How to Brief a Merchandise Agency and What Happens Next

Dominik Mittermaier · September 3, 2026

A fan raising a striped scarf overhead in a packed football stadium at dusk, representing the passion clubs and fans bring to official licensed merchandise

A merchandise agency can only be as precise as the brief it receives, so most of a project's success is decided before the first sketch.

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 merchandise agency covers seven jobs: concept and design, licensing and approvals, sampling, production management, quality control, compliance files and logistics.
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. On average a sample takes 2 to 3 weeks and series production about 4 weeks after sample approval, with shipping on top.
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.

Key Takeaways
What Does a Merchandise Agency Actually Do?
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 Actually Do?

A merchandise agency, also called a merchandising agency, turns a brand, club or other rights holder into finished physical products and runs every job in between, from the first design to delivery. The work comes down to seven jobs:

Concept and design: turning a brief, an anniversary or an event into products and production-ready artwork.
Licensing and approvals: submitting concepts, samples and packaging to the rights holder and logging every correction.
Sampling: having a physical sample made and checked before anything goes into series production.
Production management: choosing and briefing partner factories and keeping specification, volume and schedule on track.
Quality control: inspecting raw material, the sample and the run on site at the factory, not only when the goods arrive.
Compliance files: collecting the documents a product and its packaging need, such as material declarations, test reports and the packaging registration.
Logistics: planning freight, customs and delivery so the goods arrive in time for the season, event or anniversary.

That separates it from a promotional products firm, which sells from an existing range with your logo added. Am Ball is a Munich merchandising agency that has designed and produced custom and licensed metal collectibles (pins, keyrings, medals, trophy replicas) for football clubs, federations and brands since 1998. Am Ball is an official licensee of the Bundesliga, the DFB and UEFA, among others.

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 is meant for. For tournaments and other events, our guide to sports event merchandise planning covers what to order, how many and when.
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?

A typical licensed project runs in seven steps from brief to delivery. Sample and series production take about 6 to 7 weeks on average with one sample round; approvals and freight come on top.

Brief and kickoff. The agency clarifies your brand guidelines and, where relevant, those of the governing association.
Concept. First drafts take shape as digital renderings, which keeps approval times short.
Approval. The rights holder reviews the concept and, later, the samples. How long that takes depends on the licensor, so plan it as a phase of its own.
Sampling. A sample takes 2 to 3 weeks on average and is checked physically on site at the partner factory, not only from photos.
Your sample approval. A couple of days when you approve by photo, about 2 weeks when the physical sample is shipped to you first.
Production. Series production takes about 4 weeks on average after sample approval, depending on complexity and volume, with quality control throughout.
Delivery. Shipping comes on top: sea freight from Asia can take up to about three months door to door, depending on route and season. Production in Europe is possible on request, usually at a higher price and with a shorter transport route.

The right time to order therefore depends on the route more than on the factory. For the approval steps in detail, see our guide to how sports merchandise licensing works.

Who Does What? Agree Responsibilities Up Front

Misunderstandings about who owns a step cause more delays than design disagreements. Settle these roles in writing:

Step	Typically the agency	Typically you
Brand guidelines and artwork	Reviews and adapts	Provides
Concept and design	Develops	Gives feedback
Rights-holder approvals	Manages for licensed products	Manages for your own marks
Sampling and on-site quality control	Runs	Signs off
Production management	Runs	Receives updates
Delivery and logistics	Plans	Confirms destinations and dates

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?

It turns a brand or rights holder into finished products and covers seven jobs: concept and design, licensing and approvals, sampling, production management, quality control, compliance files and logistics.

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 long does a typical project take from idea to delivery?

On average a sample takes 2 to 3 weeks and series production about 4 weeks after sample approval, so about 6 to 7 weeks with one sample round. Rights-holder approval and shipping come on top, and sea freight from Asia can take up to about three months. Our guide to custom merchandise lead times shows the right time to order.

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.