Walk down a busy street in your city and you’ll see a variety of trends.

You’ll see stark contrasts from person to person, of course, but look closely and you’re also likely to see a variety of trends mashed up into one person at any one time.

Sometimes it’s on purpose: an eclectic look as a trademark, let’s say.

Sometimes, it’s out of necessity: mixing a piece with this year’s hot colour and last year’s popular textiles might be a matter of availability or price.

Mixing trends together can be a way of adapting at one’s own pace or holding firm in a devotion to a particular type of clothing as a signature item in your personal style. Keeping true to your love of Doc Martens, for example, while the people around you are donning TOMS or Top-Siders (called docksiders, when and I where I grew up.)

Lately, we’ve been examining current fashion through this microscope of blends:

The intersection of trends

Bold Nautical Pattern Layered on a Traditional Sweatshirt source:apliiq	Bright Colours as an Update to a Traditional Product source:MIRO
Bold Patterns Fused with Rustic Materials source:pkg	Rustic Carrier with an Updated Usage source:theKitchn
Nautical Colours with Traditional Materials source:RIGHTSLEEVE	Contrasting Patterns on a Traditional Bag source: Herschel Supply Company
Modern Tech Accessories Made With Rustic Material source: rustico	Nautical Colors Paired with Rustic Materials source:Lori’s

Made in Canada

There are many factors that play into purchasing decisions.

Here are some off the top of my head: availability, style, colour, recommendations, mood, sizing, quality, price, past experience, where it’s made, what it’s made with, and working conditions.

I’m sure you could easily tack on another dozen if you brainstormed for a minute or two.

Think about going through that list right now and ordering the factors from most important to least important to your purchase.

Now, imagine you did the exact same ordering exercise two years ago.

And, that you’ll do it again two years from now.

Chances are the list would be ordered differently each time. You’d be in different financial circumstances, surrounded by a different environment, have varying external demands on your time and your money.

Really, who hasn’t grabbed something out of a closet or drawer and muttered to themselves “What was I thinking?”

Like much of the world, we’ve been following the coverage of the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. We’ve watched the rescue efforts,the coverage, and the subsequent response from the public.  A lot of purchasing decisions went into creating those circumstances and people are questioning those decisions right now – from corporate as well as individual levels.

Some people are calling for boycotts some are saying that boycotts aren’t the answer.

Still other people are saying that the solution lies in purchasing North American made clothing.  (And, while we’re proponents of buying North American made clothing such as American Apparel or Redwood Classics the truth of the matter is that we don’t have the production capacity in North America to handle the volume required if people switched en mass.)

All of this leaves purchasers with their heads spinning.  Understandably so.

So, what do you do?

You strike a balance.

A balance between price and labour conditions.

A balance between quality and availability.

A balance between the factors, and this is key, that are important to you.

So, think about it.

Take some time to figure out what’s important to you today and start there.

If you want to have a conversation about it, let us know on Facebook. We’d love to chat.

Don’t worry, it happens to everyone at one point or another.

You don’t need to be ashamed.

Your swag just got a little boring. Really, it happens.

Fortunately, we know ways to fix it.
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October means lots of things. Burning leaves, cozy sweaters, and costume ideas to name a few.

It also means time to start thinking about your end of the year gifts.

Here are some ideas to jump-start your holiday brainstorming.

Calendars are not dead!

Really. An industry survey showed that more people reference wall calendars over calendars on their computers each day. They’re also more likely to think favourably about your company and refer your company to other people.   (psst, this was a surprise to the researchers too!)

For a get-down-to-work option, we like a mailable monthly-view desk calendar.

If sleek design is your thing, go for this beautiful perpetual calendar from MoMA.

Food, Delicous Food

C’mon you may not want to admit it, but the constant availability of chocolate in December is something to look forward to.  Most companies give edibles as gifts this time of year, but too many miss out on a great branding opportunity by waiting until the last minute and purchasing at retail.  This year, move your ordering deadline forward and order something delicious and branded.

