This guide covers what to prepare before you contact an agency, what a good brief contains, how a typical project runs, and where projects most often go wrong. If you are still choosing an agency, start with our guide to the best agency for football club merchandising.
Key Takeaways
- A good brief covers goals, audience, product categories, quantities, budget range, timeline, rights and approvals, and distribution.
- A typical project runs from brief and concept through rights-holder approval and sampling to production with quality checks and delivery, and several months is realistic for complex collections.
- Most problems come from fragmented responsibilities, late licensing approvals, and capacity limits, not from the product idea.
- Agree in writing who owns each step (design, approvals, sampling, production, logistics) before work starts.
- Cost and timelines depend on category, volume, and licensing scope, so give the agency volumes and dates and ask for tiered quotes.
In This Article
- Key Takeaways
- What Does a Merchandise Agency Do for You?
- What Should You Prepare Before You Contact an Agency?
- What Goes Into a Good Brief?
- How Does a Typical Project Run?
- Who Does What? Agree Responsibilities Up Front
- What Goes Wrong in Agency Projects, and How Do You Prevent It?
- Case in Point: From Licensing Agreement to Finished Fan Product
What Does a Merchandise Agency Do for You?
A merchandise agency designs, produces, finishes, and delivers physical products built around a brand, a team, or an intellectual property, usually in line with the licensing terms set by the rights holder. For clubs and brands the term refers to the product side: everything from the first sketch to the finished jersey, pin, or collectible in its box.
That separates it from a promotional products firm, which sells from an existing range with your logo added. A merchandise agency develops new products, manages licensing approvals, and oversees manufacturing at production partners, often across several countries. Am Ball works in this way as an official licensee for rights holders including the Bundesliga and the DFB.
What Should You Prepare Before You Contact an Agency?
Agencies quote and plan faster when they can see the full picture. Before the first call, gather:
- The goal: a season launch, an anniversary, an event, a retail range, or a gift programme.
- The audience and channels: who will buy or receive the product and where it will be sold or handed out.
- Product categories: the formats you have in mind, such as pins, textiles, trophies, or keychains, even if they are still loose.
- Quantities and budget range: rough volumes and what you are prepared to spend, since both shape what is possible.
- Key dates: the match, tournament, or event the product has to be ready for.
- Rights and brand rules: who owns the marks, whether a licence or governing body’s guidelines apply, and what approvals are needed.
- Existing assets: brand guidelines, logos, and artwork files in usable formats.
What Goes Into a Good Brief?
A brief does not need to be long, but it does need to be specific. These seven points cover most of what an agency will ask:
- Objective: what the product should achieve, in one or two sentences.
- Audience: who it is for and what they would value.
- Product ideas and must-haves: categories, sizes, materials, or finishes you already know you want or want to avoid.
- Quantity and budget: a realistic range, ideally with two or three volume scenarios.
- Timeline: the delivery date and any fixed milestones, such as sign-off dates.
- Rights and approvals: who must approve designs and how long that usually takes.
- Success measure: sell-through, giveaway reach, or collector interest, so the agency can recommend what fits.
Include what is fixed and what is flexible. An agency can solve a problem like “this must arrive by the opening match, but the material is open” far better than one with every variable locked.
How Does a Typical Project Run?
Exact steps differ by product and rights holder, but most licensed projects follow this sequence:
- Brief and kickoff. The agency clarifies your brand guidelines and, where relevant, those of the governing association.
- Concept. First drafts take shape in parallel, usually as digital renderings, to keep approval times short.
- Approval. The rights holder reviews the concept and, later, the samples.
- Sampling. Samples are produced at a manufacturing partner, with a physical quality check on site rather than only a review of photos.
- Production. Full production starts only after sign-off, with quality control running throughout rather than appearing first at incoming goods inspection.
- Delivery. Goods arrive timed to the season, event, or anniversary they were made for.
Realistically, a process like this takes several months from first approval to delivery, depending on product complexity and volume. Simpler products based on existing templates can be done much faster.
Who Does What? Agree Responsibilities Up Front
Misunderstandings about who owns a step cause more delays than design disagreements. Settle these roles in writing:
For the cost side of the conversation, ask for tiered quotes at several quantities with every fee listed.
What Goes Wrong in Agency Projects, and How Do You Prevent It?
Most problems do not come from the product idea but from execution. Three come up again and again:
- Fragmented responsibilities. Design with one agency, production with another, quality control somewhere in between: every handoff costs time and raises the risk of mistakes. When the chain breaks, nobody owns the flawed result.
- Unclear licensing approvals. When brand guidelines are only checked late, samples or whole batches already produced have to be reworked, and seasonal products rarely have that time.
- Limited capacity. An agency that handles small test runs well but hits limits with a league-wide collection becomes a bottleneck right when demand peaks.
The fix is rarely more oversight from your side. It is fewer handoffs: one partner who takes ownership of design, licensing approval, and manufacturing control together, and a brief that makes approvals and deadlines explicit from day one.
Case in Point: From Licensing Agreement to Finished Fan Product
A mid-sized European football club wants to launch a limited collectible collection for the new season, tied to an anniversary. The club owns the image rights but has no in-house production department.
The agency starts by clarifying the club’s brand guidelines and, where relevant, those of the governing association. First drafts take shape as digital renderings, then sampling begins at a manufacturing partner with a physical quality check on site. Only then does full production start, with quality control throughout, and delivery is timed to the anniversary date. A single point of contact with direct production oversight creates less friction than several separate providers handling design, licensing, and production.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a merchandise agency?
A merchandise agency designs, produces, and delivers physical products built around a brand, a team, or an intellectual property, often while complying with licensing requirements. Design, sampling, manufacturing oversight, and quality control all fall within its scope.
What should a brief to a merchandise agency include?
The objective, audience, product ideas, quantity and budget range, timeline, rights and approvals, and a success measure. Say what is fixed and what is flexible.
How much does working with a merchandise agency cost?
It depends on product category, volume, and licensing scope, which is why credible agencies rarely quote flat prices before knowing the project. Give volumes and dates up front and ask for tiered quotes.
How long does a typical project take from idea to delivery?
For more complex collections, several months typically pass between initial approval and final delivery. Simpler products based on existing templates can be done much faster, while new collectibles or textile collections need extra time for sampling and quality checks.
Who approves the designs?
The rights holder approves designs for licensed products, and you sign off the samples. Agree who manages each approval, and how long it usually takes, before work starts.
Can brands with no connection to sport work with a sports-focused merchandise agency?
Yes. The same processes for design, sampling, and manufacturing control apply to brands outside sport, including music labels and cultural or event organizers.
Conclusion
A merchandise project goes best when the brief is specific, responsibilities are agreed in writing, and approvals are planned from the start. Clubs, associations, and brands do not need the agency with the biggest catalog. They need the one that owns the whole chain from licensing clearance through sampling to quality control at the point of manufacturing.
If you are preparing a brief and want a second pair of eyes on it, reach out to our team.
