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Promotional
Tools and Merchandise
By
Rishon Blumberg |
 Promotional
tools and merchandise are two important – and often underappreciated
– marketing elements that gigging artists on all levels should
consider employing. While both serve as advertising and marketing,
merchandise sales can also be an important source of income.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of both forms of
marketing, as well as some basic cost vs. profit estimates. Hopefully
you’ll learn some creative ways to utilize both these mediums
to your advantage.
Promotional Tools
Promotional tools are marketing that is given away or used as a form
of barter. Stickers, buttons, freebies with a CD purchase –
these are all tools for promotion. From indies to major label acts,
these are used best when used creatively.
When a major label begins to promote an artist, they will create a
variety of promotional items which are often linked in some way to
the artist’s album or first single. For example, when Matchbox
20’s single “Push” was being promoted, Atlantic
Records had “Push” stickers made up (that included the
band’s name) to look like a sticker you would see on a door
in any public facility. They then sent these items for free to retail
outlets everywhere. The outlets stuck them on all of their doors,
and voila! every time you looked at a door, you were reminded both
of the band and of their new single.
Major labels spend a ton of money on promotional items because they
know that a free and clever promotion can be a contributing factor
in getting someone to pay attention to a piece of music. However,
just because you make a killer promo item it doesn’t mean that
everyone will sit up and listen. There is, however, a greater likelihood
that someone might pop your CD in if they get some cool promo item
along with your music – once they pop your tunes in, it’s
up to you to really deliver the goods.
Of course, a lot of indies can’t afford to spend tons of money
on promotional items – so get creative. One of the bands we
worked with, Grapevine (Pittsburgh, PA), was able to strike a deal
with Coors beer to pay for the manufacturing of a three-song EP the
band could give away. I’ve even seen other bands recycle items
to drive costs down. One band bought hundreds of T-shirts (with existing
prints on them) from a used clothing store at 50 cents each, silk-screened
their logo onto them, and gave them away. So, instead of paying up
to $6 per shirt, they spent $2.50!
If you are fortunate enough to have the support of radio and/or retail
in your area, promotional items can help you get free ad time. Let’s
say your single is being played on a local radio station. If you give
them T-shirts, CDs, or tickets to an upcoming show for giveaway on
the air, they will often agree to mention both your name and the giveaway
a set number of times.
When I worked for DelsenerSlater, a large concert promoter based in
NYC, I set up ticket giveaways with radio stations all the time. It
was the cheapest and easiest form of advertising. I’d strike
deals where I’d give a station three pairs of tickets to give
away on the air and they would give me 30 mentions about both the
giveaway and the concert I was promoting. In this example, the tickets
are promotional items, but the model could as easily work with T-shirts,
etc.
Think of a promotional tool as a living advertisement for your project.
When you give a T-shirt away, remember that if someone wears your
shirt even once, hundreds of people see your name – and what
did it cost you to reach those 100 people? $6? Used correctly, the
benefits outweigh the costs, making promotional items an excellent
means of advertising.
A few important guidelines
In the interest of effective branding, shoot for consistency as much
as possible. Use the band’s logo, album artwork, or graphic
style on as many promo items and merchandise as possible. This is
especially critical with items that you will mass-manufacture and
give out by the hundreds, like flyers, posters, and stickers. The
more times people see the same image, the better the chances they
will remember it, and the more likely they are to associate it with
your act. And in today’s dot-com world, make sure to include
your website address on every promotional item you make.
Merchandise
Merchandise (AKA merch) is any item that you create to sell –
at shows, through mail order, or via the internet. Every successful
artist I know has an extensive array of merch items. These items range
from your standard T-shirts, CDs, hats, and stickers to fuzzy neon-colored
posters, key chains, and nightlights.
For many touring bands the sale of merch is what allows them to eat.
Superstar acts can sell as much as $5 per head in merch. Think about
that for a moment. If you’re Dave Matthews playing to 50,000
people and you sell $5 in merch per person, you’ve just made
an additional $250,000! OK, you’re not as big as Dave Matthews,
but the same economics can work for you.
One of the other bands we work with, The Clarks (also from Pittsburgh),
have a large and dedicated following that buys up all the new merch
items they create. Since they have the demand, they often create new
merch designs so they can offer their fans new and different items
to collect. It’s due to income from the sale of these items
that The Clarks are able to spend as much time on the road as they
do.
Again, you need to remember that once sold, every piece of merch becomes
a living piece of advertising. If it’s a CD, you hope the person
who buys it will play it for a friend. If it’s a T-shirt, you
know that hundreds of people will see your name. If it’s a poster,
you know that everyone who sees it hanging will see your name.
