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 […]

How much money are you wasting on branded merch, and how can you fix it? Let’s first take a closer look at the biggest sources of waste: 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ⏱💰. The time, stress, and effort it takes to decide what you should order. 2️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 *𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭* 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 […]

Here’s the adult size large tee that was in my 10-year-old son’s gift bag this weekend. We were in Jay Peak for a ski race and had the best time ⛷️ When he checked in and he saw the shirt, he said, incredulous: “but I can’t wear this t-shirt, it’s way too big!” Yeah kid, […]

I’m really into Marvel movies 🦸🏻‍♀️⚡️💪🏻. My kids and I watched all (𝘢𝘭𝘭!) the Marvel movies in chronological order starting last July. So it was particularly interesting to me to learn that Stan Lee, the creator of so many Marvel Entertainment characters 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. What’s unique about this is that Stan […]

Your last-minute swag has that “just under the deadline” look to it. 😬 Most people put off buying merch until 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 before they need it. And hey, there’s good reasons why people procrastinate when it comes to buying merch: 🫣 There are too many choices🫣 Your vendor is a 🍑💩👎🫣 You don’t have any new […]

Y𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞-𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬-𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. We live in a time where we can buy exactly what we want — in the size, shape, style, and color we prefer — and have it in hands within a few days. Yesterday I was talking to Rebecca […]

Listen up 📣 There are a lot of people in your audience who love your brand but 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶, because you’re too high-ticket or don’t have enough spots. T𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡. Think about all the people (thousands, tens of thousands for […]