Cinnabon's Promotional Merch Showcases Creative Branding

By Joseph Myers

’Tis the season to be jolly, so that often means relying on sweets to sweeten our dispositions. While homemade goods typically win more favor among consumers, nothing is wrong with some store-bought commodities, thus making the gooey goodness that Cinnabon hawks an irresistible solution to any sticky situations that hunger might engender. It seems that food-centric businesses are not going to stop until each one has contributed to the explosion of customized apparel and other promotional merch, which quite obviously is good news for the promo industry. And we are glad to report that Cinnabon has joined the mix, as the 33-year-old Georgia company launched a merch store that features 12 different items. When one combines our affinity for the products with the merchandise line’s enthusiasm for engaging in wordplay, we are bound to find ourselves powerless against their mystique.

Swag for the ultimate Cinnabon fans! @bustle made their top picks - which piece is your must have?! https://t.co/6HVeLqDMRW

— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) December 5, 2018

Take, for example, the “I Like Big Bons” sweatshirt whose name represents an homage to “Baby Got Back,” the 1992 Billboard 100 chart-topper by rap royal Sir Mix-a-Lot. If end-users wish to continue to engage in music appreciation and complete an outfit in doing so, they can opt for the “Shake Your Bon Bon” fleece jogger pants that take their name from singer Ricky Martin’s tune of the same name.

What is a consumer to do, though, if that pairing just does not stick as a way to show brand allegiance? Fortunately, Cinnabon, through the collection whose price tags range from $12 to $40, has other means to keep them on a roll when it comes to sating their customization cravings. The “Bon in the Oven” maternity T-shirt is pure genius, so much so that we wish our Print+Promo colleague, Elise Carr, who gave birth to her second child in July, were still pregnant so we could purchase it for her. We do, however, still have a chance to purchase for her son the Baked with Love Onesie.

These four products and the other options mark yet another sure-to-be warmly received constituent of the branded merchandise universe. We have enjoyed seeing throughout the last two years how eateries have devoted so much marketing energy to helping end-users display their culinary favorites’ logos on clothing and accessories. We have reached the point where we are presuming that every entity that has not put out a branded collection is either hard at work doing so or seeking promotional marketing consultants who will come up with inventive ideas.

Since not all food-centric businesses come to mind at once as places that would scream “wear our branded merchandise,” the element of surprise is often helpful to their campaigns’ success. For example, who could have predicted that Arby’s or Kellogg’s, among others, would have green-lit merch lines? This newest endeavor by Cinnabon shows that there are plenty of ingredients that go into the batter that constitutes a company’s progress among ever-growing customer demands.

Now, if you will excuse us, we have a onesie to buy, right after we polish off this round of cinnamon rolls.