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, which is their use of current trends:
👍 They are using tone-on-tone (purple-on-purple, gray-on-gray), which is in right now
👍 They’re offering matching sweats sets
👍 Their models are young, diverse and cool

Still, I hate this. They tried to go chic but they’re … Taco Bell. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝.

If you’re a fast food chain and you’re making branded merch, taking yourself seriously is a miss. Your merch should be FUN. McDonald’s does this incredibly well, bringing in high end designers to make ironic and playful branded merchandise that’s loud and in your face (on purpose).

Our social media manager disagrees with me on this and likes their merch. What do you think? Do you think their merch matches their brand? I’m not a fan or customer of Taco Bell so I may not be the best person to judge. Who do you think wants to wear this?

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 that I covet it despite having no connection to the company or brand.

The tee above is part of the absolutely adorable, clever, beautiful and fashion-forward merchandise by the Orlando Squeeze, Orlando’s Major League Pickleball team.

I don’t play pickle ball and I’ve never been to Orlando.

And yet: this shirt is so freakin’ cute that it’s in my shopping cart. The entire line is cheeky, trendy, and covetable. Their design team 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝:

⚜️ 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 — the more specific you can be about your origins, the better.
⚜️ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐲 — this look is very of-the-moment and appealing
⚜️ Try a variety of designs, but 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 that moves through your merch so it looks like a unified shop

What do you think of this tee? Would you wear something branded that you had no connection to other than liking the merch? Finally, do you play pickleball, and if so, have you noticed the massive amount of pickleball merch in the world?

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 each item with cute photos.

𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝒚𝒐𝒖. Here’s how you can be more like Olivia:

➡️➡️ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 ⬅️⬅️

Olivia Rodrigo’s brand is rebellious, against-the-grain, sexy and girly, and her merch is exactly that. Is your brand’s merch reflecting your brand’s personality? 

Also… how freakin’ cool is Olivia’s merch? Go take a look and tell me what you think. The first time I heard her music it took me **right back** to when I first heard Alanis Morissette’s You Outta Know.

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 the following bright green branded things:
🟢 drawstring bag
🟢 a mini pouch bag
🟢 luggage tag
🟢 eye mask
🟢 pen

This part is key: he was also given a pretty bomb neon riding Jersey that everyone in the race has to wear to compete.

In general, I love the bright green branding and the “Be a Pro for a Day” slogan. The eye mask is pretty clever (though junky) and I can see people using the luggage tag when they’re traveling to races. The pen and the two bags are semi-useful trash. 🤷‍♀️🗑️

I’ve never had any use — not one — for a drawstring bag. Why do we still make these?

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐈𝐒 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠? 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
🟢 the junk items are strongly branded (like these) and have clever uses that are appropriate for your audience
🟢 ✨you also give out a high-quality item✨ that includes some choice (in this case, size)
🟢 there are options to buy high quality merch of your choosing (in this case, these were at the expo)

So in the end, yes, you can sometimes (rarely) give out junk swag with my blessing, as long as you meet these three criteria.

What do you think? Do you enjoy swag bags like this? And most importantly, have you ever (ever!) used a drawstring bag??

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 filler you don’t know what to do with
🎁 The branded shirt that’s cute but just not something you’d ever wear
🎁 The really nice branded mug that can never replace your favorite mug

There are a lot of reasons that people may not want your swag, and it’s not always because it’s ugly or it’s junk. They just might not want it 🤷🏻‍♀️

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 to get your merch into the hands of people who want it and out of the hands of people who don’t:

1️⃣ 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. Let people choose their own merch!! This is the best and easiest way that everyone gets exactly what they want — no more, no less.

(We can set up a print-on-demand merch shop for you that makes this super simple at Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise)

2️⃣ Have 𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 to hit a wide range of needs and preferences. I’m talking about wearables and non-wearables, subtle and loud messages, plan and jazzy styles.

3️⃣ Offer a 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 for your would-be recipients where they can choose to have the company donate money to charity in place of receiving merch.

If you offer lots of choices for branded merch and swag, you’re likely to make a wide variety of people happy. Even cooler: 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.

Have you ever received well meaning branded merchandise that you didn’t want? What did you end up doing with it?

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 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠: the sizes that were too big, too small, and the colors nobody wanted… 🫣

3️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤. RIP, your branded goodies. 🪦

These merch mistakes are wasteful of your time and money. But there are damn good reasons to have branded merchandise: people love it, it builds brand awareness and community, it’s great for loyalty, upselling and incentives.

So how do you fix this? It’s easier than you think:

1️⃣ Set up a 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 for your team and customers (if that sounds intimidating, hire us at Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise to do it for you)

2️⃣ Keep your designs fresh 🌱 so people want to wear them

3️⃣ Don’t print junk!! 🗑🔦✍️✏️🎾

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, it’s WAY too big and let’s not even talk about the design of the shirt.

It’s easy to see disappointment in a child and think, aw, that sucks, what a missed opportunity for this company.

Your team and fans might feel that way too. Think about how they feel when you give them clothing that:
😕 doesn’t fit
😕 isn’t their style
😕 they need to wear but didn’t choose

The disappointment is real.

It’s easier than you think to not do this. My number one solution is to give people choice in the merch they receive (ideally from a print-on-demand merch shop that Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise can set up for you). But if you can’t do that, there are options.

Here’s what you can do to make exciting and inclusive merch:

😁 give unsized items
😁 if you do apparel, have enough of every size
😁 offer alternatives for people who aren’t comfortable the style you’re printing

Tell me about a time when a company gave you a shirt that was completely the wrong size or style for you!!

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 Lee himself is not a superhero; this merch is different from wearing an Iron Man or Captain America tee or mask. Wearing an “EXCELSIOR!” hoodie is a deep cut. It’s IYKYK– the kind of community- and identity-building that we’re trying to do with 𝐚𝐥𝐥 branded merchandise.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

Does your company merch pull you into your company’s community?

Marvel fans in the world, come at me:
🦸🏻‍♀️ Who is your favorite character?
🦸🏻‍♀️ Which is the worst movie?
🦸🏻‍♀️ Do you own anything Marvel-related? Toys, clothes, memorabilia?

And: would you wear any of the new Stan Lee line?

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 ideas for your brand

Merch is hard when you don’t think about it every single day.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦.

Before you tell me you don’t have time to do that, let me highlight this very very obvious fact: You’re wasting 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, again and again, every time you’re scrambling before an event to figure out your merch.

And if you still don’t have the time, outsource it (ideally, to us at Go To Market – Custom Print-On-Demand Branded Merchandise).

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫. And our skillset is merch, merch, merch, and merch.

What’s the most last-minute merch you’ve created OR received? For me, it’s always pens. Always pens! ✍️

PS What do you think of my new branded bomber jacket?!

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 Orlov about highly tailored experiences in Roblox + UGC design and it got me thinking about how this works for merch (duh, I’m always thinking about merch).

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠:

➡️ Have a mix of apparel (tees, hoodies) and non-apparel (drinkware, journals, totes). People tend to prefer one of these two categories over the other and can feel strongly about which they want merch in.

➡️ Offer some minimal designs and some loud designs. Some people want to wear their values and style loud and proud (it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me…) and others prefer something more subtle.

➡️ Change it up. If your people already have your logo on 15 different things they certainly don’t want it on 15 more things. Think of new designs!

Have you ever had a company give you … and ALL of your colleagues … the exact same thing? What was it, and did you like it?