MERCH at the very soul
Brief background: the concept of "merch" (derived from the English word "to merchandize" that means "to promote", "to advertise") first appeared in the USA in the second half of the XX century. Originally, it meant clothes and accessories with the logos of popular music groups that they sold to fans.
To begin with, let's refresh our memory about the most vivid examples of merch of the recent years, those that blew up on social media or were sold out in the very first days of sales
The Egg from Instagram
The @world_record_egg account published an image of a brown chicken egg with the text "Let's set a world record together. Beating current world record held by Kylie Jenner". As you remember, they managed to beat that record. And they also opened a store where you could buy different printed t-shirts and hoodies
Alfa-Bank. In the Forefront
Last year, Alfa-Bank launched a limited collection of clothes with the inscriptions "Smart and Free" and "There's no reason to redden". The collection was initially designed for the employees of the bank. But the first batch was sold out in just two days, the bank itself did not expect such a result. "In 2019, we sold branded clothes worth about twenty million rubles which is an absolute record for Russia. Why can a bank need to do it? It is an opportunity to tell about itself, to convey its updated identity. And also to "generate" emotions and physical experience of owning an item, which is becoming a thing of the past so fast with the advent of new digital and intangible services," the merch page says.
Then, in early 2020, Alfa-Bank launched a capsule collection of wall carpets. The unusual item is designed in the form of leopards with 12 paws. One of them became part of a charity project.
President's Mug
A thermo mug suddenly became one of the most talked-about topics at G20 Summit in Japan. Vladimir Putin drank from his own thermo mug during an official dinner, which journalists could not help but pay attention to. The white mug with the Russian coat of arms instantly became both a meme and one of the best-selling products on Aliexpress. "When the president of your country is not only a world leader but also a trendsetter and influencer, then even his mug creates hype", Dragon Gifts wrote on Facebook.
Merch and Collaboration
By the way, back in 2006, the US Baseball League teamed up with the Union of Funeral Organizations to put team logos on the coffins of their deceased fans. A kind of personal touch.
Another win-win brand for collaboration is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA. Nike, PUMA, Heron Preston collaborated with them; besides that, they released a joint merch collection with Ariana Grande.
In June 2019, Gosha Rubchinsky released a collection of shirts and skateboards for the Pushkin Museum with the fragments of Gauguin's paintings printed on them.
One of the most high-profile projects in Russia was #safeisthenewsexy, a collaboration project of Harry Nuriev and Yandex.Taxi dedicated to the idea of transport safety.
The collaboration scheme is usually quite simple: the company either decides for itself what kind of merch it needs and sends a request to the designer it wants to produce the merch with, or it provides complete freedom of creativity: the main thing is that the product should reflect the brand philosophy.
Yandex.Eda (a food delivery service) will also start selling the company's official merch soon: yellow backpacks, like those which their couriers have (only smaller ones), fork rings, T-shirts, and trousers. "Couriers in yellow uniforms have become an integral part of the image of those cities where our services operate. We set ourselves an ambitious task: not to produce just souvenir sets of T-shirts with a logo, but to design a collection that people would love to wear," comments Gennady Lokhtin, Creative Director for Yandex.Eda.
High-Order Merch
For people who can not afford a bag by YSL for now, buying some merch items is a great opportunity to become a customer of the brand, and for a fashion house, this is the golden mean between an exclusive and mass product. Saint Laurent recently began producing condoms with the logo of the fashion house (costing about $2.5 apiece), champagne bottle openers, and lighters. For now, they are only available at YSL Rive Droite store in Paris.
Eco Merch
A cool example of a conscious approach to merch was demonstrated by STS TV Channel: "The entertainment industry not only organizes effective events but also annually manufactures hundreds of press walls, roll-up and other banners, which are then thrown to the trash dumpster. STS TV Channel gave a second life to its annual supply of vinyl by making fashionable and durable shopping bags from it. To create one bag, one square meter of a banner is required," is specified on the promo website.
Real estate developers are still conservative and skeptical about this, but take a look at examples of those same banks. Brands should speak the language of the young generation their future profits depend on. And one more not unimportant fact: "warming up" an already existing customer is always cheaper than attracting a new one. Merch is one of the opportunities to work with the loyalty of your audience and popularize your brand in a new environment.
How to create cool merch for your brand?
- Team up with media personalities or interesting designers
- Work on the content instead of just printing the logo. Even a simple white T-shirt can become a product people will want to possess if you come up with a creative, witty inscription, but not of advertising nature. Instead, it should reflect the character of your brand.
- Up-to-dateness. Follow trends and news and quickly respond to them. The president’s mug is a perfect example.
- Unusual format. Alpha-Bank's carpet with a centipede leopard is almost a piece of art. Here is an idea for a real estate developer: a matryoshka (a set of Russian traditional wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another), where the main "doll" is the parent brand, and the smaller ones are its projects. Brand each in its own style.
- Ecomania. Do something really useful for the planet. Today the world is ready to appreciate it.
- Functionality. Choose several items that will meet the needs of your customers.
- Brand ideology. For example, for Pogoda Neighborhood (meaning "weather" in Russian), we designed pieces of merch that reflect the essence of its name: blankets for warm "weather at home" or an umbrella and mittens to feel comfort in all weathers outdoor.
- Merch can be not only regular but also dedicated to a certain event. For example, to commemorate a new project, anniversary of the company, key issuance, etc.
And the last thing. I indulged in fantasies for a while on how suitcase covers by some famous real estate developers might look like. Those who are in the loop will understand.
Let's be creative together! DESIGN
