Business shows itself – Kommersant FM

In Russia, the demand for merchandise has increased: businesses have increased spending on branded products, and customers are more willing to wear T-shirts and hoodies with company logos. According to a study by analysts from the Sbermarketing agency, at the end of last year this market was valued at 40 billion rubles. For nine months of 2023, the figure exceeded 70 billion rubles.

Russian business spends 10-15% more on branded products than a year earlier. Approximately 5% of the marketing budget is allocated for this. And the investment pays off, says Gayane Tishchenko, head of the branded products and merch department at Sbermarketing:

“The increased demand today is primarily due to the fact that many mass-market brands have left the market, and merch organically compensates for the lack of clothing brands familiar to consumers.

People are ready to choose merch and wear it instead of regular clothes. And, of course, the demand for it has increased significantly due to the limited options of marketing tools on the market.

Many channels usual for popularizing a brand and collaboration are now limited. Not everyone can use social networks; working with bloggers is not so effective.

Today, the quality of merch is already close to private labels, private labels. That is, these are no longer just branded products that can be disposable and produced for a specific purpose. These are the things that are not just given away, but that can even be sold.”

Mostly Russian companies give merch to employees, clients and partners. And about 17% sell part of it and use it in loyalty programs. Large corporations still largely use such products as a promotion tool, noted PR consultant Irina Peterson:

“The first thing is to increase the loyalty of existing customers and partners. The second is increasing brand awareness. And in this order, because first the merch is made for customers, partners, loyalty program participants, journalists, employees, that is, to increase the loyalty of these target audiences. Then, when they start using it, brand awareness increases.

Now large companies really invest serious funds in making it interesting, creative, unusual, that is, if, for example, these are clothes – sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, even slippers or some accessories – phone cases, umbrellas, backpacks, which customers use, it is all made from good materials so that it is pleasant to wear.

As soon as people start using these things, they, in fact, become advertising carriers of the brand, and the frequency of contacts with it by potential clients increases.”

Most often, Russians wear branded clothing to go to a store, to an exhibition, or just for a walk, the Sbermarketing agency found out. Respondents also answered that they were ready to buy only functional merchandise of good quality with an interesting design and without large logos.

Russians’ demands for such goods have really grown, says re:Store network spokeswoman Lyudmila Semushina: “Branded clothing is a popular, in-demand tool today, with the help of which the company expands and maintains its customer base. For several years in a row, Re:Store has been making branded merch – T-shirts and hoodies with images from its Digital art exhibition. Customers are happy to purchase it.

Of course, people only wear branded items if they like the design and want to feel like they belong to their favorite brand.

We must understand that advertising, like other areas of life, has its own trends and its own fashionable and unfashionable trends.

Today, the use of merch in promotion is a trend, so many brands make similar clothes in collaboration with each other or with famous designers and opinion leaders.

For example, Ozon and Yandex constantly announce their collaborations. Successful merch is one that is in demand by customers. On the one hand, it should be fashionable, on the other hand, it should be easy to produce. Recently, shoppers were doing everything, talking about environmental friendliness, about the fact that you should not work with bags or plastic. This is already going away now.

After all, merch is, first and foremost, a marketing tool. This is about the fact that you can once again contact your client and make him an ambassador of your own brand.”

Bloggers and media regularly use merch as a way of monetization. Content authors often give hoodies, T-shirts and bags to subscribers for donations or simply sell them branded products.

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Sabina Adleyba