OK, so you get the idea that merch is essential, both as a source
of income and as a marketing tool, but you don’t know how much
these items will cost or how much to sell them for. Obviously, costs
vary depending on quality, quantity, and location for manufacturing.
Here are some basic per unit guidelines:
T-shirts up to $6 each
CDs up to $1.80 each
Posters up to 50 cents each (and that’s the fancy fuzzy one
I mentioned)
Stickers up to 25 cents each (but again, that’s for really fancy
ones)
Key Chains up to $1 each
Hats up to $9 each
Sweatshirts up to $12 each
So now you’re wondering, “How much should I sell these
for?” Ask yourself the following questions: Do I have fans who
want the stuff? Do I need the money from sales? Do I need to pay a
percent of the sale to a vendor or venue? In any case, if you eyeball
the above costs, it’s easy to see how you can make a good margin
off merch while still charging affordable prices.
Do I need the money from sales?
If the answer is no, I recommend selling stuff for as little as possible,
because you’re much better off making the sale and getting the
advertising benefits. If the answer is yes, mark the stuff up to the
point where you feel comfortable, but keep in mind that making the
sale is often more important then making the money when you’re
starting out. One of the things I admire about Bruce Springsteen is
that even though his fans would pay extraordinary prices to see him
and buy his merch, he insists on keeping his prices reasonable. Don’t
take advantage of your fans just because you can.
Do I need to pay a percent of the sale to a vendor or venue?
If you’re a touring artist, you’re familiar with this
already. Venues often require you to pay them a percent of your merch
sales (the “merchandise rate”). Sometimes they do this
because they provide the staff who actually sell the items, but more
often they do it to make money off your sales. In either case, you
may choose to charge a slightly higher price for your items based
on the amount that you need to pay the venue. Usually you raise the
price by the percent the venue is taking.
For example, if a venue is taking 20 percent and you normally charge
$10 for a shirt, you would need to charge $12.50 in order to make
the same $10 you would normally make because the venue will take $2.50
(10 percent of $12.50) for each item sold. These same economics hold
true if you’re selling direct over the Internet. Often, you
need to pay a percent either to the vendor who handles your online
sales or to a credit card company. In either case, you need to decide
how much you want to make and then take into consideration what percent
will be taken out of the sale.
One thing is clear: if you’re gigging and looking to expand
your brand and name recognition, you should consider creating some
form of promotional tools and merch. Not only can merch help subsidize
your project, but it’s an excellent form of advertising and
exposure. Just remember to be consistent, use your logo and other
artwork as much as possible, and always, always, always include your
website on all your merch.
Case Study: The Clarks Merchandise
By John Williams, Tour Manager/Merchandiser
In my time with The Clarks, we’ve been quite successful in merchandising
ourselves. We regularly exceed $1 a head at our live shows, and our
fan base has come to expect new merchandise on a regular basis.
To that end, we completely overhaul our selection of wearables, stickers
and other merchandise two to three times a year. We generally follow
a schedule of summer, fall, and Christmas for our changeover. Rarely
do we hear any complaints from our fans about the constant turnover
because we are very sensitive of not gouging them. It’s always
been our philosophy to keep our merchandise prices/CD prices/ticket
prices low to keep the fans coming back.
An important factor in attracting fans to your merchandise at live
shows is to have an attractive, well-lit, professional display that
is always manned by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable person. I know
that’s not always feasible, but some buyers just can’t
wait for a band member to come off the stage to make the sale.
We have a pretty substantial merchandise board due to the fact that
we have seven CD titles in our catalog, as well as up to six different
T-shirt designs. We use a large, wheeled road case to carry all of
our merchandise, so we require quite a bit of space for our merchandising
efforts.
I’ve seen some creative displays from bands who don’t
have the depth and breadth in merch that we have. One of my favorites
is an old Fender guitar case that had been recycled into a merch board.
The band opened it up, and it had room enough for a couple of T-shirt
designs on one side and their CD catalog on the other. If at all possible,
try to set up your merch display in a high traffic area, such as near
the door, or even near the bathroom (everyone has to use the bathroom
at least once during the night, right?). Location, location, location.
Rishon Blumberg is a co-partner in Brick
Wall Management. He began his career in the music business while
in college as the talent buyer for the University of Pennsylvania
where he booked Living Colour, De La Soul, Blues Traveler, Cypress
Hill, The Indigo Girls and others. He formed Brick Wall Management
in 1995 and co-manages all of the company's artists and is on the
board of advisors for Musicians On Call.
This article courtesy of our friends at StarPolish, who are dedicated
to educating and empowering artists. Check out their site at www.starpolish.com,
and in particular, their Advice Library that contains career/business
advice articles for indies and industry alike. Look out for their
DIY book in 2006. |
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