Regarding marketing, targeting is one of the most common and important things to consider. Because the target audience is the protagonist of the strategy and story, what they want, their tastes, their buying behavior, and what mediums they use will dictate much of your strategy and narrative. The same goes for merchandise. You need to know your target audience to get the true impact of your branded merchandise
1. Focus on your target audience's story
The Incheon Film Commission is a corporation that guides significant filming locations in Incheon for producing Hallyu content, such as movies and dramas and provides content support, targeting various stakeholders such as creators and those involved in the video content industry. To commemorate the renewal of the Incheon Film Council's BI, we created merchandise kits for each of the three target groups: creators/institutions in the domestic and international video industry, production companies and broadcasters, and general citizens who participated in events organized by the Council.
Paying attention to the fact that the Incheon Film Commission's new BI is based on the English word "Story," and its slogan is "Story On, Incheon," we decided to create merchandise that expresses what each target group does when making videos. For the creator target group, we chose apparel products that can be used in the field and have a high activity level. The colorful tie-dye zip-up hoodies visually represented the creators creating different stories and finding other location spots.
For the kits for agencies, production companies, and broadcasters, we used the concept of 'travel' to organize and design the video content production process, likening the entire cycle of location tours for filming, content planning and production, and broadcasting to a long journey. In particular, since the Incheon Film Commission values 'location support business,' we wanted the target audience to think of 'Incheon location' as soon as they saw the products. We used a ready-bag package for traveling, composed of message cards in blankets, passport cases, and tickets. We applied a gradient design to match the BI.
The kit for the general citizen target who participated in the event was organized and designed around the concept of "record," as we anticipated they would be interested in creating content. We chose this because it reflects the Story On Incheon slogan and because we thought our target audience would enjoy jotting down things they were instantly inspired by since they are storytellers. We chose an eco-bag package to make the kits easy to carry and move around. We included notepads, pens for recording, and removable stickers and figurines to remind them of their event experience.
2. Focus on your target's behavior
For sports fans, merchandise is a way to show their support for a team and a tool to cheer them on the field, so many sports teams focus their merchandise on items that can be used on the field. The SSG Landers merchandise, created with SSG.com, was designed to focus on this fan behavior.
Since it was prepared as a prize for event promotion on SSG.com for the SSG Landers' home three-game series, we conceptualized it as a cheering package to be used as an official product and a tool. It consisted of products that can be used in the field, such as cheering towels/flags and Tritan tumblers, and products that can be used in everyday life, such as removable stickers and eco-bags. We also conveyed an eco-friendly image by putting the entire package in an eco-bag instead of making a separate package.
We chose cheerleading towels and flags because we knew that fans watching the game at home and those in attendance would be engaging in cheering behaviors. We also created a Tritan tumbler that could be used in everyday life and on the field to remind people of the team.
We were inspired by SSG Landers' official colors, logo, and catchphrase, "No Limits, Amazing Landers," to design the towel/flag and tumbler. We wanted to ensure that the team's symbols and messages were prominently displayed so that people could support the group more effectively while using the merchandise.
We also created removable stickers that can be used daily to support the team or show that you are a fan. We designed the stickers with official SSG Landers characters, baseball-related images, and elements that symbolize SSG.com so that people would be reminded of the team whenever and wherever they see the stickers. This reflects the behavior of fans who express their support for the team daily because if you are a sports team fan, you will think of the team every moment.
For those who want to create branded merchandise, if you think about who you want to make it for, what kind of story you want to tell, and how you want it to be used, like the case I introduced today, I think it will solve the problem a little bit.
