Why Creator Merch is Important (and why it isn't going anywhere)
The season of creator merch is upon us. Over the course of this next week, we’ll see endless promotions of photoshop mockups for overpriced hoodies, leading up to Black Friday. Collaborations, giveaways, and discounts will help sell these limited edition drops. And for what? A coarse Gildan tee with a half-baked design or slogan on it? Doesn’t this seem a bit excessive?
Actually, it’s not. I’m here to explain why limited edition creator merch is important, and why isn’t going anywhere.
Every year over the past four years, I’ve produced the merch drop for @thatoneblondkid, working with two different designers, three different print houses, three different distributors, and three different web teams. (This year, we decided to forego the drop, and I’m celebrating because now I can spend my Thanksgiving evening relaxing instead of fixing last-minute UX issues.)
A few months of work lead up to about 200 pieces available to @thatoneblondkid’s audience, with a majority of sizes selling out in just a few days. Even though I was in the thick of the entire process, I always caught myself wondering, who buys this stuff?
Then it happened to me.
I’m a huge baseball nerd, and one of the nerdiest baseball YouTube channels I follow (Foolish Baseball) was promoting their merch. I couldn’t buy it fast enough. It’s a graphic tee with a large 8-bit baseball design on it, made to look like an old video game.
What was so compelling about this merch to me? And what inspires fans around the world to pull out their credit cards on Black Friday?
First, it’s the draw of feeling part of a community. The ability for fans to directly support creators they enjoy is a great privilege. A strange economy emerged over the past five years that no one saw coming: it’s called Twitch streaming. I gawked at the idea of real people donating money to other people playing video games when I first heard it. Now, Twitch makes $2.3 billion a year on its cut of donations and subscriptions alone. Generosity equals connection, and merch creates a great avenue for fans to connect.
Second, the very fact that the merch isn’t well known is a draw in itself. Fans like to feel as if they’re on the inside track with something. Like they know about something that others don’t. And merch gives them that opportunity. You might assume fans would want complex designs that look cool on their own. But this isn’t the case. A lot of the merch you’ll see this week will be simple text in a sans serif font in the middle of a blank tee shirt. An odd slogan or logo or reference in plain text on a shirt actually helps fans feel like they are “in the know.” And if a stranger recognizes their obscure shirt in public? Well, now they’ve got an instant friend.
Creator merch isn’t a short-term cash grab that fans will grow tired of. Instead, it’s a real avenue for creators to give their fans an opportunity feel connected in an exclusive and wearable way.
