Planning Merch for a Product Launch People Keep
By The Velocity Wear Team
Work backwards from the launch date, not forwards from today. Count back tracked UK delivery of 2-5 working days, then around 10-15 working days of production from artwork approval, then your own sign-off time, which is almost always longer than anyone budgets for. Then design something people would wear in six months, because launch-specific artwork stops being wearable the week after launch.
Build the Calendar Backwards
Launch dates move forwards rarely and backwards often, but the apparel deadline is fixed by the earliest thing that needs it. That is usually not the launch itself. It is the photo shoot, the press mailing or the team briefing that happens a week or two before.
Identify that first-use date and treat it as the real deadline. Then remember that production starts at artwork approval, so the only part of the schedule you fully control is how quickly you approve the proof.
Three Audiences, Three Different Specs
Launch merch is usually ordered as one undifferentiated pile, which is why so much of it goes unworn. There are really three jobs to do, and they want different garments.
The team needs kit for launch day and the photos: consistent, on-brand, comfortable enough to wear for a long day. Press, partners and early customers need something with perceived value, since a thin tee reads as a throwaway while a heavier hoodie reads as a gift. Anything you sell or hand out publicly has to compete with clothes people already own, which is a much higher bar than the other two.
Why Version Numbers Kill Merch
Here is the mistake worth avoiding above all others. Printing a product name, a version number or a launch date turns a garment into a dated object. Version two ships, and every hoodie in the office is now advertising the old thing.
The stuff people keep wearing tends to carry a brand mark, an idea or a piece of internal language, not a release note. If you want to mark the moment, do it subtly: a small date on a sleeve or inside the collar, where it is a detail rather than the headline. That way the garment survives the roadmap.
Garments People Actually Wear Again
Fabric weight does most of the work here. A 350 GSM hoodie feels like a product; a thin one feels like a giveaway, and people can tell within a second of picking it up. If the budget only stretches to a quantity of thin hoodies or a smaller number of heavy ones, the smaller number is usually the better decision.
Colour matters more than most launch plans admit. A garment in an aggressive brand colour photographs well on launch day and then lives in a drawer. A neutral base with a considered print gets worn to the supermarket, which is where merch actually earns its keep.
“"The measure of launch merch is not how it looks on launch day. It is whether anyone is still wearing it at the next all-hands."”
Getting the Quantity Honest
Over-ordering is the default failure. Enthusiasm at planning stage translates badly into boxes in a cupboard. A sensible approach:
- Count the team, add genuine spares, and stop. Do not order for the headcount you hope to have next year.
- Estimate press and partner sends from an actual list of names, not a round number that felt right.
- For public giveaway or sale, order conservatively. A sold-out run reads better than a surplus.
- Remember the minimum is 20 pieces per order with sizes mixed freely, so a modest, honest run is entirely viable.
- If you are close to a higher quantity band, check the calculator before rounding down. The discount curve can make the larger run cheaper per piece.
Artwork That Survives Shrinking
Launch artwork is usually designed at screen scale and then dropped onto a garment without a second look. Detail that reads on a landing page disappears at left-chest size, and embroidery in particular needs fine detail and small text simplified before it can be stitched.
Method depends on the design. Screen printing is the cheapest at volume for bold, limited-colour work, with setup charged per colour. DTF has no per-colour setup and handles detailed or full-colour artwork on cotton, blends and polyester, so it suits short runs. DTG gives a soft finish but is cotton only. Preview the layout in the free Design Studio before approving anything.
Planning for What Is Left Over
Some surplus is inevitable and it is not a problem if the design is undated. Undated stock becomes new-starter kit, conference giveaway, or a prize for something later in the year. Dated stock becomes an awkward box that nobody wants to be the one to throw away. That single design decision, made early, determines which of those you end up with.