{"id":505,"date":"2025-08-07T19:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T23:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/?p=505"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T23:05:11","slug":"what-sicily-taught-me-about-the-rules-of-tourist-merch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/what-sicily-taught-me-about-the-rules-of-tourist-merch\/","title":{"rendered":"What Sicily Taught Me About the Rules of Tourist Merch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I finally put words to something I\u2019ve felt for years about tourist merch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On my trip to Sicily last week, it clicked: Tourist merch follows the <em>opposite<\/em> rules of everything I teach brands about corporate swag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1002\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-07-at-7.01.56-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-506\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-07-at-7.01.56-PM.png 1002w, https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-07-at-7.01.56-PM-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-07-at-7.01.56-PM-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-08-07-at-7.01.56-PM-768x766.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I work with companies on branded merch, I preach:<br>\u2192 Keep the logo subtle<br>\u2192 Lead with vibe, not vanity<br>\u2192 Make it feel like something you\u2019d actually wear\u2014not a billboard<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in Sicily, my favorite pieces were the <em>total reverse<\/em>\u2014and somehow, I loved them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best travel merch is obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>It\u2019s about recognition, memory, and claiming the moment.<br>It says: <em>I went here and it was cool.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What made it click for me was spotting the difference between the good stuff and the junk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The winners had personality:<br>\ud83e\udde2 The brown hat \u2014 a trendy play on Supreme, equal parts clever and wearable<br>\ud83c\udf1e The yellow cap \u2014 so obvious and joyful it made me laugh<br>\ud83d\udc5f The sneaker tee \u2014 creative and artsy, perfectly matched to the city\u2019s vibe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t just design. It\u2019s the city\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And just like with corporate merch, the worst offenders were the generic ones\u2014copy-paste slogans, tired clip-art logos, and zero sense of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The takeaway? Whether it\u2019s tourist merch or branded corporate swag, the best pieces aren\u2019t just about <em>where<\/em> they\u2019re from. They show you what it <em>feels<\/em> like to be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn\u2019t end up buying any of these\u2014would you have snagged one? Which is your favorite?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert I finally put words to something I\u2019ve felt for years about tourist merch. On my trip to Sicily last week, it clicked: Tourist merch follows the opposite rules of everything I teach brands about corporate swag. When I work with companies on branded merch, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hide_page_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}