Last night I spoke to a group of game developers, giving them tips for running a project on Kickstarter. As I only had 20 minutes, I broke it down into 8 rules. By a large margin, Rule #3 was the one that generated the most comments. That rule? “No-one wants your shitty t-shirt”.
Now, maybe it was the colourful language, but there were comments about it coming up throughout the night. So I thought this week I would address the elephant in the rewards list: merchandise is completely unnecessary.
As per usual, I’m going to make this easy on you, and break it down into a list.
1. It costs me money
Chances are, if I’m buying a reward level that contains merchandise, what I actually want is the digital products you’ve got alongside it.
Backers want what you are making. Without fail, regardless of category, the highest number of backers will always sit in the reward tier where we get to experience the thing you are creating – watch your film, read your book, play with the toy.
If you’ve got merchandise – whether it’s a t-shirt, a mug, or a sticker sandwiched in there, it probably means I’m going to have to pay you extra to post it to me.
The image to the left here is the reward I chose when I backed the Veronica Mars Movie project. This was my first real backer experience. It was the lowest amount of money I could give and actually watch the film. And it came with a t-shirt. And that t-shirt cost me another $10 in international postage.
Yes, I could have chosen to forego the t-shirt, but this was my first project. I didn’t know that at the time. I paid over $50 in my currency to watch the film. That was the only thing I wanted.
2. It costs you money
How much would that reward have been if they hadn’t had to have paid for all those t-shirts to be printed and distributed? Those t-shirts have to be included in your budget. So does the national postage.
After all is said and done, how much of that money actually goes to the project?
At the very least, $10 of each pledge at that level went to the making and distributing of that t-shirt. Some people may have wanted them, others may not – but we never got the choice.
3. It’s not very creative
Some projects make their merchandise a collectors item. They are sought after, limited edition items that tell the world (or, at least those who are in the know) that the backer wearing this t-shirt is special.
These t-shirts are not “stupid”.
A stupid t-shirt is something that is mass-produced, and which acts as a promotion vehicle for you.
Think about the t-shirts you own. The ones you wear in public are the ones that announce something about you. Your taste in music, or film. Some strange in-joke.
The branded shirts that are effectively wearable billboards? Most people I know wear them to bed, or to clean the house.
Without a doubt, creative and unusual rewards gain backers.
Offer your backers the chance to participate in your project, and they will throw their money at you. Offer rewards that clearly have no thought behind them, and be prepared to sink. The image to the right might not involve t-shirts, but it’s also not very attractive. The project, needless to say, tanked.
4. What do you want to spend your time doing?
If you have a plan to change the world, you want to get on with changing the world, right?
Well, if you are Solar Roadways, you now get to send out 7,592 bumper stickers; 1,944 hats; 3,989 mugs; 1,723 tote bags; and 1,746 t-shirts. Plus the rewards for the 2,341 people who wanted all of those things.
That’s a big dent in your takings, not to mention a lot of work – and all before you even get to working on that thing you wanted to crowdfund in the first place!!
It just doesn’t make sense. There is a very good chance that for projects like this, backers just wanted to help you change the world.
Do not underestimate the time-cost associated with physical products of any kind. Not only in producing, packing and sending, but simply managing the logistics of delivering goods to nearly 20,000 people.
If 1% of those people move between when you collect their address and deliver the product, that is 200 people demanding to know where the heck their t-shirt is. It’s up to you to manage that expectation.
The easiest way to manage it? Don’t offer it in the first place.
5. The world deserves better
Promotional t-shirts aren’t often very environmentally friendly.
The cotton is rarely grown ethically, and they are often sewn in sweatshops. That’s why they’re so cheap.
Is it really worth those resources to have your logo on someone’s back while they’re watching TV or scrubbing the shower?
6. You’re better than this
Unless you have a kick-ass, collectable t-shirt idea, go back to the drawing board.
Make something people want to wear. Make it something people are proud to wear. Get it properly designed, use a quality supplier, and put it in it’s own category.
You are creative, and you have great ideas – that’s why you want to crowdfund in the first place! Use those ideas and creativity to come up with something utterly unique – whether it’s a t-shirt, experience, or download. Because really, I’m not kidding, no-one needs your stupid t-shirt.
