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.

Of course you know that Mother’s Day is 10 days away. You DO know that, right? We sat down recently and rounded-up some of our top product pics for the favorite mom in your life.

For the soon-to-be mom

Ultra-portable Built Change Pad

For the pinup mom

Photography : Laura Byrnes

She can knock-em out in the Deadly Dames Dress from www.pinupgirlclothing.com

For the honky-tonk mom

So she’ll be outfitted for her boot, scoot, and her boogie.

For the stretchy mom

Help her practice safe yoga with non-slip yoga socks.

For the made-in-the-USA fashionista mom

Fashionable bags re-purposed on, uh, purpose.

For the going-through-the-change-mom

Going from hot to cool is a breeze with this purse-sized fan.