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Anyone who works in Marketing will be familiar with merchandise and branded goods.

Whether it’s giveaways at an exhibition or event, branded items to support a sponsorship or for use in your offices, merchandise plays a key part in a proactive marketing strategy.

The role of merchandise in your marketing strategy

Branded merchandise can be a valuable investment for any organisation, with benefits for your brand, your clients and your colleagues.

• Brand visibility – everyone has been to an exhibition where branded tote bags, water bottles, notebooks, stress balls and even soft toys proliferate. And people love them!There’s something in many people’s genes that means we can’t resist a freebie – which is great news for companies trying to raise their brand profile. Those tote bags, notebooks and water bottles are taken to work and the high street, brought out in meetings, used at the gym. Suddenly your logo is out and about in the world.

• Customer loyalty – branded goods can be a great gift for existing customers and clients as well as new prospects. Not only will it engender loyalty when you give your customers something that’s truly useful or desirable (especially if there’s an element of exclusivity – an ‘only for our clients’ feel to your merchandise), they will be reminded of you every time they use it – an ongoing branding exercise that’s far cheaper than continuous advertising.

• Colleague engagement – branded merchandise can also be a valued ‘plus’ for your employees, building a sense of pride in your brand and increasing loyalty. And of course, with branded pens, t-shirts or other merchandise, your colleagues, like your clients, become walking adverts for your brand!Investing in quality merchandise, then, has some clear benefits. But it’s not without its challenges. How can you make sure your merchandise is high quality, sustainable and – importantly – there when you need it?

Branded merchandise – the challenges you might face

The potential obstacles you might encounter when planning your merchandise strategy include:

• Quality – a mug that leaks; a pen whose logo flakes off – these are the opposite of positive branding! In a world with an overwhelming amount of choice, making sure you choose quality items is essential.

• Sustainability – aligning your brand with throwaway, unsustainable merchandise is definitely a no-no. With provenance increasingly under the spotlight, you need to ensure that anything you give away is manufactured using an ethical, transparent supply chain and using sustainable/recycled materials.

• Logistics – even when you’ve sourced quality, ethical merchandise, you may still have to contend with logistical nightmares. Deliveries that don’t arrive, lost boxes, incorrect orders fulfilled – these are the things that keep marketers awake at night. Live events – where merchandise is most often used – are stressful enough without the fear that your branded goodies may not arrive.

• Storage – keeping your merchandise on-site may seem like a solution to your logistical challenges – but brings its own challenges. Do you have space for all the branded items you need? Is there a hidden cost to keeping it on site; are you taking up space that could otherwise be used for something else?

• Inventory – if you store your merchandise yourself, are you able to keep track of your inventory? Do you know what you have and when to re-order to ensure your orders are fulfilled in time for your key events? Is there a risk that consumables will go out of date, risking wastage? How can you balance economies of scale with the risk that branding updates make your merchandise obsolete?

Overcoming the challenges to build a successful branded merchandise strategy

The good news is that all these challenges are surmountable with a little planning.

Quality and sustainability – find a supplier with a commitment to ethical supply chains.

When choosing a merchandise provider, ask if they can evidence the provenance of their items:

• Are the products they source recycled and recyclable?
• Are they made using ethical practices – are the factories they use subject to social and environmental audits?
• Can they show that the use of single-use plastics is minimal, in the items themselves and the way they are packed and transported?

Tick these boxes and you increase the chances that you are buying high quality, ethically manufactured items that hit the right note with your clients and prospects.

Storage – outsourcing your merchandise storage can have significant benefits. Free up not just office space but also head space by working with a reliable partner to store and deliver your branded items where you need them, when you need them.

If a single partner can source, store and manage the logistics of your merchandise, it’s one less thing for you to worry about when planning an event.

Inventory – being left with stock when you have a brand update is a nightmare – as is not having items in stock when needed. Working with a reliable third party allows you to delegate inventory management, with regular stock reports to ensure you don’t overbuy, but always have items available when required.

Logistics – a trusted partner can take the stress out of merchandise logistics, reliably delivering items when you need them. Building a long-term relationship allows you and your partner to really understand each other for excellent results every time. Making your merchandise partner less of a supplier, and more an extension of your own marketing team.

Build a successful merchandise to enhance your brand strategy

Hopefully, this blog has given you an insight into the benefits of a proactive approach to branded merchandise – and how it can support your brand.

You can read case studies of how Octopus Investments and St James’ Place Investments have built partnerships with Perivan to manage their merchandise smoothly and effectively. And find out more here about the ways Perivan’s expertise in sourcing, management and logistics can help you enhance your brand through merchandise, without concerns over quality, storage, inventory or logistics.