Think promo food isn’t as good as the stuff at retail?  We offer options from Lindt, Jelly Belly, and Godiva.

People are still talking about the delicious branded cookies we did at our event earlier this year.

Made in North America

From food to hard goods, more consumers are looking for items sourced closer to home.  If made in North America matters to you or your users, we have an entire category of Made in Canada or Made in the USA  products on our website.

Our favourite locally made products are from our custom knitwear line.

For other ideas check out our website for a special page of  holiday and winter product ideas.

RIGHTSLEEVE is a promotional products agency that specializes in helping companies establish emotional connections to their brands through creative merchandise collections. Please say hi on twitter or facebook. 

When I worked in the cable TV industry, there was one really big lesson I learned: Everyone hates the cable company.

I’ve been in the promo industry for five years now, still a newbie by some measures, but I’ve also learned a valuable lesson about this industry. This recent post by Hubspot on the good, bad and ugly of swag got me thinking about whether there is such a thing as bad promo when you consider all of the different audiences. While we agree with many of their points, we also know that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Or to quote one of my colleagues from the industry:

There is no bad swag, only badly chosen – Heidi Thorne, @heidithorne

Rather than looking at the items themselves, we try to look at how giveaways will resonate with recipients. We think it’s great that the attendees of HubSpot’s conferences are all digitally connected, but my first-gen Motorola Xoom (<—-street cred implied there) is wi-fi only, so when I went to Cloudforce earlier this year and all of the wi-fi was password protected I was totally bummed. But then I could take notes with the kickin’ RIGHTSLEEVE branded red flair pen stashed in my bag…and yes, it was next to my Moleskin (<—–hipster implied there).

Oh, and we think the folks at ScribbleLIVE have our backs: They love their combo highlighter pens so much, they Instagrammed them:

It’s not a matter of good or bad. It’s about choosing swag smartly. -Patricia Keays

In doing an informal key chain survey around the office, I discovered a couple of things.

1. A lot of people have branded key chains.
2. People are passionate about their branded key chains (as they are about a lot of swag).

Katie Anderson, loves her Camp Kandalore key chain. She hasn’t worked at the camp in over 7 years, but she still carries it around with her and smiles from ear to ear when telling me about getting it. But, let’s set her feelings aside for a minute and crunch some numbers. If Katie has used her keys twice a day (once when leaving home and once when coming home) every day for the last 7 years, that adds up to over 2500 times that Katie has looked at her Kandalore key chain.

At less than one cent, that’s the type of cost per impression that marketers dream about!

Would a Camp Kandalore Key chain have the same effect on me? Nope. But, I’ve had the Roxy keychain below for close to ten years. I got it on a trip to Hawaii for my brother’s wedding so the sentimental value of that keychain is through the roof for me. I actually dove to the bottom of a dumpster and fished that key chain out of a puddle of trashed-filled water one time.

Pictured above starting at 12:00: Rob Montebelli, from the RIGHTSLEEVE spin-off company commonsku, carried his soccer key chain with him when he moved from Italy. Julia Corcoran loves the Heineken key chain she got in Amsterdam.  I went dumpster-diving to save my Roxy key chain, and Katie Anderson still carries her Camp Kandalore keychain long after leaving camp.

Bottom line: Keychains resonate with recipients when chosen well and distributed appropriately.

Rule #1 for trade show promo: make sure the product matches the needs of the audience. -Mark Graham in 7 Ways Social Media can Transform Your Next Swag Campaign

Bottomer line: All swag resonates when chosen well and distributed properly.

HubSpot and I could argue back and forth all day on what specific pieces of swag we like the best, and that’s okay…we do that exact thing in the RIGHTSLEEVE office too. What HubSpot thinks is cool swag isn’t going to be what the next company thinks is cool…the commenters on HubSpot’s original post prove that point. That’s why we emphasize the importance of matching your swag to your audience.

So, next time you’re planning for a tradeshow or a giveaway or an award or any other piece of branded merchandise you’re giving out, think about your recipients first and the items second.

