The Backpack: Issue #26

Is Wonka Merch the New Barbie Merch?

Timothée Chalamet wore what’s likely to be a viral hit, the Oompa Loompa hoodie crafted by one of the most influential merch designers you might not know: Cactus Plant Flea Market. Wait. Cactus Plant Who? CPFM has gained a massive cult following, thanks to the design work of Cynthia Lu. Not only has she created collabs with major brands like Converse, Nike, and Mcdonald's, her merch also clothes the world’s biggest stars: Pharrell, Frank Ocean, even the Stones. Cynthia, one of the most elusive designers alive, is a bellwether for what’s trending, and as such, you should sift through her merch store for inspo! And, BTW, in case you’re a flute fan, check her latest merch collab with Andre 3000 here. Why the fuss over CPFM and Wonka? Both hot trends you need to know!

Holiday Shopping Hits New Records

Want a real-time look at seasonal retail trends? Adobe keeps a (live) running tally of how much consumers are spending during the holiday season. TLDR: “Sales were up by 7.5%,” according to TechCrunch, and Salesforce confirmed that Black Friday sales exceeded expectations. Forbes reported that Cyber Monday hit an all-time record. But just 5 days prior, the NYT wrote that retailers were worried, which shows how fluctuating and volatile the swings in our perceived economy can be! What does this mean for promo? Consumers are B2B buyers, too, and consumer sentiment can go a long way in determining budgets for 2024. Enthusiasm in consumer spending is a positive trend for you as you plan your year. How about you, backpacker, are you seeing an increase or decrease in Q4? Hit the reply and let us know!

T-Shirts and Hoodies That Play Music?

Fashion house Balenciaga (whose average t-shirt costs more than my couch) partnered with tech company EON to add a musical component to their hoodies and t-shirts, “featuring an exclusive song accessible only through a near-field communication (NFC) chip embedded in the garment.” Sure, it's Balenciaga, a meme-worthy brand if ever there was, but it’s also a sign of things to come: more tech mixed with apparel and —here’s a twist— per EON, it’s an experiment in “giving physical goods digital identities.” Keeping you ahead of the curve, backpacker!

Planning for 2024? We Got Your 2024 Benchmarks.

What growth percentage should you benchmark against when setting your 2024 goals? How do you take overall growth ambitions and turn them into tactical realities? And what’s the one secret benchmark you should focus on that leads to sales? Answers here in part one and part two of our series, “Promotional Products Distributor Benchmarks: Two Types of Growth!”

PromoCares Builds Water Towers 

About three hours outside Mexico City is a small village, San José del Rincón, one of the poorest municipalities in the State of Mexico. The local indigenous people are the Mazahua. According to UNICEF data, 57% of households in Mexico lack access to a safely managed water supply, and 43% lack safe sanitation, but the folks at PromoCares wanted to do something about it, which meant funding and building water towers. Our very own Dave Shultz, VP of Supplier Partnerships, went to Mexico himself to help construct the towers. Here's a story of a big industry with a big heart making a big difference in the lives of an amazing community in Mexico.

Curious About How Distributor Mergers Work?

How do you merge successfully with another company? How do you integrate teams? How do you handle the technology transition? And when does it make sense to merge with another company, and why? KG Specialties is a Portland-based distributor who merged with Premier Press. Premier employs over 200 people, and they handle a wide variety of print, fulfillment, and logistics management for clients. Kyle Gibson, the owner of KG Specialties (and now Director of Promotional Merchandise at Premier), joins Premier’s Vice President, Manuel Saez on the skucast to talk about the how and why!

commonsku connects your team, allows you to build shops in a snap, collab with suppliers, and get things done faster, better, and with more sanity. Here are your weekly platform hacks and helpful hints. If you know, you know.

New on commonsku: Supplier Spend Report!

The most important word in the promo industry? Partnership. Since supplier-distributor partnerships are the bedrock of our business, it’s crucial you know exactly how much you spend with each of your valued supplier partners. Now, you can quickly and easily check your real-time numbers using the Supplier Spend Report! Find out the amount you’re spending with one or multiple suppliers, and compare reports monthly, quarterly, or yearly for all your analysis and goal-setting needs. Details here!

