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Swag: Dorky and Uncool? Think Again!

hrc-branded-swagOk, let’s be honest. When you think of promotional items, does the word “cool” come to mind? If the answer is no, you’re probably not alone. Promotional products were not historically seen as hip, trendy, or fashionable, but a lot has changed in recent years. Now swag, once looked at with more than a whiff of disdain, is cool. Even the meaning of the word ‘swag’ has been updated to mean something cool, a unique personal style, or something you approve of.

Not convinced that swag is in style? Here are a few recent developments in the world of branded merch that may change your mind:

  1. Designers and fashionistas are embracing swag. Maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe it’s just a yearning for a return to the graphic design of old, but when it comes to what’s in style, everything old is new again. Designers are embracing old school graphic t-shirts, and major fashion houses are even elevating the humble embroidered patch to haute status.
  2. Campaign swag has gone from dorky to desirable. Those of us who remember the 70s, 80s, and 90s can immediately call to mind the old school, blocky, and decidedly lame graphic design of political campaigns. You didn’t see Carter-Mondale or Reagan-Bush printed on a great fashion t-shirt, much less see the fashion elite wearing them. But now swag has gone upscale: major fashion designers have released gorgeous branded t-shirts promoting Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. They’re so chic you almost forget they’re campaign merchandise.
  3. Major brands offer items through promotional products sellers. Yes, swag can be covetable—especially when you have major brands like Victorinox, Lacoste, Nike, Kenneth Cole, Isaac Mizrahi, Moleskine Brookstone, MoMA, Umbra, and Alessi offering their own specially branded items through promotional products sellers. This type of co-branding is big right now, and it means your business can offer premier goods that might not have been available in the past.

6f124d9c-8f60-4e17-9bd2-462d2082a67aThe most important take-away to keep in mind is that there are more choices than ever before. Back in the day you might have just been able to offer your customers a not so hip foam can cooler (which, let’s admit it, is ironically cool these days). Now you have a wealth of options to pick from—each with its own unique style and sensibility. At the end of the day, one thing is certain: when it comes to branded and promotional items, this is not your grandparents’ swag!

Are you looking for branded promotional items to help your company stand out from the competition? There are a lot of ways branded goods can draw attention for your business. Get in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook or call us at 877-881-6845 and we’ll be glad to advise you on exceptional promotional products that can represent your brand with style and grace.

Campaign Swag at the RNC and DNC

Bernie Sanders mouse padIt’s convention time! The Republicans have been gathering in Cleveland this week to formally nominate Donald Trump as their candidate for President, and next week the Democrats will officially give their nod to Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia. This has been an unusual campaign season to say the least, and as we’ve talked about before here on the blog, one of the most interesting and unique things about it has been the campaign swag. Promotional branded products are one of the most effective methods that candidates are using to advertise their campaigns, and supporters (or, in some cases, just really clever entrepreneurs with a good sense of humor) are getting in on the act too.

Of course Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hat is the most iconic and readily recognizable piece of campaign swag out there, but there are others worth mentioning. Here are some of the most intriguing types of swag—or stories about swag—that have gotten our attention as the election has heated up this summer:

  • Make America Great Again spinoffs. One of the most effective things about Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan is that you can spin it off into many different versions. We’re seeing that this week, as the RNC presents a different theme each night (Make America Safe Again, Make America Work Again). Some merchandise sellers are putting an ironic twist on the famous catchphrase with tongue-in-cheek products such as the Make Coffee Great Again coffee mug.
  • Magical Bernie gear. Although Bernie Sanders may be out of the race, his supporters are still buying up plenty of swag—including really fun, kitschy items like a 80s portrait style mouse pad showing Bernie holding a cute cat and a Bernie Sanders Is Magical onesie depicting the Bern riding triumphant atop a unicorn graced by a rainbow. Not to be outdone, 90s girls saying #ImWithHer can make a statement with throwback Hillary scrunchies.
  • Unique, local swag from Philly artists. Conventions such as the RNC and DNC are big opportunities for cities to draw attention to their special attractions and what makes them unique, and Philadelphia is no exception. To welcome the DNC next week, Philly artists have designed a set of exclusive clothing, pins, magnets, and other souvenirs sure to attract visitors to the city of Brotherly Love. This is a nice change of pace from the same-old same-old, ubiquitous Liberty Bell goods you typically see throughout the city.

