By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Some branded merchandise is made to promote a company.But the best custom branded merchandise is made to promote a person — or more specifically, the version of themselves they’re becoming. That’s exactly what Allegra Cohen’s new merch drop does. It treats joy like the leadership […]
Author: Amanda Hofman
When Branded Merchandise Gets This Good, It Becomes Culture (Heinz x Herschel + the Rise of Fan-First Swag)
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Apparently, one in four Gen Z and Millennials carry their own condiments.Condiments. In their bags. I had to read that twice.Then three times. 🤔🤔🤔 But once the shock wore off, I realized… it actually makes perfect sense. Some people mainline lattes. (👀 Lorelai Gilmore)Some people […]
Brand First, Logo Second: Why the Best Branded Merchandise Isn’t Just a Logo Slap
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert I say this with love: Your logo might be good… but it’s not that good. A logo is a symbol.It’s important — but it doesn’t carry your entire story on its own. And when it comes to branded merchandise, this is where a lot of […]
Why Corporate Food Gifts Are a Hard Pass (and What to Send Instead)
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise ExpertWe’re officially in the “always eating” season — you know, the time of year when every meeting has cookies, every inbox has a “holiday treats” email, and every doorstep is one delivery away from becoming a snack warehouse. So let me rant 🤬 for a second […]
Banished to the Upside Down: The Branded Merchandise Mistakes That Haunt Teams (and the Print-On-Demand Fix) 👻
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Some merch choices deserve to get banished to the Upside Down. You know the ones:bulk orders, size guessing, and the eternal pile of XXL sad boys haunting your storage closet like a cursed artifact. And yet… brands keep doing it. So today, we’re talking about […]
Swag That Slaps: Inside Our Merch Lab (And Why “Festive AF” Works) 🎁✨
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Some holiday swag is… well… trying too hard. You’ve seen it:Santa puns. Glitter overload. Generic “Season’s Greetings” that feels like it came from a catalog in 2007. But every once in a while, a piece of branded merchandise shows up that feels fresh, funny, and […]
One Second to Win: How Branded Merchandise That Passes the “Glance Test” Gets Remembered
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert You get one second to say something with your merch. That’s not dramatic — it’s reality. Social feeds are a highway Everything flies by at 60 miles an hour.If your message doesn’t read at a glance, it’s gone. 💨 And here’s the thing: branded merchandise […]
Our Branded Merch Rulebook: Rule #3 — Keep Your Logo Above the Fold
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert When it comes to branded merch that actually works on camera, placement is everything. You can have the best logo, the best swag, the best merch design in the world—but if your branding sits too low on a shirt, hoodie, or jacket, it disappears the […]
Why Great Branded Merch Needs More Than a Logo
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert I say this with love:Your logo might be good… but it’s not that good. In the world of branded merch and company swag, a logo is just a symbol. It’s not your whole story, and it’s definitely not enough to make people want to wear […]
Swag That Slaps: Inside Our Branded Merch Lab 🔥
By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert When it comes to branded merch that actually hits, this tee from IGNITE isn’t here to play small. It delivers the grounded confidence JULIE CIARDI 📕 is known for—the kind of energy that makes midlife feel like a relaunch, not a fade-out. If you’ve been […]
