Branded merch during economic shifts
How Italy customers re-prioritise their merch spend during downturns, recoveries and sectoral booms.
Merch spend is one of the first lines reviewed in a downturn and one of the first restored in a recovery. We watched the 2024-2025 sectoral compression in Italy closely — banking and consumer tech cut hard, healthcare and renewables held or grew. The pattern: smart programmes shifted from quantity-of-events to quality-of-events, kept their sustainability commitments, and emerged the other side with stronger brand equity than peers who panicked.
Three actions consistently saved budget without hurting brand. One: extend the lifetime of existing artefacts (republish stock, re-deploy unused kits, run a small refresh rather than a new launch). Two: shift from airfreight to seafreight where lead time allows; saves 60-70% of freight cost and cuts emissions. Three: consolidate suppliers to two or three for volume pricing rather than ten boutique vendors.
What not to do: cut sustainability claims to save unit cost. Customers and candidates remember. A Milano-based manufacturer we worked with kept their organic-cotton commitment through 2025 despite a 14% revenue drop. They emerged with a stronger NPS than before the downturn. Cheap conventional cotton would have cost 8% less but signalled panic. We model these trade-offs for Italy customers each quarter.
FAQ
First budget line to cut?
Mass-distribution generic swag at low-engagement events. Keep VIP-tier artefacts intact. The ROI gap is enormous.
Should we drop sustainable materials?
No. Switching to cheap conventional saves 5-10% but loses long-term brand equity. The economic downturn passes; the perception persists.
Consolidate suppliers?
Two or three primary suppliers, with a fourth fallback for surge. In Italy this typically yields 8-12% pricing improvement.
Pre-paid arrangements during downturn?
Useful but stress-test before committing. Lock in current pricing for upturn; suppliers in Italy often agree given guaranteed cashflow.
How to talk to finance?
Show the brand-equity model. Show pre-/post-NPS data. Show competitor cuts. Smart finance teams understand brand-equity protection.