Case Study – Square Enix

Vision/ Creativity: Our client came to us to produce a custom promotional product for one of their game title’s, Dragon Quest XI, for the release on September 4, 2018. Shipments went to Gamestop, EB Games, the Indianapolis Convention Center for a show, and to the Square Enix HQ for distribution to their Latin American locations.

Research and Planning: Square Enix – North America and our creative team crafted a custom collectable button set that showcased the character and the vibrancy of the game. With a worldwide presence for this game it was of extreme importance to keep the “feel” of the creative art intact and produce a unique collectable item for the end user.

Implementation and Production: 8 custom Dragon Quest XI 2-inch buttons were designed and created on a custom 8-inch by 16-inch backer card. Each button had a different character artwork and the custom backer card was produced with a full color front and a 1-Color back with logo and legal verbiage. Custom mounting holes were manufactured into the backer card for the attachment of the individual buttons while keeping the art intact. We worked with the client to overcome difficulties of manufacturing versus artwork and solved these issues to the client’s approval. Each set was assembled and polybagged prior to shipping. We kept the client’s vision of the art and made it able to be manufactured within the budget.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics: The custom product was manufactured in one of our factories overseas. Shipping for this project was split between Kentucky (27,000 pcs), Indianapolis (5,000 pcs), California (3000 pcs), and Canada (5,000 pcs).

Results and Final Product: The Square Enix custom button project initially was for 30,000 sets. By the final delivery it was increased by the client to 40,000 sets. This breaks down to 320,000 individual buttons and 40,000 backer cards. With the final delivery being a success and to the client’s commendation, this collectable button set was a success all around and an amazing experience for the team at Roham International.

Vision/ Creativity: This challenging project came to us from our client Square Enix – North America. The project was for their fan convention for their franchise “Final Fantasy – Brave Exodus” known as “Fan Festa” in Long Beach, CA. Our client came to us to work with them to come up with an amazing “goodie Bag” that would resonate with their customers and players of the game. After sending them a few key samples and doing a couple presentations, they made their decision. In the “Goodie Bag” these were the chosen items: aluminum canteen water bottle, 3pc Lapel Pin set, a full color microfiber cleaning cloth, a t-shirt, and the “hero” Item, a custom sling bag.  At this time, we were also asked to include a full color lanyard for their credentials at the event. For this “Goodie Bag” 3,750 pieces of each item was the number to produce.

We were originally contacted to piece together their “Goodie Bag” but their confidence in us brought us more items for the event. This included 100 Staff Hoodie sweatshirts for their uniforms, 2 sets of stickers coming to 30,000 pcs total, 3,500 activity booklets, 3500 “Guest” and “Staff” badges, signage for the event itself, media walls, and framed art prints. This was a big undertaking and we were going to have our production teams working hard to get this done and done right!

Research and Planning: With so many moving parts we had to keep in constant touch with our production teams and client to keep each project moving. From getting approved artwork to shipping samples of the items the challenges were heavy but with our experience we kept things in order. We took each item’s production time and created a schedule to make sure we could deliver on time. Our communication with our client was key as the artwork for the different items needed to be approved from the parent company in Japan so time was tight. Thankfully our client’s marketing and creative teams kept up to the schedule to make sure that the items had enough time to get to their respective delivery locations.

Implementation and Production: Once we received approved artwork, we were able to move forward with the project in stages. The first stage was the “long production” items stage which were most of the “Goodie Bag” items. Another reason for this staging was that we were contracted by the client to do fulfillment for the “Goodie Bag’s” which necessitated an earlier delivery date to our fulfillment house. With the different production times these items were staggered to have a close delivery date (1-2 days) to our fulfillment center. While these were in production, we moved to the other parts of the project.

Next were the T-Shirts and Staff Hoodies. In essence these were quite straight forward. We have ample experience in apparel that we had a system in place that works great and is highly efficient. We were able to procure high quality apparel for the client at a great price. We delivered the Staff Hoodies earlier for the client with no issues and the 3750 T-Shirts were delivered to the venue on time at a later date.

The Square Enix team then asked us if we could do some extra items for them. These were the badges, signage, stickers and booklet. These items were things we have done and agreed to it. We got with our production teams and created the items they asked for. We even were able to add in some Media Walls within the allotted time.

The final project was the art prints. Not only were we asked to print their artwork but frame them as well. Not only that, Square Enix – HQ in Japan was going to send over some additional prints to be framed. We had the means to do so and took up that challenge. We produced the print and ordered the custom frames. The issue that came up were the print from Japan. They were different sizes than what we were requested. Undeterred we worked with the client and got the print framed as well on time.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics:  We produced some products overseas and some domestically depending on the product due to time. This is why we had a staggered production time for the various products. This project had two logistic phases to it. Phase one was to the fulfillment center and then to the venue in Long Beach, CA. For the fulfillment we filled the “Goodie Bag” with the items requested and shipped to the venue.

Results and Final Product: The “Final Fantasy – Brave Exodus Fan Festa” project was an experience in management and logistics but were handled by our teams with grace and professionalism. We delivered within the allotted 2-day delivery window with most of the items being delivered on the first of the 2–days.  In the end the event was a success with the client giving us glowing remarks and putting on a wonderful event for the fans. In the end we filled 3000 “goodie bags” with enough items to fill 750 more, produced 100 Staff Hoodies, 3500 Badges, 3750 screen printed t-shirts, 3500 activity books, 30,000 stickers, 150 signs of different dimensions, 26 custom framed prints, 3 media walls, and 1 happy client!

