It's me again! You're looking fabulous!Click here to read this on the web Hey there! This week's stories have nothing obvious in common. A NASA Plushie, a Band-Aid collab with a 155-year-old art museum, and a Portland shirt shop that outmaneuvered an NBA team. But they're all pointing at the same thing: merch that earns real attention because it actually means something. Here's what they have in common: Give your product a reason to exist beyond "here's our logo" The best partnerships are the...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
It's been a hot minute! Hope you're doing great!Click here to read this on the web Hey there! The movies are running some of the most fun merch programs around. This week, I’m breaking down three things they’re doing really well — and how you can steal the approach for your own brand. building products around what people already love, using exclusivity to make people choose you, turning a limited-run item into something worth collecting. Want to talk through any of this? Reply or hit the big...
2 months ago • 3 min read
It's been a hot minute! Hope you're doing great!Click here to read this on the web Hey there! Some of the best branded merch campaigns aren't complicated. They tap into something that already works. This week, we're looking at three approaches worth stealing: using nostalgia to make your brand history feel fresh again, turning a product your customers already love into a club they actually want to join tying your brand to a bigger event to ride the momentum. Whether you're planning a product...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Boo! You're doing great!Click here to read this on the web Hey there! 👻 It's Halloween’s week. Boo! 🎃 Just a friendly reminder that there are only about a few weeks to get corporate holiday gifts out. If you’re planning on sending anything custom to clients or employees, now is the time to act. Things take a while to produce and ship, and production lines fill up fast once November hits. Whether you're looking for drinkware, gift boxes, apparel, or something completely custom, getting...
7 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Boo! You're doing great!Click here to read this on the web Back-to-school season has parents on edge. Chomps saw an opportunity, setting up a retro car wash pop-up in Austin. They cleaned 120 cars and gave out snacks and merch to over 1,000 people. It was fun, useful, and experiential marketing gold. Three takeaways: Make it useful - Give people something they actually want, something they can use. Not another logo pen. Set the scene - Design your space like it’s part of your brand story....
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Boo! You're doing great!Click here to read this on the web A San Francisco brand called Baggu opened a new store and handed out water bottles and hats featuring the BART transit logo. Only one problem — BART never gave them permission. And it wasn't even real BART merch: Baggu thought it would be OK to knock off the BART logo and make it their own. Not good! The stunt earned headlines and backlash. Takeaways: Unauthorized “homage” drops might spark buzz, but they erode trust fast. Real...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Boo! You're doing great!Click here to read this on the web King’s Hawaiian just showed how merch can be more than a giveaway, it can be an experience. To celebrate 75 years, they refreshed their logo and took over O’Hare Airport, swapping travelers’ clothes for cozy “soft-wear” sweats and donating the trade-ins to charity. Comfort, creativity, and cause can turn branded merch into something people actually remember. Takeaways: Turn your swag into an experience Tie comfort to stressful...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Boo! You're doing great!Click here to read this on the web Brands continue to use custom merch to get people excited, relying on nostalgia, scarcity, and "friendly" competition. McDonald's collectible cups were designed with a throwback to previous Happy Meal themes. Gordon's Seafood is offering merch with fun designs based on their long 175 year history. Aldi came out with cooler bags to go head to head with Trader Joe’s. Land's End did something bold - offering a ‘trade-in’ program for...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
Welcome to the first issue of The Merch Drop! Hey Reader! You're receiving this because you're on the email list for BigPromotions.net. That newsletter is going away, and being replaced with this one: The Merch Drop. We’re moving over to ConvertKit (sorry, Mailchimp 🙊). To make sure you keep getting this newsletter, please move us to your primary inbox (this should keep our emails out of your spam folder). This newsletter will complement my podcast about branded merch. This might not come...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read