Merch With Meaning Amanda Wood of STRAN shares branded merchandise that reflects her brand’s values, such as backpacks crafted from recycled ocean plastic and Fair Trade apparel. By Nicole Rollender AMANDA WOOD Marketing & Communications Lead STRAN PPAI 161542, Platinum Quincy, Massachusetts BRANDED MERCHANDISE that stands for something makes the biggest impact. “There’s a progression to it: You’ve gone beyond the bare minimum of just giving an item to giving an item that resonates,” Wood says. “You’ve taken it one step further by giving something high-quality, practical and connected to a greater mission. Recipients can feel that. They know where it’s coming from, and that context changes how they receive it.” Wood’s favorite example of a meaningful merch campaign is a recent collaborative creator program for STRAN’s social media channels. The distributor kicked off influencer/creator marketing initiatives last year. In the pilot group, Wood leaned into the concept of personalized, purpose-driven, curated merch. “That’s where we really shine,” Wood says. “It’s more than having access to a global network of partners or being able to source literally millions of products. It’s how we take those connections and the know-how of the merch industry and apply it to a program that helps a brand strike the right chord with its audience.” For this project, Wood sourced three curated swag kits for the creators. “As much as possible, I chose items that had purpose built into the brand,” she says. For example, instead of STRAN’s custom boxes for kits, Wood chose the GOT Bag Rolltop Easy, a GOTS-certified backpack made from recycled ocean impact plastic. “Each creator received a sustainably DOERS / Shutterstock.com 16 • JUNE 2026 • PPAI Essentials | Use Case
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