6 ms·
I still wear T-shirts from vendors at tech conferences that I received years ago. They're durable, and they advertise the company not just to me but to others.
by jawns 3y ago
I still wear T-shirts from vendors at tech conferences that I received years ago. They're durable, and they advertise the company not just to me but to others.
But perhaps the swag that has had the most staying power is stuff I could bring home for my kids to play with. I've gotten company-branded balls, puzzles, figurines, and other toys, and not only do they make a good "Guess what I brought home for you" surprise, but they sit around the house for ages, so you get a lot of exposure to their logos.
One thing I've never gotten as swag, but could see being a good ROI, would be a children's picture book, with a "Compliments of [Brand Name]" on it. With my kids, they would request that I read the same book to them 50+ times, so that's 50+ exposures to the brand.
- castalian 3y agoThis image of kids playing with commercial merch is so dystopian.
- vincnetas 3y agowhats the difference between merch logos and regular toy brand for the kid? they dont care. as a parent i also dont realy care if they having fun.
- foofie 3y ago> whats the difference between merch logos and regular toy brand for the kid? On top of that, some children's shows are clearly tailored to push toys and all kinds of things, hoping to create a feedback loop of demand for swag-adjacent gear.
- GuB-42 3y agoLess so than kids at school wearing apparel with very prominent branding. At least, people usually don't pay for commercial merch.
- joseda-hg 3y agoThere's an entire fashion style that leans heavily on oversized logos, logomania Streetwear is weird
- saiya-jin 3y agoWhats wrong with that? Kids play with anything, wooden stick is a great toy anytime for example. That there are some logos and not some other logos or pictures they couldn't care less about
- winphone1974 3y agoAll merchandise is commercial. Do your kids wear a Nike swoosh t shirt? Okay on an iPad? Love Lego? What the difference if it's a Microsoft football or new relic slingshot (all things I see from where I'm sitting)?
- Moru 3y agoOh! Fun questionaire! Nike? No, iPad? No, Lego? No, Not sure what the other things are.
- bombcar 3y agoI have a few Lego minifigures branded with a (since merged away) corporate logo. Branded Lego is probably the most durable chotchki you’re going to find.
- justinlloyd 3y agoYep, LEGO endures. I've done entire branded boxes filled with a custom instruction booklet, such as "build this diorama of our video game studio" or "this is a character from our upcoming game" or "it's a LEGO GameBoy with our game on the screen." And it has to be LEGO. Anything else is considered cheap and reflects on your company.
- bombcar 3y agoThe top-tier of this, of course, is to have LEGO make a special set and color for you, like the Maersk promotion sets: https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Maersk https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Maersk (Now it's kind of boring because they sell them online, before those were exceptionally rare as they were basically only sold directly to Maersk.)
- xattt 3y agoI used to get all sorts of medically-branded pens and merchandise courtesy of my parents. I had an infinite supply of pens. Years later, I was working as a nurse on a medical floor. I had a realization that I was filling out an IV med label for Avelox with an Avelox-branded pen.
- wlindley 3y agoMemories: Being in sixth grade and wondering why the teacher thought it was odd that I was using pencils with "Diazepam HCl" on them.
- Doxin 3y agoThis dutch web shop selling mostly printer ink includes very nice ballpoint pens with their branding in the packages. End-result: Those pens get used by news readers and youtubers all over the place.
- msrenee 3y agoMom's a nurse, so we grew up with about everything in the house being branded drug merch. The diflucan dolphin beanie toy is probably my favorite. As an adult, I wish she had brought home Viagra swag. They gave out some hilarious stuff.
- avgcorrection 3y agoThe only swag I am comfortable with wearing in public are things that look like it might just be a [sweater] with a cool image on it. No way I’m walking around with “Castiron ᴀʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɪʀᴏɴ ɴᴇᴇᴅs sɪɴᴄᴇ 1887” on my torso.
- zemvpferreira 3y agoI actually love these, to my shame.
- maroonblazer 3y agoMe too! The more obscure, the better. At least in the circles I run in, I can always count on someone asking me about what's on my torso.
- delogos 3y agoI would absolutely wear your hypothetical Cast Iron shirt, just as an aside. There's always someone who's interested in niche topics.
- 542458 3y agoI actually have gotten a children’s picture book from a brand of cloth diapers that describes a silly and exaggerated story of how they invented their core product (a pivot from the two founders’ masters degrees in aerospace engineering). It is, as you suspected, very effective marketing as it is now seared into my brain from many re-readings.
- XorNot 3y agoMy son was gifted a toolset by his aunt and uncle for Christmas. Plastic tools, belt etc...and a little voice box which every 3rd press or so extolls the virtues of John Deere tractors. Those slogans are now going to be stuck in my brain forever, so I've got to hand it to them (no one realised it did this before they got it).
- mauvehaus 3y agoA month after I met my now-wife, I went with her to Thanksgiving at her sister's house. My nephew was two at the time, and he had three magnets: a horse, a frog, and a duck. Each of which made the respective noise when you pushed a button on the magnet. Naturally, being who I am, I took it upon myself to swap the circuit boards around among the magnets. Apparently this caused some distress a couple days later when my nephew discovered that the frog now made horse noises. We did not give our wedding guests the opportunity to object to our union. TL;DR: it sounds like you have an opportunity on your hands!
