJ. At the expo, he was handed […]

Let people opt out of your branded merch. As much as I am heart-eyes for branded merch and swag, I believe that 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐎𝐏𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞. Think about:🎁 The onboarding box that has a bunch of […]