Jackthreads’ Asher Roth Campaign Provides Roadmap To Merchandise Success

Physical merchandise is so very important to the revenue streams and branding of an artist. Recently, the members-only shopping club Jackthreads.com began rolling out a series of artist-centered merchandise campaigns that musicians should be taking note of due to their superior marketing execution. The men’s streetwear shopping community has been partnering with artists the likes of J. Cole, Girl Talk, Switchfoot and most recently Asher Roth to provide exclusive collaborative merchandise, customized sales campaigns, and limited-edition merchandise allowing the artists to connect with fans in a unique way.

In the most recent collaboration campaign launching on June 6^th with hip-hop artist Asher Roth, the rapper personally curated a “Summer Essentials” sale, working with Jackthreads’ merchandising team to put together his favorite looks. Asher will also be featured in the creative side of the sale by modeling the looks himself, and each item will be available for purchase on the site. The sale will also include custom tanks and tees, created by Asher and Jackthreads’ in-house designer, which were inspired by his upcoming album, “Is This Too Orange.” Customers will also receive a free download of a brand new single with purchase, delivered digitally through SoundCloud. 

“I wanted to bring a relaxed approach to our ‘Summer Essentials’ campaign,” said Roth. “I think we accomplished that by choosing casual and comfortable looks for my fans with a 'deliberately disheveled' vibe they'll find encompassed in my music as well. It’s fun for all ages and perfect for the summertime.”

The Marketing Cues and Takeaways

1. Firstly, notice the direct correlation between Jackthread’s customer base (primarily young, urban men) and Roth's fan base. Clearly, this partnership was strategic in cross-pollinating the appropriate demographics, and they knew enough about each other's consumer base before agreeing to work together.

Before designing and developing merchandise items, get to know the tastes of your fan base and find out what they’d be into!

2. Notice that the collaboration is with a reputable clothing company known for delivering high-quality products. People trust Jackthreads for delivering clothing items that not only have cool looking designs, but that are also comprised of high-quality materials, and thus make the person wearing the merchandise look good and sexy as a result of a better fit, the higher quality cottons, and the higher quality paint for graphics. 

If a fan looks good just wearing your stuff, they’ll likely want to continue sporting it more often; representing you more often in public – a win-win!

3. Also notice that the artist himself was involved in the design process. This gives his fans the feeling that his influence has spread beyond their headphones or speakers and into the clothing on their backs, as opposed to some faceless company churning out t-shirts with logos printed on them. People feel more connected to an artist by wearing merchandise that the artist knowingly had a say in designing.

If you’re an artist and you’re designing all of your own merchandise (or at least somewhat involved in the design), let your fans know!

4. Another great thing Jackthreads and Roth are doing here is making the merchandise timely. Summer is upon us and that means tees and tanks, so a “Summer Essentials” line is perfect because it gets fans amped up for the season ahead. Timely or seasonal merchandise items create the idea that you’re providing them with the appropriate “gear” in order to get the most out of the months or events ahead, so don’t just offer the same stuff year round.

Try to be timely in your product offerings so people can find function in your fashion!

5. Asher Roth is modeling the clothes himself; again further enveloping himself in the merchandise – and thus the experience. If fans see him wearing it, they’ll want it that much more because of the strong visual representation and idol association it provides.

When displaying merchandise, let fans know that even you would rock your gear, and that they should follow your lead!

6. Roth's upcoming album, relaying the whole campaign back to the music itself, inspired the “Summer Essentials” line. By making this idea clear to fans, both Jackthreads and Asher Roth have reminded us that the music is really the core of it all, and that the merchandise is still only the extension. They're also giving away a free exclusive download with the merchandise, further incentivising fans to purchase the merchandise and accompanying music in order to “complete” the album experience.

Try to provide some sort of context as to why a piece of merchandise exists in the first place, and ideally, trace it back to your music!

Capitalize on Allegiance

Recorded music sales are pretty much in the gutter; that much is obvious by now. So it’s best not to limit your audience by making them pay to hear your work, when instead you can let your music roam freely online so it generates as large an audience as possible. From there, you can cash in on your fans' desire to sport merchandise that declares their allegiance to you.

And this is no small market – according to Impressions, a clothing industry trade publication, Americans spend around $40 billion a year on decorated apparel.

Why not make it yours?

Hisham Dahud is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for Fame House, LLC and an independent musician. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud