Welcome to the World of Branded Merch!

Updated August 29, 2024

Welcome to the world of branded merch! 

If you’re reading this, you’ve just walked into an astonishingly creative world.

How incredible is this industry?

Most people never leave the business. 

This work gets deep in your system. It’s fun, energizing, … and also, surprisingly complex. 

But that’s the joy in it too. 

It's a very creative business with a sophisticated supply chain and successful folks in this industry love this cross-section of complex + creative.

So … welcome to your new growth opportunity! 

If You're New-New the Industry

You might be asking, what the heck is a promo product anyways? You've likely heard it heard it by its more modern term "branded merch" or simply, "merch." If you've bought a t-shirt from your favorite band, your favorite sports team, or received a gift when onboarding at a new company, you've experienced the tactile world of merch!

Branded merch: A product that is imprinted with a brand's logo and given to fans, employees, or prospects, to create affinity with the brand.

It's pretty easy to see examples all around you once you begin noticing, you'll soon see: merch is everywhere (for good reason).

But to a more complicated question, "How does it all happen?"

A picture is worth a thousand words, this is how the supply chain works in one snapshot:

A distributor sources products from manufacturers ("suppliers") on behalf of their clients ("end clients") for a specific marketing initiative (just a few project examples: sales incentives, onboarding kits for new employees, holiday gifts, uniforms). The "client" (brand) then distributes those products to recipients "end users" (terrible term but we didn't make it up, lol, it really just means recipients like fans, prospects, or clients).

There's a lot more here to unpack but we have an easy lexicon for you to understand all the basic industry terms here.

Okay, I think I got the basics, now what?

Now, comes the most important part. The business looks seemingly simple but is surprisingly complex. To help you establish yourself with a strong foundation as a professional, we want to share with you a few key secrets that the most successful in the biz know and do.

We've had the privilege of working with some of the most creative, ambitious, and imaginative people in the industry (our 800 distributor companies have over 20% average annual growth rates) and through their experience, we’ve uncovered ten traits vital to your success. Plus, we’ve put together resources for you to read, watch, or listen to, to inspire you and help you gain a macro view of your new world.

For starters, here's the list of ten traits that the most successful people in this business possess (or improve on!) in their journey:

10 Traits All Successful Promo Pros Possess

1. Curiosity: With a million product options (literally), thousands of decorating methods, wildly different client types, hundreds of different product purposes, you’ll never stop learning. And that’s a good thing. Probably one of the most repeated phrases in this profession is: “OK, I think I’ve got this business down now,” until a new project comes from a client, and you learn again. Curiosity is the #1 trait that drives every pro in this business. Curiosity is the glue that holds everything in this business together.

2. Ingenuity over creativity. Creativity is crucial, in fact, it’s a given. But the creative muscle you’ll flex the most is ingenuity. Ingenuity is taking a product that anyone can get and creating an experience that no one else can emulate. It’s a high bar but the best in the biz are insanely ingenious at creative problem-solving.

3. Flexibility: Pivot power. You will need to be able to pivot quickly. Supplier out of stock? Pivot. Missed ship date? Pivot. “Flexibility is a mental process which results in an action that tests a possible solution”* Pivoting away from problems towards solutions is a special kind of mastery the pros know.

4. Exactitude and Thoroughness: A detail-oriented mindset tempered by deadlines. Obsessiveness about getting it right.

5. Patience. Grace under pressure. There will be high-pressure moments in your role from time to time, it’s those who handle it (and handle others) with respect and passion, win.

6. Conscientiousness: Give-a-shitted-ness. You need to care, strongly, about each client and the outcome of every transaction.

7. Interdependence: This can’t be overstated. Working on a team, requires an interdependent attitude, all parties must possess a confident humility, respect, and deference toward one another. It’s vital. People are often hired for hard skills but fired for (lack of) soft skills. Interacting and communicating with others, while taking responsibility, is crucial.

8. Respectful Tenacity: Sometimes, you might have to get very direct with manufacturers or clients, and will need to be able to do so tactfully and respectfully. You need to be able to affect change with the convincing force of a hurricane but through the sweet disposition of a gentle rain. Sounds strange, but, the best of the pros in this business convince kindly, but with authority.

