It can be difficult to form a cohesive and consistent marketing campaign when you don't even know what name your client is going by. Let's say a client used to be known as the Ahwahnee Hotel, but then for a bit was legally obligated to change its name. It still wanted to buy products with…
Brendan Menapace
The music industry is in a weird place right now. In the past, it was simple. Artists make albums, people buy those albums at the record store, then go see the artists in concert and buy merchandise while they're there. Things aren't so simple anymore, and it's forced artists to rethink the way they market…
When you think of movie studios, you probably think of the giants like Disney, Universal, 20th Century Fox and Paramount. Those are the ones churning out the giant blockbusters and opening insane theme parks. But movie buffs are probably familiar with A24, the studio quietly producing some of the most critically acclaimed indie flicks of…
"Stranger Things" has wielded the power of nostalgia so well that even kids who weren't yet born in the '90s, let alone remember the 1980s, are getting all amped up on '80s music and technology. Keeping with that trend, Netflix and T-Mobile are celebrating the kick-off of the show's third season by raffling off a…
The promotional campaign for "Spider-Man: Far from Home" has smashed previous film promo records, reaching a jaw-dropping total value of $288 million. That figure accounts for TV spots, publicity stunts, in-person activations and more, including some creative and cutting edge promotional products campaigns, such as augmented reality-integrated Papa John's pizza boxes and Spider-Man themed hospitality…
It'd be weird for a company to say they don't want you to buy their merchandise. On the surface, a video game developer CD Projekt telling fans to avoid buying promotional apparel online seems counterproductive to their mission, but really it's trying to protect its customers from scams while looking out for its own future…
You probably remember the scene in "Spaceballs" where Mel Brooks' character tells us that "it's all about the merchandising!" What you might not know is that, ironically, all of that merchandise never saw the light of day, thanks to an agreement Brooks made with George Lucas.
If you've been anywhere on the internet today, you've likely seen that Nike is pulling a new July 4 shoe design after Colin Kaepernick pointed out that some people might find the "Betsy Ross Flag" design offensive. Reaction from both sides of the political spectrum has been, predictably, intense, but it's a good excuse to revisit the debate over how the American flag is used in branding...
There is a very fine line between a clever and timely commemoration of a noteworthy moment and going too far. In the case of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, her latest T-shirt release is teetering on that line after her campaign team created a T-shirt that references a rebuttal directed toward Joe Biden during the…
Gennex Media LLC (aka Brandnex.com and PMGOA) pleaded guilty to price fixing in the promotional products industry. The company's president, Akil Kurji, was sentenced to eight months in custody, a $20,000 fine and three years of supervised release for his part in the scheme following his guilty plea in April. Additionally, Gennex was forced to…
Brand Twitter is weird. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it refers to how normal consumer brands have taken to Twitter to bust out millennial-friendly lingo to try to earn young people's dollars. Remember that whole Steak-Umm weirdness? That's a perfect example of Brand Twitter. Last week, though, Brand Twitter gave us something sort of…
Nowadays, no matter what product you make, whether it's apparel, electronics or food, you are an everything company. That means that you can no longer specialize in just one thing anymore. The Amazons and Walmarts of the world made sure of that. Even if you're a frozen pizza company, you need to make sure your…
The modern music merchandise game is a game of creativity, co-branding and innovation. Long gone are the days of a T-shirt being enough to complete a band's merchandise portfolio. The dawn of e-commerce and a saturated music market has forced artists and marketing firms to think outside the boxy T-shirt. Weezer's Black Market was the…
A new study focusing on chocolate packaging has some encouraging results for promo companies looking to provide custom packaging as an upsell for clients. Researchers published a report that found that people had different reactions to the same chocolate depending on its packaging...
Look around you right now. Chances are there’s at least one piece of drinkware within arm’s reach. The chances are even higher that there’s a logo on it. Be it a coffee mug from your trip to San Antonio, your water bottle you got for free when you signed up for the gym, or a…
