Memorabilia – it’s expensive to be a fan today

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, they could not profit from ticket sales for concerts, matches, or cinemas as usual, but the famous and renowned have at least continued to profit from their own branded products. The trend of selling official merchandise has also been adopted by companies, but their souvenirs still cannot compete with global stars who, for example, offer branded bags, caps, perfumes, cosmetics, and even detergents. Ariana Grande, Lionel Messi and Justin Bieber are just some of the prominent global names whose branded products create a small empire of additional profit in the market, fostering a special sense of connection among fans with their beloved celebrities.

Singers as Sellers

According to data from the American financial company NetCredit, the highest earner in the world from their products, merchandise, is singer Harry Styles, a former member of the globally popular group One Direction. Fashion-conscious in private, he has earned nearly $23 million from his merch–t-shirts and fashion accessories. Known for her eccentricity, Lady Gaga sells not only classic merch–items but also soaps and – rugs. While everyone eagerly awaits to see her in the role of Patrizia Reggiani in the upcoming film ‘House of Gucci’, the singer counts an income of $15.8 million from her merch. There is not much to say about products signed by Britney Spears. It is enough to mention that she sold more bottles of her first perfume ‘Curious’ (out of twenty) than music albums. Branded perfumes and other products have also brought substantial income to Ariana Grande, totaling $10 million, making her, along with Lady Gaga, the only woman on the list of the top ten celebrities with the highest income on Shopify. Among male musicians on that list is Eminem with $7.65 million in income, and the last place, behind him, is held by Justin Bieber with $5.66 million in income from his merch.

It’s Expensive to be a Fan

In addition to singers, launching products with a name or catchphrase is an essential business move for any responsible influencer who cares about building their own brand (and profiting from it). Three of the five biggest merchandise kings – the music group The Sidemen, boxer Jake Paul, and content creator MrBeast – have found and monetized their fame on YouTube. Each of them has earned $20 million from merch. There is also the ubiquitous Kylie Jenner, whose merchandise income amounts to only $3.43 million, but her title as the youngest self-made billionaire in the world was brought to her by her cosmetics brand, Kylie Cosmetics. She is not alone; many other celebrities, such as Kanye West and Rihanna, have ventured into entrepreneurship by launching their own fashion and cosmetics brands.

Being a fan of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi is nice, but also expensive, as each item from his official merchandise–line costs nearly $10,000.

Emotional Connection

Although one could debate who is famous and who is a star in our country, there is no shortage of such products in the domestic market. The biggest sellers of merchandise here are content creators on social media – influencers and YouTubers. Columnist Andrea Andrassy and quiz master Dean Kotiga also have their merchandise. It is worth mentioning the domestic singer Maja Šuput who successfully navigates both her singing career and her role as an influencer on Instagram. She proved this with a recent collaboration with the Croatian company Saponia in advertising a laundry detergent that carries the scent of her perfume from her own merchandise brand Majushka. The pink and gold color and a plethora of sequins are the main aspects of the design of Maja’s slippers, caps, microphones, and perfumes (which, by the way, costs 950 kuna), and undoubtedly reflect her playfulness, which fans, of course, recognize and identify with.

– The whole point of merchandise is that customers are not buying a clothing item, but an emotional connection with an individual, or the creator on social media who markets that merchandise. Quality and design play a significant role, but the biggest element contributing to sales is how connected an influencer is with their audience, or how much they have influenced that audience, future consumers – says Marko Vukman, director of the Croatian company Merch Co., specialized in producing all types of fashion merchandise, from clothing, caps, pencil cases, bags to cosmetics for teenagers.

Vukman says that their first merch two years ago was a long-sleeve t-shirt from one of the largest Croatian influencers Ema Luketin, priced at 229 kuna. Despite the surrounding opinion that it is too expensive and that only children buy t-shirts, they sold more than a hundred pieces of that t-shirt on the first day.

A Living Organism

Among the products of domestic influencers, short and long-sleeve t-shirts are generally the best sellers. Vukman says that such ‘basic’ items sell the most. The growing trend of merchandise seems to be quite profitable, but like any other business, it needs to be developed.

– The potential for expansion is very questionable because this is a business that depends entirely on the quality of the influencer and how they approach their merchandise. The most important reason why many influencers never succeed with their merchandise, or do not scale their business, is that merchandise is a living organism in which at least one new product or design needs to be added to the online store every two weeks – explains Vukman.

As the only person from the region who, as he says, does this professionally, he mentions YouTuber Marko Vuletić, with whom his merch-business, he adds, has reached significant and realistic numbers. However, Vukman says they do not work with just any influencers.

Side Earnings

The number of followers does not reflect their engagement, or activation rate, but the number of comments, likes, tags, and shares of content divided by the total number of followers. Therefore, Vukman emphasizes that they choose whom to produce merchandise for based on that number, as it directly affects how much that merchandise will ultimately sell. In these uncertain times of crisis and inflation, ‘side earnings’ is by no means a crazy idea, of which public figures are well aware. And considering that influencers dictate today’s trends and can monetize their name, who will launch better merchandise could become a burning question in the coming years.

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