The Backpack: Issue #13

All our best, monthly news in one branded pack.

Hey, friends! Welcome to our newly revised (monthly) newsletter, “The Backpack” bringing monthly 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, each month!

Friday, May 19

• Top Merch News: Obsessed with Original Faves

• commonsku Feature Spotlight: Makin' an (un)splash!

• Vibe Check: Is your client rainbow washing?

• Trends: AI: What’s trending actually helpful !

• Backpack Read-Along: Seth Godin exclusive drop

• Happenings: Trends Watch: Backpack Edition! (Featuring Melissa McCauley from Numo)

• Can't miss content: *Blushes* - GCTWFL

Obsessed with Original Favorites

You know you’re a merch nerd when you order merch online, get it in, and then geek out about how well it’s done. Welp, Editor got a piece of merch from The New Yorker shop (yep, there’s such a thing) and immediately wanted to know who made it. That search led to a brand that —come to find out— is sought after by some of the most progressive pros in the business, not to mention the most recognizable names in fashion and tech. Check out our chat with Original Favorite's, Pete Drago and Evan Toporek, here.

Hit a Wall? Here's How Promo Pros Get Unstuck

When over 20 of the industry’s leading distributors (and commonsku customers) gathered at our first CEO Summit in Toronto, we talked about how leaders (and subsequently businesses) get unstuck. Unanimously, across the room, everyone agreed: at some point in your professional journey, you’re going to need an outside opinion to help you. Whether that opinion takes the shape of a consultant, a CEO advisory board, a coach, or a CEO group, one thing is clear: The leader you are today is not the leader you need to be tomorrow. Enter: perspective.

The New Comp Guide for Today’s Modern Distributor

Comp is crazy confusing but also radically changing, and in typical commonsku spirit, we sought out the changemakers, the market leaders, and the best and boldest ideas for comp and packaged them into one neat lil’ ebook for you. Got your back, backpackers! 

Keeping Score on Sports Merch

[In Ted Lasso voice, locker room speech]: “Sports merch, now that’s a high bar. Nowhere else in the wide world of beefy-t’s is the power of brand more potent. Just look across that stadium. It’s a sea of blue and red. Why, it’s FANtastic. Most everyone believes a win for us is impossible. But I look across that stadium, and all I hear is ‘I’m possible.’ Merch is a winning playbook.“ (Quote may or may not be a full extract from the show but get your Ted Lasso spirit on and check out our post celebrating the power of sports merch).

Want to make your shop bee-yuu-ti-full? Need a sizzlin’ summer pic? Pride month background? You can now source high-res images from Unsplash’s massive database of over 5 million photos and plug them right into commonsku shops with a few mouse clicks. Easy — that’s our vibe. More on shops, here!

Rainbow washing?

June is Pride month and brands are already taking heat over “rainbow capitalism,” supporting a cause in the name of profit only. Since many of your customers want to express their support through merch, help them by learning how to do it better. Check out Allison Carter’s excellent article on “What to do — and not to do — for your Pride campaign.” Fave line? “Let’s celebrate the best campaigns instead of merely calling out the worst.” For Pride inspo, check out Allison’s “best of” list, which includes Matt Bernstein’s take on Target’s Pride merch which netted 1.4 million views on TikTok.

Kevin Bacon Loooves His Merch

Ya, know - we’re damn lucky. We work in an industry and in a medium that sparks joy for any who connect with it. Case in point: Everyone’s fave modern dad, Kevin Bacon, celebrates the merch from each of his films. It’s a quick clip and a feel-good about how much fun this business creates through our everyday work. (Thanks to our good friend Danny Rosin for sharing this smile).

Ed Sheeran’s Court Win Pales Against Merch

Ed might have won his court case against Marvin Gaye, but his real victory (according to us) is his amazing merch shop. Pop-up shops and on-site merch activations are having a moment, check out what Ed did to enhance the entire new album experience with merch. If Ed's not your thing and Styles is more your --oh, boy-- style, check out Harry’s pop-up house-o-merch. Lots of inspo for your next client pop-up shop!

