Top 40 promotional products distributor BAMKO (asi/131431) has a habit of landing high-profile clients. The Los Angeles-based firm recently launched a winter apparel collection for IHOP. Then, this week, BAMKO got a pat on the back in an US Weekly article for its work on the line of branded merchandise it just created for Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave – a star on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and daughter of rock star John Mellencamp.

Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave modeling the Vimmia Cross Front Pullover BAMKO created for her All In branded merchandise collection.

The merch line promotes Teddi’s All In – an accountability coaching service that helps clients live healthier lives through fitness and nutrition. The collection features leggings, tank tops, T-shirts, caps, water bottles, a backpack, a fitness tote, hair ties and more. BAMKO Co-Founder Brett Marz and Joshua White, general counsel and SVP of strategic partnerships, took a few minutes with Counselor to share insights on the collection, a portion of the proceeds of which go toward supporting All In clients who are not able to meet the initial financial requirements of the coaching.

Women’s Quarter Zip pullover from the All In collection.

Q: How did BAMKO connect with Teddi?
Brett: I’m friends with Teddi’s husband. When I learned about Teddi’s company and her message of personal accountability, I wanted to help promote that message. We design and develop high quality merchandise programs, so that was our way of using our tools to help promote what we all felt was an important message.

Q: What were Teddi's goals for the line?
Joshua: The primary goals were driving brand awareness and message reinforcement. Because Teddi's message is all about personal accountability, developing athletic wear that people could wear while living out that message through their actions was a natural fit.

The All In Zip-Up Hoodie is a blend of 50% polyester, 37.5% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton, and 12.5% rayon

Q: What's unique about the products/branding?
Brett: This is a brand that’s all about a single central message. The idea of being "all in", of having an uncompromising commitment to your goals, is the organizing principle at the heart of the brand. We tried to reinforce that messaging in every detail of this campaign. You can’t really offer a half-hearted design or “good enough” product quality when the core concept of the brand is about going all in.

Q: What challenges did BAMKO have to overcome to make this order a success?
Joshua: Merchandise is a new category for Teddi. Extending a brand into the world of merchandise for the first time always brings with it a bit of a learning curve. Fortunately, their team is savvy and has a great design sense. We worked closely with them to understand their core audience and the emotions that they hoped to evoke in that audience. They have a very clearly defined brand ethos, which made the process of expressing that ethos through merchandise a whole lot easier.

The fitness tote features a large main compartment, a padded slip-through front to store a yoga mat or gym towel, and a side space for a water bottle.

Q: The collection is available through an online store. Is BAMKO managing that?
Brett: Yes. We’ve got a team of programmers in-house who custom-designed the online store. We’re running the entire operation, soup to nuts, including product design, online store, and warehousing. Providing a seamless one-stop merchandise solution is a great way to provide value to customers who want to focus on running their core business. The store can be found at: allinbyteddi.bamkostores.com

20 oz. stainless steel water bottle.

Q: What, if any, additional solutions is BAMKO providing?
Joshua: We are always thinking about how to maximize the impact of a launch through a multichannel approach to social media and earned media coverage. We helped consult on the launch and messaging around it with the specific goal of maximizing the value of earned media. When we talk about doing much more than just selling a product, that’s the sort of thing we have in mind. We are in the advertising business, not the products business. Our goal is not just to sell some product. It’s to provide exponential value through a multi-channel marketing campaign. The client here was already a public figure with more than half a million followers on Instagram. We wanted to make sure to leverage those brand assets to maximize the value of this campaign. Getting written up in US Weekly this week was a good start.

Q: Can you quantify the order in some way?
Joshua: We have provided 19 items so far. This spans over 40 SKUs given sizing and color options. The initial product launch sold out within a few hours and our team is refreshing inventory as we speak. The line may or may not expand in the future, but it will continue to evolve in order to continue offering new and fresh looks.