- spoonjim 3y agoI never give that shit to my kids because I know it’s made in some uninspected Chinese factory
- maroonblazer 3y agoThe catch with t-shirts is they MUST be made of high-quality material. I've been handed so many promotional t-shirts where it's obvious they went with the lowest-cost supplier and they just feel awful on against my skin. Straight to the Goodwill with those.
- dylan604 3y agowhy not straight to the trash. why would you feel that some article of clothing that is so poorly made that you refuse to wear it should be foisted upon someone else? this just feels like you trying to make yourself feel good without actually doing any good.
- flir 3y agoI've never had a t-shirt "feel bad against my skin". And I wear some pretty cheap t-shirts. I'll take 'em. (Or "One man's trash is another man's treasure").
- tom_ 3y agoSome random suggestions: 1. other people may not feel the same way about the material 2. somebody else one or two sizes smaller might be able to make routine use of it with some other garment underneath 3. somebody else might feel it's fine for emergency use or painting and decorating or whatever 4. could come in handy for use with an animal
- ghaff 3y agoFurthermore, in some places (e.g. MA), it's actually illegal to toss textiles in the trash. I'm sure no one cares with a garment here and there but if you have a couple of large trashbags you should probably be donating them.
- MadnessASAP 3y agoDon't forget rags for in the shop, I love me some old t-shirts for that.
- 3y ago
- acdha 3y agoVery age dependent but my toddler son loved the CNCF animal logo plushies. They got tons of use and did not feel wasteful like the direct to landfill stuff I’ve gotten at so many conferences.
- justsomehnguy 3y agoI would agree with the other comment: commercial merch is dystopian. This month I finally disposed of my simple, black HP (not HPE) T-shirt. It is truly dystopian what the current merch doesn't hold up for.. does a quick 24 - 08 math .. 16 years!
- toyg 3y ago> commercial merch is dystopian We're all digital serfs anyway, enslaved by subscriptions and work for hire - might as well get something back for it.
- japhyr 3y agoI think the best piece of swag I ever got was a high-quality fidget spinner from Pluralsight. Even though fidget spinners were a fad, they're still pretty cool to have around. That one from the conference is still around in our house somewhere, and people still play with it. I've also brought home so much garbage, that was fun to play with for a couple minutes but either broke or had no lasting interest. If you're in charge of choosing swag, please think about whether it has any lasting value. It does say something about your company's values and follow-through.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoAbout 6-7 years ago, I attended a hacker convention and of course I made the rounds to pick up swag. American Express had brought a limited supply of fidget spinners, and they were in extremely high demand. I was unable to secure one of my own. PayPal had the best cache of stuff. They had this earphone holder that was designed like a fishbone. You were supposed to wrap the cord around the "ribs". Then I also picked up a shirt that said on the back "report phishing attempts to phishing@paypal.com". I wore the shirt in public and a woman accosted me at a bus stop. She asked me if I worked for PayPal, which I denied. Then she told me anyway about some dispute she had. I decided to stop wearing the shirt and other swag that wasn't directly related to me.
- atomicnumber3 3y agoThe trap with shirts is that girls LOVE oversized, soft t-shirts as nightshirts. And since "unisex" shirts are often actually just men's-fit shirts, you have the double-whammy of a) give it to a guy, decent odds his partner steals it, and b) give it to a woman, good odds she doesn't want to wear it as a normal shirt (because "unisex"=men's) but it's a great night-shirt. I got a Datadog t-shirt in 2016. Amazing quality. I have never worn it; it is my wife's favorite pajama shirt. She says the dog is cute. ...Dang maybe this is actually the master plan, though. I've seen datadog's logo like 50% of nights for the last 8 years.
- paulddraper 3y agoI had too many shirts, so I eventually collected T-shirts for the wife. I did get some funny looks asking for a (women's) small instead of large, but gotta bring home the goods.
- pallas_athena 3y agoConditioning you to love Datadog, brilliant
- nox101 3y agoI detest branded clothing. why should I be paying a company to advertise for them? LV, Boss, etc. I know for most they want to show off the logos hoping it makee them look like they have taste and/or money. It's crazy to me tho. Some of the designs are atrocious more on topic though. You know the there are branded children's book right? Example: https://www.amazon.com/Ms-Brand-Counting-Book/dp/0881068543 https://www.amazon.com/Ms-Brand-Counting-Book/dp/0881068543
- WalterBright 3y agoI wear t-shirts a lot, but not advertising t-shirts. Just blank ones. Same goes for any other logo clothing. I get that others like them, it's just not for me.
- thex10 3y agoAt my last conference I got a (unfortunately unbranded so I don't even remember who it's from) spinning top, my toddler loves watching it go!
- KnlnKS 3y agoSomewhat related to the children's book idea. I've received a Postgres coloring book from an Azure event.
- gibspaulding 3y ago> a children's picture book I don't know the story behind this or how many were actually printed, but Microsoft seems to have tried it: https://archive.org/details/mommybook https://archive.org/details/mommybook