by LIZ CHRISTO for Dear Stage 2
A rant on SWAG: Stuff We All Get. AKA alternatives to the branded water bottle
DEAR STAGE 2: I’ve been tasked with ordering new swag for our company and I want to mix it up beyond the usual t-shirts and pens. What’s the best piece of swag/collateral you have ever given or received? Any creative ideas? ~We need better swag
DEAR WE NEED BETTER SWAG: I totally agree — we do need better swag! Too often the branded swag I receive just doesn’t connect and I end up donating or tossing it. What a waste of money, time, and opportunity!
I decided to throw this question, “What’s the best piece of swag/collateral you have ever given or received?”, out to our network of LPs. “Best” is certainly subjective —creative, useful, engaging, brand promoting?
We let everyone interpret in their own way, and got some great ideas. Here are a few:
- “A branded light jacket — I wear it a ton because it is comfortable in lots of situations.”
- “On the cheaper side, ‘wallet ninjas’ — basically a multipurpose tool that fits in your wallet. I use it every day and customers have also said they love it.”
- “Top-of-the-line noise cancellation headphones. The case was branded, and I used the mess out of them (especially traveling) until they just didn’t work anymore.”
- “Employees that qualified for President’s Club were gifted branded Patagonia beach bags, filled with a Turkish beach towel, sunscreen, and insulated wine glasses, to use on their trip to Hawaii.”
The themes from these suggestions? High-quality, useful items are what is remembered.
Before you start hunting for new swag, I want to set the stage on some considerations: what’s the purpose of your swag and who is the audience? For the purposes of this conversation, let’s focus on branded items — personalized 1:1 gifting (e.g. sending someone a gift card to her favorite restaurant) can be hugely impactful, but I wouldn’t consider that swag.
By thoughtfully answering these questions, you’ll be less likely to waste money and time, and more likely you are to actually have impact with your purchases:
- Audience: Who is it for? Employee, Prospect, Customer, Partner
- Purpose: What is your intent? Make a splash at one point in time impact, walking billboard to show off your logo, consistently keep you top of mind, interactive
- Cost: What’s the budget? How much are you willing to spend to solicit the reaction you are looking for? How will you measure impact?
- Context/Relevancy: Is this item useful? Is it specific to the audience?
It’s also important to remember that no one branded item fits every scenario. Branded swag for your employees is different from a direct mailer for a prospect, or even a holiday gift for a customer. For most external (non-employee) giveaways, you are looking to make an impact and have someone remember you, which probably means using it or wearing the item often. With that in mind, try to find items that fit these parameters:
- Useful: No more shelf ware or stuff you toss. Know your audience and the context to provide something they will return to repeatedly
- High Quality: Thoughtful, well-made items with impact will always outweigh generic, mass-produced items
- Minimal Branding: While you may want your logo front and center, subtle branding makes items much more likely to be worn/used often. For example, brand a vest on the back of the neck instead of the front chest, or choose a low contrast color for embroidery
Have a favorite piece of swag you have given or received? We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments below 👇
See you next week!
