Studios as retailers

Strategy beyond merch

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The Monkey by Neon Cinema

Entertainment studios are sitting on a retail goldmine.

They have the budgets, the cultural capital, the IP, the talent relationships, the real estate, and the global fanbase. What they lack is not reach, but format—a structured approach to treating storytelling as a platform for retail.

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A few months back, I met with legends Oren John and Clayton Chambers at Casa Magazines to record an episode of a series on Brand Strategy they were doing. Watch the episode below, it was a lot of fun and definitely hire Oren and Clayton for something, they are A team.

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Imagine if studios saw themselves not just as content creators, but as tastemakers, with retail as one of the ways they influence culture. This isn’t merch 2.0. This is retail and entertainment as part of the same brand world.

Here’s how to build a retail program that unlocks the potential of entertainment studios:

Creative Direction

Never has the combo of content, culture and commerce been more obvious than in the entertainment business. Retail is a natural next step: talent-fronted fashion campaigns, costume-driven collaborations, genre-inspired collections, limited