How Merch Can Help Your Brand Gain Targeted Niche Audience
Tailoring Products for Subcultures and Communities
One of the biggest misconceptions we’ve noticed through our experience on building a brand is that business owners think that a logo, color palette and a slogan is all you need to connect to an audience. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Or, rather fortunately — otherwise we’d really be at a risk of losing work to AI.
A brand is all about connecting with people on a deeply personal level. The deeper the connection, the more loyal your customers will be. More than this, they will become your brand’s ambassadors and promote your products without you having to pay a cent for this. One way to promote such behavior is through creating tailored merch that your biggest fans can buy and wear (or, well, drink from, you get the point).
Now, this is exactly why we at Mindblow started a side project called The Merch Studio. We realized that branded physical products are a tool that’s not utilized by many companies and we saw a gap to be filled for aiding companies launch merch through idea generation, design, print, and logistics — anything that otherwise stops them from doing it. More on The Merch Studio later, but we wanted to show our insights are well-founded!
Why Focus on Niche Markets?
In a world flooded with mass-produced goods, standing out requires going narrow. If you zoom things out, you’ll find that your clients may have some interests in common which may also be totally unrelated to your core business.
Let’s say you are a coffee brand. One day you decide to do a survey with all of your customers who enter the shop one day to find out what their hobbies are. You notice that a considerable amount of them watch motorsports. This gives you the idea to make T-shirts saying “Fueled by Coffee and Horsepower”.
Now, your clients watching motorsports absolutely love this, buy your shirts which you make a small profit from and life’s good. But things get even better. Because guess, what — motorsport fans likely have friends with the same interest. So by wearing this shirt in front of their friends, it would naturally spark a conversation that inevitably includes your brand. Voila, you have increased your brand awareness and gotten some people interested in that coffee place selling cool motorsport merch.
Understanding Your Audience
The first step in conquering the niche market is understanding your audience. What are their passions, hobbies, and values?
But how can you do this? A survey is always a working idea if you have a channel through which to do it — maybe that could be through a IG story poll, it could be through your newsletter, or you could ask them to fill something on the spot. Or you could maybe ask us to help with that?
Collaboration May Be a Good Idea
Want to make even more buzz? Reach out to influencers or key figures within the subculture you want to target. Their endorsement can give your merch an instant boost of credibility. Collaborations also provide fresh perspectives and ideas that resonate deeply with the community.
Going back to that coffee-shop-with-motorsport-fans example — if that’s you, you may then collaborate with a famous racing driver, sports commentator, podcast host, etc.
The Merch Studio
Enter The Merch Studio. We specialize in making merch accessible for all brands. We’ve done it with so many brands and we’re experts on the whole process. Taking care of everything from idea generation, creative, design, print, logistics and anything else, all you have to do really is reap the rewards. From initial concept to final product, we ensure every detail aligns with the values and aesthetics of both your brand and target audience.
Learn more about the process and what we offer on the studio’s website.
Ready to gain niche audience for your brand through merch? Let’s chat. Because in this game, it’s not about wide– it’s about narrow.
