How a Simple Marketing Concept Turned Into Something More With Custom Trading Cards
What started as a creative marketing idea for Royal Restrooms turned into a family tradition, collectible passion, and unforgettable brand experience.
When Marketing Becomes Something More
Some of the best ideas in business don’t come from strategy sessions or spreadsheets.
They come from curiosity.
They come from asking a simple question:
“How do we do something different?”
A few years back, that’s exactly where this started.
I was trying to figure out how we could show up at trade shows, events, and festivals in a way that didn’t feel like we were just repeating the same playbook year after year. Same brochures. Same conversations. Same approach.
That’s not who we are.
At Royal Restrooms, we’ve always believed the experience matters. So I started thinking… what could we give people that they would actually keep?
Not something they throw away.
Something they remember.
The Baseball Card Idea
That’s when it hit me.
Baseball cards.
Simple. Nostalgic. Collectible.
What if we created cards featuring our events across the country? Different locations. Different stories. Numbered sets. Something people could collect over time.
It felt fun. It felt different. It felt like us.
So I started digging into it.
And that’s when I went down the rabbit hole.
Discovering a Whole New World
I came across companies like Panini and Topps.
And I was blown away.
These weren’t just cards anymore.
They were experiences.
Game-used jersey patches.
On-card autographs.
Limited prints.
Numbered editions.
I remember thinking… this is incredible.
And like most things I get interested in, I didn’t just dip a toe in. I went all in.
I started buying cards. Studying them. Learning what made them special. Thinking about how we could take elements of that and apply it to our business.
Could we do golf course series cards?
Festival series?
Wedding venues?
Maybe even embed pieces of fabric or memorabilia?
Ideas started flowing.
When Business Turns Into Family
But here’s where it changed.
What started as a marketing idea didn’t stay there.
My son got into it with me. David’s favorite is the Wild Card Dino-Might.
My daughter CC, who already loved Pokémon cards, jumped in.
Guys at the office started paying attention.
Billy Dukes got into it.
It became something we shared.
We’d look at cards together.
Talk about them.
Trade ideas.
Show each other what we found.
It stopped being about marketing.
It became about moments.
More Than Just Cards
Some of the cards we picked up turned into real conversation pieces.
Some even became valuable.
But that’s not really the point.
The point is what they created.
Connection.
Curiosity.
Shared experiences.
And honestly, that’s the same thing we try to create every time we show up at an event.
Bringing It Back to Royal Restrooms
We haven’t fully rolled out the big vision yet.
But we did take a step.
Instead of traditional business cards, we created baseball-style cards for a few team members.
Billy Dukes got one.
Jorge Baylon got one.
We surprised them with it.
And they turned out great.
Not just because they looked cool…
But because they meant something.
They told a story.
They gave people a reason to stop, look, and remember.
Why Different Matters
Here’s what I’ve learned.
People don’t remember what’s expected.
They remember what’s different.
Anyone can hand out a brochure.
Not everyone creates something that makes you pause and say,
“Wait… this is actually really cool.”
That’s the gap we try to live in.
From our trailers…
To our trade show presence…
To something as simple as a card.
We don’t just show up.
We put thought into it.
The Unexpected Win
If I’m being honest, the biggest win wasn’t the marketing idea.
It was what came from it.
Time with my kids.
Conversations with my team.
Moments that didn’t feel like work.
That’s something you can’t plan.
What’s Next
I still believe there’s something here.
Maybe it becomes a full collectible series.
Maybe it’s event-based cards across the country.
Maybe it’s something no one in our industry has even thought of yet.
We’ll figure that out.
But one thing I know for sure…
The ideas that matter most aren’t always the ones that scale the fastest.
They’re the ones that create connection.
And sometimes, they start with something as simple as a baseball card.
“In business, the goal isn’t just to be seen. It’s to be remembered. And sometimes the smallest ideas are the ones that leave the biggest impression.”
