By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert “It looks like you’re trying to launch swag… 📎” If Clippy had thoughts on branded merch in 2025, he’d point his little bendy body straight to print-on-demand merchandise. And honestly? He’d be right. Here’s why you should listen to the world’s most over-eager office supply: […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Everyone’s trying to stand out at trade shows with ring lights, wireless chargers, and tech gadgets. But let’s be honest: no one ever said, “I want to hire this company because of their USB splitter.” That’s because the job of branded merch isn’t to be […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert The new Krispy Kreme x Crocs, Inc. collab is donut-core perfection. 🍩 Think jelly-glazed clogs, frosting-drip detailing, and sprinkle Jibbitz that look good enough to eat. It’s fun. It’s wild. And it’s exactly what branded merch should be. Designed to delight. Why Bold Swag Works […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert I never set out to work in branded merchandise.Like a lot of founders, I just wanted to fix a problem that drove me absolutely nuts. At my first company, I wanted swag. Badly. But the process? A total nightmare. It was stressful, time-consuming, and honestly […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Some merch makes you cringe. Some merch gets tossed. And some merch—like Oscar Mayer’s Hot Dog Girl Summer hat—becomes instant cultural currency. 🌭✨ This bold, mustard-yellow drop is everything branded swag should be: It riffs off the viral “Hot Girl Summer” trend, but in a […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert 📣 Surprise fact about me: I was a full-on, pom-poms-in-hand, high-kick, sideline-shouting cheerleader in high school. Bigger surprise? I never really stopped. These days, the uniform’s different (a lot more black denim, a lot less glitter), but the hype energy is still going strong—just redirected […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert 👩🏻‍⚖️ Swag Court is now in session. Today’s case: the infamous drawstring backpack. 🚨 The Crime: Plastic drawstring backpacks featuring logos the size of Nebraska. They crinkle. They creak. They dig into your shoulders like you’ve done something to deserve it. And worst of all? […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert We’ve all seen it and maybe even done it. The bulk keychains. The stress balls. The pens that never write. This is the world of spray-and-pray swag: handing out a bunch of random branded merch and hoping something, anything, resonates. Spoiler alert: clutter isn’t strategy. […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Your booth is buzzing.The energy is high.The conversations? 🔥 But behind the scenes—literally, behind your booth—sit 200 unworn branded T-shirts in a sad, dusty box. You smile through the sting of a burning budget.“This is fine,” you say, channeling the meme… while internally panicking. Let’s […]

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Let’s face it: confusing branded merch doesn’t just fall flat—it actively works against your brand. You know the kind. Someone pulls a freebie out of a tote and immediately thinks: 👉 What even is this?👉 Where did I get it?👉 Why did I keep it? […]