Vision/ Creativity: Our client came to us to produce a custom promotional product for the special release of one of their video game titles, Shadow of the Tomb Raider for Gamestop.  Basing the product on the main character of Laura Croft, we used the idea of a part of her “equipment” and decided on a custom flashlight.

Research and Planning: With this being a custom collectable promotional product, we worked with Square Enix and our factory on the flashlight and packaging. Our team suggested also including a custom set of batteries to complete the kit instead of the standard batteries that would have been included.

Implementation and Production: After the decision of the flashlight, several iterations were researched. From plastic, PVC, and metal choices, aluminum was chosen for its durability, imprint style, and rugged look. We then worked with the team to come up with a packaging option and designed a box to hold the flashlight and batteries. A poly bag was suggested early on but our team was able to get the cost in line with the budget and allowed us to have a full-color packaging solution and include the custom batteries.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics: The custom product was manufactured in one of our factories overseas. Shipping for this project was split between the Gamestop warehouse in Texas and EB Games in Canada.

Results and Final Product: The Shadow of the Tomb Raider special flashlight was initially to be for 40,000 to 125,000 pcs. By the final delivery it was increased by the client to 150,000 sets. The Final breakdown was 150,000 flashlights and full color boxes and 450,000 batteries (3 batteries per flashlight, all packed. 125,000 went to Gamestop in the USA and 25,000 went to EB Games in Canada. With the final delivery being a success, this collectable custom flashlight was a success with it being on time and on budget.

Vision/ Creativity: For the upcoming launch of Square Enix and Disney’s collaboration game, Kingdome Hearts III, our client came to us to produce polo shirts for the Gamestop Managers to wear at the retail stores to promote the upcoming release.  We worked with our client to take their proposed artwork and imprint 27,000 individual polo shirts.

Research and Planning: Working with our client we helped them choose the best artwork out of a couple choices based on our experience with printing and what the client liked the look of. With the artwork set, we turned to our screen-printing production manager to get the artwork ready to be imprinted. There was a total of 3 imprint sizes for the artwork dependent on the shirt size. Finally, we put in the order for the 27,000 plus polo shirts and began production.

Implementation and Production: With 27,000 plus polo shirts, organization was key. Our screen-printing production manager devised a system to sort and keep track of the shirts. This was based on experience with other large-scale screen-printing projects we have done. Our production teams ran double shifts in order to complete this order on time.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics: The number of polos needed to be shipped to the Gamestop warehouse in Texas and the EB Games warehouse in Canada. Our team therefore set up 2 separate shipping groups and shipped according to the longest transit time so the polo shirts would arrive close to the same day in the 2 locations. This allowed our team to pre-sort the polo shirts to make sure the correct sizes were sent to their respective locations.

Results and Final Product: The Square Enix Kingdom Hearts III – Gamestop Manager Polo project was a test in endurance. The final total of shirts was 27, 725 pcs. The large number of polos with sizes extra-small up to 5XL, and 2 locations, with one being outside the USA, proved to be a challenge. It was a challenge our team stepped up to and completed the project to our client’s satisfaction. Of course, there were problems but we handled them professionally and in due course.

Vision/ Creativity: For the upcoming launch of Square Enix and Monster Energy AMA Supercross collaboration game, Monster AMA Supercross the Videogame, our client came to us to produce polo shirts for the Gamestop Managers to wear at the retail stores to promote the upcoming release.  We worked with our client to take their proposed artwork and imprint 18,000 individual polo shirts.

Research and Planning: Working with our client we helped them choose the best artwork out of a couple choices based on our experience with printing and what the client wanted from the aesthetic of the game title. With the artwork set, we turned to our screen-printing production manager to get the artwork ready to be imprinted. With the variation of sizes, we came to the necessary conclusion that 3 different screen sets were needed to keep the proportion of the artwork across the sizes. This would give the final product the best possible final product. Finally, we put in the order for the over 18,000 from our mill for polo shirts and began production.

Implementation and Production: With 18,000 plus polo shirts, organization was key. Our screen-printing production manager devised a system to sort and keep track of the shirts. This was based on experience with other large-scale screen-printing projects we have done. With shirts going to two locations the sorting was key to getting the correct sizes and quantities to both locations. Our production teams ran double shifts in order to complete this order on time.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics: The number of polos needed to be shipped were to the Gamestop warehouse in Texas and the EB Games warehouse in Canada. Our team therefore set up 2 separate shipping groups and shipped according to the longest transit time so the polo shirts would arrive close to the same day in the 2 locations. This allowed our team to pre-sort the polo shirts to make sure the correct sizes were sent to their respective locations. At the same time, manager mailers for each store were printed and delivered to the facilities to send out with the shirt packs to the retail stores.

Results and Final Product: The Square Enix Monster Energy AMA Supercross – Gamestop Manager Polo project was a test in endurance. The final total of shirts was just over 18,000 pcs. The large number of polos with sizes extra-small up to 5XL, and 2 locations, with one being outside the USA, proved to be a challenge. It was a challenge our team stepped up to and completed the project to our client’s satisfaction. Of course, there were problems but we handled them professionally and in due course.