Andy Warhol predicted 15 minutes of fame for us all.

Tim Ferriss says our workweek only needs to be 4 hours.

Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have boiled a manager’s job all they way down to one minute.

In our business, we see trends in the continually shortening life cycles of products. The hottest trends, designs, and products of this year will be old news in few months and we’ll be onto the next big thing…sometimes leaving debris in our wake.

Now, Fioen van Balgooi of Refinity is looking to introduce a game-changer to combat the waste that the short attention span of these cycles can cause: Removable prints.

Refinity saw a disconnect between our ever-changing selves and the temporary designs we use for expression and promotion, then developed a printing process that can be ecologically removed allowing textiles to be re-used and expanding the life-cycle of product.

In collaboration with Anne Noordegraaf and More Tea Vicar, the group created items centered around a garden theme and developed a process that allows textiles to be printed then the print removed. They see this process opening up the door to re-usability in multiple ways. Consumers can have clothing adjusted as fashion trends change, companies can change logos, taglines, and slogans on their branded items, and print can be removed before recycling allowing the fibers to be spun into a solid coloured thread.

Print Removal Steps

The pieces they developed are machine washable and can be worn multiple times. In a win for the environment neither the ink nor the detergent used in their process contain harmful substances. In addition to re-usability, their vision for the technology includes cutting back on long distance transport of raw materials and print on-demand production possibilities.

The design is still in the early stages of development and the team is working on commercialization of their service. Improvements they hope to make to the process include creating ink more suitable for printing, increasing the number of textiles the process can be applied to, and creating a return system for the textiles.

Recent developments like removable and 3D printing  serve as great reminders of the advances occurring in our field.

Refinity

Dad’s special holiday is just a few days away.  If you’ve procrastinated on getting a gift for dear old dad, we’re here to give you some inspiration – and they won’t all require you to dip into your wallet.

Pop-up Hammock - We know the whole family will use this bad boy, but why not give dad the first snooze?

Beat the Traffic App – Not all gifts are about the dough.  Point your dad to this app to help him navigate the roads and get home faster!

Brookstone Meat Thermometer – Grilling is serious work for dads the world over.  With this remote thermometer he can watch the game and still grill his BBQ masterpieces to perfection.

Magnetic Hammer – Okay, so this one is more of an idea at this stage, but maybe you can DIY your own with your dad and make a weekend project out of it?  The magnetic hammer allows you to keep nails at the ready and out of dads mouth.

It feels like only last year I heard groans and digs about that thing the 80′s called fashion.  Now, when I look at the fashionistas and fashionmistas (see, it’s totally a word. Thank you Urban Dictionary) on the street, I Just Wanna Have Fun with color. With Neon hues a major trend for this summer we wanted to take a spin through the variety of ways dayglow colors are making appearances this year.

For the man who’s secure in his masculinity, Coleman brand cables have him covered with a collection of outdoor extension cords in colors like hot pink and fluorescent green.

No self-respecting RIGHTSLEEVER would be caught outside on a sunny day without our favorite brandable sunglasses.

Colored denim is back. Turn ‘em into cutoffs for the company picnic and they’re fierce! Found via Pinterest.  (Pst, Have you visited the RS Pinterest Page?)

If you follow us on Facebook (and why wouldn’t you?), you’ll remember this shot of the ladies of RIGHTSLEEVE displaying their neon summer nails in full force.  Go bright or don’t go to the salon.

Neon slap-watch.  Can’t touch that.

’tis the season for barbecues, company picnics, long-weekends, and all manner of summer outings. Next time you’re heading toward the water, pack these items along with your sunscreen for a perfect beach kit.

Stake out your spot and create home base with our Pix-Mix Outdoor Blanket. Blanket folds into a handled cover for grab-and-go ease.

If you’re going to the beach, you need a towel. This one rocks. ‘Nuff said.

Protect your sun-sensitive companions with with our UV protective Sun Shelter. Perfect for catching an out-of-the-sun snooze.

For your battery charging emergencies.