Whoever you support in this year’s campaign, there’s likely some swag out there with your name on it. Have you seen a piece of swag that has particularly caught your eye lately? Snap a photo of it and share it with us on social at Twitter, Facebook, or @branding_ideas on Instagram! We’re always on the lookout for examples of cool, funky, or interesting swag.

Are you looking for branded promotional items to help your company stand out? There are a lot of ways branded goods can draw attention for your business. Get in touch with us on Twitter and Facebook or call us at 877-881-6845 and we’ll be glad to advise you on exceptional promotional products that can represent your brand with style and grace.

What Is Up with This New Campaign Swag?

If you’ve been following the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections lately, no doubt by now you’ve heard all about Donald DTC-ODTRH-RD-2Trump and his famous “Make America Great Again” trucker hat. The Donald’s hat has even become a meme on social media! But he’s not alone—the other candidates, both fellow GOP members and Democrats alike, have come out with some pretty unique and funny campaign swag in recent months. Hillary Clinton is selling pantsuit t-shirts, Rand Paul is selling Hillary hard drives, Marco Rubio is proffering onesies for babies, and popular humor site Funny or Die has even posted a parody imagining some of the most oddball campaign swag imaginable.

 

So what’s going on here? Why are politicians suddenly rolling out complete online stores full of branded promotional items that seem so specifically tailored to certain demographic groups? Although campaign swag itself is certainly nothing new—branded goodies intended for political supporters have been around since the days of John Adams—it certainly appears to have taken on a bigger role in the presidential campaign than it ever has before. You would think that the campaigns themselves would not necessarily want to be jumping full-on into the retail business, with all of the management concerns and logistics that involves. It turns out, however, that they have a very clear strategy behind the rollout of these expansive online campaign stores featuring all this quirky swag.

 

jeb-bush-guacamole-bowl-w724-1When you buy an item from a campaign store, it’s not actually counted as a sale of a product. Rather, your purchase of campaign swag is considered the “premium” you receive in return for your donation. This means that, by launching robust online shops, candidates can boost their volume of small donations. The Obama 2008 campaign was particularly successful in doing this. Beyond the money, however, what the campaigns are really interested in is the data that these purchases reveal about personal preferences along a variety of demographic groups.

 

Feel the Bern hot sauceAs a recent New York Times article on campaign swag explained, “the choice of a product can reveal whether you are a beer drinker, a sports fan or what cellphone you use. It can suggest that there are a lot of joggers headquartered in a specific region of the country, indicating that a campaign may want to direct its health communications to that state; or that you really, really hate the other guy.” By identifying trends and building demographic profiles, the campaigns can better target their communications with particular groups or tap into a greater reservoir of funding they had not previously known about. Interestingly, according to the Times piece, this careful and very sophisticated segmenting of consumer data “would track very closely to what exists in a large or midsize fashion chain.”

 

trucker-hats-and-pom-poms-the-2016-candidates-are-selling-lots-of-swag-body-image-1443644051So clearly, campaign swag is about more than the coffee cup or the t-shirt or even the money associated with those purchases. For the campaigns themselves, it’s about really knowing their customers and their preferences, designing branded products that speak to their unique identities, then using the knowledge they gain from the data that comes in to better segment and target their communications even more perfectly to the groups that they want to reach. It’s a fascinating exercise in both branding and sales, and a trend that will be worth keeping an eye on as Election Day approaches.

 

Are you looking for creative ideas or strategy to get your message across with an upcoming company campaign, special project, or an event that you may have on the horizon? If so, reach out to us on social media—we’re on Twitter and Facebook—or call us at 877-881-6845 and we’ll be happy to provide expert advice on how you can achieve your branding goals.