Merch like Matty (Matheson)

The hottest merch experiences happening in food right now are not with KFC or McD’s but with boutique rebel chefs like Chef Pierce Abernathy and Chef Matty Matheson. Clayton Chambers breaks down these brilliant collabs, and there’s some serious branded merch inspo there for every backpacker. Why's it matter? Workwear is fire right now, and it’s going to blaze hotter when "The Bear Season 2" drops in June. Crack open those tomato cans, cause we're 'bout to spend deep on this situationship with workwear.

AI: What’s trending actually helpful for work

We’re monitoring AI closely (us and a few million others), but the signal to noise is unbearable, so we’ve sifted through piles of dystopian articles to bring you what’s actually useful, here's a few: Google’s epic I/O conference was all about AI, but don’t waste 2 hours, just watch The Verge’s breakdown in 16 mins. And what about the best tools outside of Google-dom? This (simple) curated list of top AI Tools for business is rad. And for your marketing clients? Writer.ai created a great explainer for the term “generative AI” for CMO’s. Plus, Zoom's IQ: upgradin' your virtual team meetings like a gentrified neighborhood.   

And lastly, how does Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, (parent co of ChatGPT), use ChatGPT in his daily workflow? Stripe CEO Patrick Collision interviewed Altman and discovered he uses it mostly to summarize emails and Slack, but he’s not using ChatGPT plugins. And, BTW, speaking of Stripe, a lil’ mention we can’t resist, our Stripe integration makes online payments breezy. (Sorry, it just fit right there, had to).

Your 5-9 Before Your 9-5

Morning routines are all over TikTok and we’re gonna agree with Courier and call this a trend cause sleep aids are part of an awakening industry. Why's it matter for merch pros? Well, workers are happier than they’ve been in decades so let’s keep 'em that way. Think: employee health and wellness campaigns that hone in on sleep tracking and morning scheds with merch like blankets, alarm clocks, meditation essentials, and drinkware for those nasty, powdered green-drink-things (what the hell happened to breakfast?). And BTW: If any of you merch pros want to send a wellness campaign to the editorial staff here at The Backpack for all our hard work, we got our eye on this $4,000 LARGE LOGO BLANKET Drake just dropped, and while you’re at it, mebbe throw in those $415 socks. Don't be cheap.

Trends Watch: Backpack Edition! (Featuring Melissa McCauley from Numo)

Aw shucks. Thanks to your readership, this lil’ newsletter —— is quickly becoming one of the industry’s leading voices in trends and because of that, we’re hosting our first-ever “Trends Watch: Backpack Edition” webinar featuring a round-up of trends from merch to tech. Joining us ‌for a 15-min spotlight interview is one of the most creative marketers and brands in the biz, Melissa McCauley, Creative Director and Product Designer at Numo! Packs on backpackers! See you on the trail at the webinar!

We have another Seth Godin exclusive for ya. His Sethness is releasing a new book, “The Song of Significance,” on May 30th, and we’ve got a conversation with Seth dropping the same day over on the skucast. If you’re not a subscriber, hop over to our new skucast page for an easy link to your fave cast-listening platform!

😊 Blush. Yours truly made the PPAI "GCTWF" list (Greatest Companies to Work For) along with a host of commonsku customers! (We made that acronym up, but it kinda works. Kinda). 

😎 You know who merches well? Morning Brew. This Freak in the Sheets mug. I mean, on an ole’ C-handle? Bedrock of the (RIP) corporate breakroom. 

🐨 We’ve had a surge in commonsku customers from Australia, this one’s for all our mates: Kentucky Fried Coutour for Australian fashion week.

❄️ To watch: New cooler in town gunnin’ for Yeti, better strike that collab now.

💒 A merch trend we’re glad to see go. Hope the prenups included who gets the leftover swag.