9. Invest in yourself: There’s a big difference between people who just take a job versus those who embrace a career. Career-minded people invest themselves in the business. They look for learning opportunities, they stay curious, and they throw themselves into the deep end of the pool knowing they’ll learn how to swim. It’s the difference between simply doing what you’re told versus investing in yourself.

10. Initiative: Enough said.

And now, ready to be inspired?

Here are several resources to introduce you to the business. We have an incredible backlog of articles, videos, and podcasts for you to check out but we’ve singled out a few of the best to inspire you:

• First, check out what’s happening in the market. You’ll discover that there has never been a better time to be in the business. To get a macro idea of what’s happening in culture and in the world with branded merchandise, read (or watch): Branded Merch: The Revolution Happening Right Under Your Nose.

  
  

• Next, hear it from a few outsiders. We love outsider opinions about our industry, especially from journalists. And as merch has skyrocketed to popularity in culture more and more people write and talk about it. First, Adam Bluestein, a journalist for Fast Company, spent hours and hours researching the branded merch industry and walked away with some astonishing conclusions. You can read his article, “How Supreme-Style Merch Drops Took Over Corporate America” or listen to our convo with Adam about it over on the skucast. Eater Magazine's Linni Kral write, "Merch Madness, How Did We Get Here," listen the the article here! Butterfly Cannon is an ad agency from London and Emma Ralphs wrote "How to Create Covetable Brand Merch," tune into our interview with Emma here.

• Growth inspo: This business is driven by entrepreneurs who started in this business without any clue how to do it, just like you. They arrived on day one, head full of nothing but ambition and curiosity, knowing zilch about the business and yet succeeded. For inspiration, check out our chat with Purpose Built Pro's Ryan McAlister, or how Dean Caravalis built a remarkable brand from nothing, or how to turn a big vision into real strategy with Todd Mawyer. And the speakers at our events (like skucon and skucamp) often receive a standing ovation like Rod Brown did with his talk: How to Build a Business and a Life You Love.

• Brass tacks selling advice: Want to know how to grow sales? Listen to this chat with Stephen Musgrave who led one of the largest sales teams in North America as he talks about the 5-3-1 rule to growing organic sales. And when it comes to working with clients, everyone’s role (from production through to the CEO) is to convert customers into raving fans. Here’s how Ruth Verver and her team at Paperclip do it. Want to learn the important of selling as a team? Hear how Ryan Paules and his team at Radar Promotions supercharge their growth through team-based selling. And here's how John Vo creates custom swag that can't be copied!
  
  

• Trends, trends, trends: You’re not selling a hat, you’re creating an emotional experience through a tactile product. Trends, style, colors, mood: All of these (and more) factor into building a great merch experience. For ongoing inspo, subscribe to our newsletter The Backpack to learn how the most inspiring brands use merch. Here's an example from our latest issue! And speaking of trends, pop-up shops are the biggest opportunity in promo right now, here's why!

• Supplier inspo: And finally, how about one of the most important part of this business? The part where you build a brand you love alongside partners you enjoy working with while impacting the lives of others. No one can talk to this better than our friends Bryan Papé of the wildly popular outdoor brand, MiiR (here’s his story) and Davis Smith, founder and CEO of Cotopaxi (here’s his). Or listen to Sterling Wilson's advice on How to Fast-Track Your Sustainable Future or Vantage's Rob Watson on how tech is revolutionizing our industry!

• New to commonsku? So you've joined a team and they are on the easiest, most powerful promo solution on the planet!? Well, we've got an easy onboard guide for you here. And ... what was that? You're not on commonsku and new to the industry? Ohhhh, let us save you a lot of heartache right away: we've found the #1 secret to making this business a lot easier, sign up for your quick demo with our team stat! (We promise you, it will make your journey 1000x easier). 
  
  

Welcome to promo -- You're Going to Love it!

You were likely hired for a specific reason, maybe it was in production, maybe sales, maybe design, but we all work toward one goal: bringing a smile to peoples’ faces through the power of branded merch.

Never forget that though you work in branding, marketing, and merchandising, you ultimately bring joy to a lot of people.

And couldn’t this world use more surprise and delight?

On behalf of our entire team —a crew who loves this business and the people in it— welcome to your incredible future!

Additional resources:

• Decorator lexicon (to understand all those imprint processes and decoration methods)

• How to Make Your Promotional Products Business Stand Out (includes a resource list of basic requirements to build a promo business and also links to industry associations and guides)