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?