The Backpack: Issue #8

Hey, friends! Welcome to our newsletter, “The Backpack” bringing news that features trends in merch, top articles, podcast episodes, and global news impacting merch life. Miss an article or an episode? We’ll highlight the best of, right here twice a month!

Know someone else who would benefit from receiving helpful articles and tips on how to grow a thriving promotional products business? Tell them to subscribe!

Friday, March 3

• Top Merch News: Curiosity Killed the Promo Cat
• Vibe Check: The Oscars: How Swag Sways the Votes
• Trend alert: AI + Merch? It’s Coming
• Can’t miss content:  China is Now Manufacturing in Mexico
• Happenings: Wait, wait – Workplace Conflict is Good?
• Backpack Read-Along: This Is Not a T-Shirt

Curiosity Killed the Promo Cat

Curiosity is the single most valuable trait for a successful promotional product professional (with adaptability being a very close second). But we’re not talking about your garden-variety curious, the kind that gets easily distracted by IG or TikToks featuring braised crocodile tails. (Don’t do it. Stay with us. Staaaayyyy. Good). We’re talking about the deep-in-the-weeds variety that loves to get lost in new things. The squirrel-brain variety loves to go to shows to see a new product, learn about decorating processes, meet a new client, or discover a new supplier partner. It’s a superpower in this biz, but it’s also your kryptonite. Check out why, here.

Whoooaaaa, what a lineup

Each year, we slowly roll our deets for skucamp: First, we unveil the locale, then we spotlight the speakers and finally, we announce topics. This week, we published this year’s lineup of promo pros joining us on the skucamp stage and it’s an insane roster of merch talent. Check out the line-up and don’t forget to bring the most important contributor to every skucamp event: YOU. Sign up here for all the action: peer-to-peer learning, workshoppy goodness, and a boot camp style focus on your business. Get out of the weeds of your day-to-day pardner, and kick up your bootheels with us – deep in the heart of Texas! And BTW: Since you’re all branding nerds, you’ll love this peek behind the skucamp branding at the gorgeous colorways and design aesthetic we created for the event. Just doin’ our part to keep Austin weird!

Even China is Now Manufacturing in Mexico

A ton of manufacturing is moving to Mexico, so much so that even China is now building factories there? Why? Regionalization. A word we should all get familiar with. How does this impact promo? Production times, cost, speed, and less supply chain congestion getting products across the pond. The NYT’s Daily podcast has a breakdown of what’s happening in Mexico and if you want to take a deep dive into some of the headier terms being discussed (we recommend it), learn why “Regionalization, not Globalization, is the Economic Story of Our Time.” Clients are increasingly more inquisitive about where you’re sourcing and manufacturing, and this primer will help. (We got your back, backpackers!)

The Oscars: How Swag Sways the Votes

“This awards season, the swag we received from various studios could have filled a small warehouse. While studios are prohibited from sending promotional items to AMPAS members, the end goal of greasing the palms of critics and other voting bodies is the same: to make Oscar voters take notice. It’s a roundabout process, and it works like a charm, which may explain why the items sent for each film are increasing in number, as well as in weight.” > That’s the voice of Ed Gonzalez in Slant Magazine, whose Animated Feature prediction hails Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as the winner and not just because (or maybe because?) the Pinocchio team sent a sweet swag bag: a hardcover copy of the book, leather-bound copy of the screenplay, a CD with the film score, a wooden figurine, and more. “We’re not saying that you can buy your way to an Academy Award, but we’re not not saying it.” Genius work deserves a genius campaign. Just sayin’.

Will your future client work involve AI + merch?

Mebbe. Coca-Cola, inarguably one of the biggest historical influencers of merch, signed as an early partner in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E platform to create personalized ad copy and messaging. How long before one of our savvy supplier friends figures out how to replicate that on some sweet merch or better yet, incorporate AI into their production processes for some straight-line copy or even full-color work? Consumers are already playing with famous logos + AI art generators to create logo magic, so, it’s just a matter of time before promo meets AI!

Apparently, very few of us know how to WOW

Adobe released its 2023 Digital Trends Report and reveals some stats promo pros should be aware of, like the growing demand by Gen-Z to get more personalized content, how most organizations struggle to find the time to be creative, and which web3 trends (augmented reality, NFT’s, the Metaverse) is becoming the emerging trend. TLDR: streamline your workflow, make more time for creative thinking, get to know your client –the individual–, and get damn obsessed about the client experience.

Wait, wait – Workplace Conflict is Good?

Hey, before you chuck that c-handle mug at your watercooler mate who is more irritating than a Banshee of Inisherin, calm your feckin’ cool and listen to this: Liane Davey, “water cooler psychologist” joined us on the skucast to chat about the one topic we aaalllllll avoid: conflict. How to have it, when to have it, why it’s good for us, and how to cure your conflict-avoidance once-and-for-all. It’s a topic no one wants to discuss which is why we discussed it (got your back, backpackers). Oh, and once you tune in, you’ll likely want to hear more, which is why we invited Liane, the “teamwork doctor,” to lead a whole workshop at skucamp on it. By the time you’re done, you’ll be a conflict pro. Fight’s on!

Okay backpackers, time to get LIT! We’re launching a new read-along series: Each month, we’ll read a book together that tackles a topic relevant to merch life. This month, we’re reading a book that the savviest merch pros are reading or have read: This Is Not a T-Shirt by famed streetwear creator Bobby Hundreds. This month’s selection was recommended by Reba Joy, Senior Director of Sales at Rightsleeve, whose rad vision and passion recently fired us up about personal development. Got a recommendation for next month’s book? Let us know by hitting reply!

?? Sterling Wilson is a polymath. Not only a supply chain expert but also studying philosophy? Check out our chat with the mathlete himself in The Economics of Fast-Growth (skucast | YouTube)

?? ?? Want to see how wild the biz looks post-pandemic?  Hop on over to our recent post on scaling your biz to view a few visuals on how the business used to be, versus how [crazy!] it is now. 

?? Preach it: “‘Merch is marketing’ is a massive theme for the next decade and way more people need to get on that train.” - Gary V