By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Are you watching the Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model documentary on Netflix? If you’re not, you are dismissed. (You are no longer in the running to be America’s Next Top Model. 👀) But if you watched America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) when it […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Crinkle-cut French fry skis. 🎿🍟 Those words have absolutely no business being in the same sentence together—and yet here we are, thanks to Ore-Ida Foods, Inc. and Fischer Sports. Ore-Ida took one of its most iconic products—the crinkle-cut fry—and turned it into actual skis you […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Let’s talk about Kwik Trip. I grew up in New Jersey and live in New York. I have never set foot in a Kwik Trip, Inc. location. But if there’s one thing I trust, it’s the passion of Beth Stowell Reed — and she swears […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert A few years ago I was walking a beauty industry trade show, scanning booths and—of course—checking out everyone’s branded merch. Then I saw it. The best merch at the entire show. From an anal bleaching booth. Yes, really. Shoutout to Bryght for making my day […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Most companies approach branded merch the same way: pick an item, print the logo, ship it out, and hope people like it. Sometimes it works. But more often? That corporate merch ends up sitting in a drawer, donated, or quietly forgotten. There’s a better way […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Branded merch should make people excited to rep your brand—not quietly shove the item into the back of a closet. Yet too often, branded merchandise misses the mark because too many stakeholders weigh in and no one owns the outcome. Great branded merch is thoughtful, […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert If your branded merch strategy is sitting on the back burner, it’s not simmering. It’s burned. Your calendar is never going to magically clear.It has not once canceled itself to be nice. Your team is not about to stumble into surplus capacity.And you’re still going […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Waiting until you feel “big enough” to invest in branded merch is one of the fastest ways to stall your growth. If you’re worried your company is too small for custom swag, that’s actually your signal that now is the time to launch it. It […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Most podcasters send a gift or branded merch after the episode goes live.That’s backwards. ⏮️ Send it before. If you’re investing time in booking great guests, promoting episodes, and growing your audience, your podcast branded merchandise strategy should work just as hard as your marketing […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert I’m going to tell you something you probably don’t want to hear: Your employees, team members, and fans do not want the same branded merchandise in 2026 that they got from you in 2025. Or 2024.And definitely not 2023. If your swag strategy is on […]