{"id":472,"date":"2025-07-17T15:42:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/?p=472"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:42:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:42:38","slug":"i-usually-hate-branded-pens-but-this-one-changed-my-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/i-usually-hate-branded-pens-but-this-one-changed-my-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"I Usually Hate Branded Pens \u2014 But This One Changed My Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s Get One Thing Straight: I Normally Hate Branded Pens.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re forgettable.
They\u2019re generic.
And nine times out of ten, they do absolutely nothing<\/em> for your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But last week?
A single photo in my inbox made me pause and \u2014 dare I say \u2014 smile<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaw This and Thought of You!\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A friend was at a conference in Tulsa and sent me a pic of a pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right. A pen.
But this one broke all my rules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f It was cheeky.
\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f It was self-aware.
\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f It made someone laugh<\/em>.
\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f And it made them think of me<\/em> \u2014 enough to snap a pic and send it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s memorable branded merch<\/strong>.
And that\u2019s exactly<\/em> what your giveaways should do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Merch Sparks Emotion, It Sticks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This wasn’t just a pen \u2014 it was a conversation starter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had a personality.
It earned<\/em> its place in someone\u2019s bag \u2014 and probably their desk drawer too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It gave someone a reason to smile, and that\u2019s<\/em> the kind of brand interaction that lasts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This pen didn\u2019t try to be everything.
It just tried to be clever, relevant, and worth keeping<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s what makes it great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If You Must Make a Pen\u2026 Make One Like This<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t waste money on forgettable freebies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re creating branded swag \u2014 even something as small as a promotional pen<\/strong> \u2014 make sure it aligns with your brand voice, your sense of humor, and the emotional experience you want people to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Go To Market Studio, we help businesses create small but mighty branded giveaways<\/strong> that stick. From witty copy to thoughtful packaging, we design merch that makes your brand impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when it\u2019s a pen.
(Especially<\/em> when it\u2019s a pen.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Tell Me\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f What\u2019s one freebie you\u2019ll always<\/em> take home from an event?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s a quirky pin, a tiny notebook, or yes \u2014 a clever pen \u2014 I want to hear what stands out to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Hofman, Chief Swag Officer and Branded Merchandise Expert Let\u2019s Get One Thing Straight: I Normally Hate Branded Pens. They\u2019re forgettable.They\u2019re generic.And nine times out of ten, they do absolutely nothing for your brand. But last week?A single photo in my inbox made me pause and \u2014 dare I say \u2014 smile. \u201cSaw This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hide_page_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotomarket.studio\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}