The Ask
Manhead needed help transforming each of their artist merch drops into more than just product releases. They wanted to turn every drop into a mini campaign — complete with compelling creative, social-first content, and storytelling that would not only drive sales but deepen fandom and create cultural moments around the merch.
In short: don’t just sell shirts — build hype, create content, and make it feel like part of the artist’s world.
The Answer
We need to think like fans first, not marketers. That means building creative that feels like an extension of the artist’s world — not just slapping a logo on a hoodie.
We’d start by developing a flexible campaign framework that can flex to different artist aesthetics, while still delivering consistency across the brand. For each drop, we’d pair the product with a narrative — something visual, shareable, and native to the platforms where fans live. Think lo-fi teaser films, BTS studio moments, memes, street-style shoots, fan-generated content, and even surprise and delight IRL drops when it makes sense.
It’s about building anticipation before the drop, giving fans a reason to care when it goes live, and then extending the life of the moment with content that keeps the hype going. Merch becomes more than just merch — it becomes a story fans want to be part of.
The Work
The works spans from photos, to films, gifs and other lifestyle elements. Each piece of content was captured in locations relevant to each artist. The pictures and films all needed to tell stories, but ones that felt native to the fans and a bullseye focus on not feeling like an ad, more of an expression that fans would align to.