Hydrate responsibly.

Our all-in-one game-pack will keep the whole gang entertained.

Finally, a shout out to one of our campaigns.  Throw in this clip-on mosquito repellent from OFF!®  for protection you don’t have to apply to your skin.

It’s taken me a couple of days but I’ve almost recovered from our annual client party. All day this year, I kept comparing our event to a wedding. You spend months arranging details like food, guest lists, venue etc. and the day of the event comes and goes in such a whirlwind of activity that you look back on it and wonder if parts of it were a dream.

With a name like SWAG2.0, our use of product marketing should be top notch. Our goal this year was to infuse our entire event with promotional products and do it in such a way that we highlighted some of the many ways you can use swag well.

Say Hello
They say there’s no second chance to make a first impression and that’s why we like to hand out a nice gift as soon as guests arrive to our party. This year, we chose the chromo journal because they’re a quality piece of stationary and the chrome trim makes them a real eye-catcher.

Chromo Journals

In the early days of SWAG2.0 we went back and forth on the use of name tags; after all we know our clients! But, then we realized that our clients don’t necessarily know each other and name tags make introductions a lot easier. We still like to to keep the name tag thing kinda casual so we encourage guests to write their own and add a spark of creativity if they like.

Name Tags

Engage
One of my favorite things about product marketing is that you can use a normal product in a unique way and give it an entirely different life. Anyone remember when we used a post-it wall as our sign-in book? Well, this year, we took a unique product and made it even more special.

Animal Poppers

Our animal poppers have been a big hit as employee gifts as most people appreciate their ability to relieve stress and cause a few laughs. We decided to give our poppers even more of a personality by making them the focal point in a game we called “Popper Pong”. In addition to showing how our products can be given new life with a different application, Popper Pong was a great talking point, an ice breaker, and a way for our clients to engage with each other.

Playing Popper Pong

The idea of Popper Pong was to have fun, so we made sure that everyone got a prize for playing. Manufacturing a one-inch button on the spot if you scored was also a way to introduce an offline, viral component to the event. Seeing players proudly displaying their red, blue, or yellow pins was a great way to let word-of-mouth do our jobs and direct new players back to the game.

Interact
Swag2.0 is all about interaction and engagement.

We already had our ice-breaker with Popper Pong, but we wanted something else to drive interaction with our products and also put to good use our love of social media.

QR Coded Stress Toy

QR codes are a great way to link offline products with online activities so we decided to run a QR code contest. When guests scanned the QR codes on their free stress toy they were taken to one of two videos which indicated if they won or lost. Winners were then directed to the RIGHTSLEEVE booth to pick up either a Sigg waterbottle or a slap-watch as their prize.

RIGHTSLEEVE Branded Sigg Bottles & Slap Watches

I must admit that sending folks to our RIGHTSLEEVE booth to pick up their prize wasn’t on accident. We sent guests there to

• get the full tour of our event
• interact with some of our great staff
• showcase work we’ve done with other great companies

Leave ‘em with More
Okay, so the phrase is “leave them wanting more,” but in this case we wanted to send our clients on their way with a great swag bag of useful, eye-catching items. As guests departed the event, we handed them their final dose of product. We stuffed our sling and ella coolers with a variety of gear

1. a branded cookie to provide sustenance on the trip home
2. a torino tumbler to use for favorite summer beverages
3. a custom-shaped RIGHTSLEEVE keychain to remind everyone of their favorite swag event of the year!

SWAG Bags with our Torino Tumbler peeking out

We put on SWAG2.0 every year because we love our clients and want to show them a great time. Using swag to entertain and delight is just the icing on our proverbial wedding cake. If you came to the event we all hope you had a blast and that you learned a new thing or two about creative ways to use promotional products.

To see more pictures from the event, check out our Facebook album.

For some great ideas on product marketing you don’t have to wait until next year, give us a call (1.877.975.3383) or subscribe to the SWAG2.0 blog.

We leave you with one cookie to rule them all.

Cookie photo courtesy Carolyn Van.