Over 750 distributors trust commonsku and we would 😍 to talk to you; check it out, and let's have a chat at www.commonsku.com!

Y’all Saw the Stanley Cup Car Fire, Right? But Did You Know…

The viral explosion caused an internet meltdown 🤓 when a woman’s car caught fire and everything burned ‘cept the Stanley cup, which still contained ice. Then, the President of Stanley caught wind of it and offered to pay for her car. And thanks to some deep undercover research Google-sleuthing by our editors, we discovered that the Pres —Terence Reilly— isn’t a stranger to making products go viral: he's the one responsible for the Crocs outbreak on virtually every celebrity and collab today (you can thank him for that, too). 😂 The car story was a beautiful way to respond to a real-time opportunity that hit 4.8 million views on TikTok, to which “T Reilly,” as he’s known on the LI, replied, “Seems like I unexpectedly found the viral button.” 🔥

You Don’t Love T-Shirts Like Pavlo Loves T-Shirts

Andy Pavlo’s a Carnegie Mellon University professor. Carnegie’s ranked #1 in the world in pretty much every smart subject: AI, computer engineering, cybersecurity, MIS, software engineering — you get the drift, they’re uber-smart. Which is why it’s fun to see a Carnegie Mellon prof give an entire breakdown on his favorite database t-shirts. Reading his attention to detail about a t-shirt is the kind of merch madness only a backpacker could love. (Or a brilliant technologist like our own lead developer, Robert Cathro-Oliver who gave us the tip on the t’s. Psst. Robert, we never would have seen it otherwise cause we don’t read things ‌near as smart as you!)

Shake Shack’s Cool Collegiate Vibe

The new Shake Shack fries are cooked in sugar. But before you think we found a way to make the most unhealthy food in history unhealthier, it’s actually a sustainability play. Why’s it matter? Cause … fries? 🤷🏼‍♀️ But hang tight, we got a merch connection here. What’s rad about Shake Shack (beyond sugar fries) is their new merch; they’ve taken a “collegiate approach,” swinging away from the bright colors and ridiculous collabs that other fast-casual brands have embraced and opted for a brilliantly cool aesthetic that’s stylish, simple, and clean. Our fave? This “small fry” onesie. See? 😂 

🃏 An UNO merch collection? Only Province of Canada can launch a collection of cool about a card game.

🎵 Inside Spotify’s plan to grow its share of the multi-billion-dollar music merch business by partnering with Sony and a company called Ceremony of Roses. “Whether it’s tickets, concerts, or physical goods, fans want to express fandom in different ways.”

👀 In honor of Charlie Munger’s passing, we thought we’d pause and remind all backpackers that sometimes a fairly laconic brand can create rabid fans. Berkshire Hathaway sells out of their merch at their annual event every year (Attendance? 30,000). If you’ve ever watched one of their meetings, Munger & Buffett are actually funny. (And peanut brittle and Diet Coke, FTW). RIP, Charlie, one of the greats. 

😍 Why are politicians acting like Instagram influencers? Politico breaks down a fascinating chat here on how 2025 candidates harness merch, likes, and podcasts. Heads-up: It’s about Presidential candidate Vivek (“the Reels candidate"). His merch (here).

🌮 Did you know the South Park creators reopened a classic Mexican restaurant in Denver —complete with high divers— called Casa Bonita, “the Disneyland of Mexican restaurants,” and their merch game, “El Mercado,” is strong?

👾 Remember Sims? Sure you do. You built an entire virtual emotional support family in a Brooklyn brownstone … oh, wait … maybe that was us. Well, one of the world’s most popular video games is releasing a new version and wanted to launch with a new merch shop first. How’d it go? Gone within 48 hours.

🎨 Art museums have‌ a lame rep when it comes to merchandising, but not the MoMA, which has become a brand in its own right, “The store’s growth is an example of how something as simple as museum merchandise can grow to be a significant source of revenue with the right merchandising and marketing behind it.” Good lesson for merch pros, here.