Does every brand *need* merch?
Sedge Beswick and Lauren Spearman go head to head in the LVL WITH ME ring đ„
LVL with me.
Weâre back in the ring with another no-BS debate on modern marketing. Watch here or keep scrolling to read.
Two experts.
One question.
The only rule: no sitting on the fence.
This weekâs debate:
Is your merch memorable or just landfill?
NXT LVL contributors Sedge Beswick and Lauren Spearman go head-to-head.
đ Ding, ding, ding đ
đ„ In one corner: NXT LVL contributor, Lauren.
Lauren says: Most merch is lazy.
I call bullsh*t on the idea that every brand needs merch.
We do not need more plastic tat.
Every event seems to hand out the same thing - tote bags, notebooks, water bottles. Identical branded items that get thrown into a cupboard and forgotten about.
Whereâs the originality? Whereâs the thing that makes someone stop and think, âThatâs actually usefulâ?
The problem isnât that brands are creating merch. Itâs that most of them are copying each other.
The Stanley Cup trend is a perfect example. One brand does it well and suddenly everyone else thinks slapping a logo on the same product is a strategy.
It isnât.
No one needs twelve branded cups. Itâs wasteful and unsustainable.
If youâre going to create something, it should earn its place in someoneâs life. Otherwise, whatâs the point?
Laurenâs TL;DR:
Most merch isnât memorable - itâs just clutter with a logo on it.
đ„ In the other corner: NXT LVL founder, Sedge.
Sedge says: Good merch works.
Done properly, absolutely every brand should think about merch.
You need to see a brand 11.4 times on average before you buy from them.
Merch is your always-on reminder that a brand exists. It keeps you front of mind without needing another paid ad.
The mistake people make is assuming all merch is the same. It isnât.
A cheap pen? Probably pointless.
A branded item someone actually wants, uses, and keeps? Completely different story.
Terence Riley is an absolute God of a CMO for what he did with Stanley.
Brands arenât desperate to partner with Stanley because they need another cup. Theyâre doing it because people genuinely want the product.
Thatâs the difference.
The best merch becomes part of someoneâs routine.
We used to have people actively asking for SEEN Connects notebooks because they found them genuinely useful. Thatâs a completely different outcome from handing out rubbish that gets thrown away on the way home.
I agree that a lot of merch is crap, but that doesnât mean merch is the problem. It means the execution is.
Sedgeâs TL;DR:
Good merch keeps your brand front of mind.
So⊠whoâs right?
Most merch is forgettable. It gets handed out, shoved in a drawer and never seen again. The best merch does something different.
People want it. They use it. They keep it.
The issue isnât merch itself. Itâs lazy merch.
If your branded item could be swapped with ten others and nobody would notice, donât make it.
If it genuinely adds value and becomes part of someoneâs day-to-day life, youâve created something far more useful than another ad.
Your turn in the ring đ„
Whatâs the best piece of branded merch youâve ever received?
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