Swag Synonyms, Words for Merch & Types of Promotional Products
Corporate gifts, swag, and branded merchandise. Trade show and event giveaways and souvenirs. Mementos and custom party favors and school spirit items. These are all names for different types of promotional products. All are customized with a logo, design, or message, yet each one also has its own use and strategy. Let’s look at different types of promotional products and their purposes.
Corporate Gifts
A branded corporate gift is a synonym for swag and makes perfect giveaways for staff, customers, clients, board members, and partners. They can show appreciation for a job well done or recognition for volunteer time served; they can help unite a team. Corporate gifts to clients and customers strengthen relationships, helping to retain and grow business.
Personalized corporate gifts do double duty as marketing and publicity tools. When recipients are using these items, the company logo is seen by everyone they encounter.
Whether your staff is in-office or remote, you can unite and delight with thoughtful corporate gifts for employees. Choose from luxury gifts for executives, welcome swag bags for new team members, or budget-friendly employee appreciation gifts. For holiday corporate gifts, consider ornaments or food gift baskets.
Need to hit the easy button? Let your associates or clients pick out their own branded merchandise and corporate apparel with a free custom online company store! Or consider mail-ready pre-assembled gift boxes or custom gift sets that feature multiple gift or food items. Don’t forget to use brand-color matching packaging options like printed boxes, ribbons and bows, crinkle paper, and cards.
Here are a few of the hottest corporate gifts to give right now:
Swag
Swag is a free gift with a logo on it. It can be a luxury, high-end present; a small token item; or a collection of branded items assembled into a swag bag. The purpose of swag is to delight the recipient while creating goodwill and publicity for the giver.
Swag is given out at events like races, parades, golf tournaments, and festivals to create a memento or souvenir of the occasion and to advertise the company that helped sponsor it. Trade show exhibitors hand out swag to send their marketing message and contact information home with potential business partners. Startup companies use company swag to reward supporters and investors, drum up interest in their new enterprise, and build their brand.
Swag is also used to welcome new employees, celebrate company milestones and staff achievements, and create school spirit in students. A “leave behind” is a piece of marketing swag left after a business meeting or discussion, often accompanied by printed literature and designed to encourage follow up.
Here are a few items to give your brand some swagger:
Branded Merchandise
Unlike corporate gifts and swag, which are given away for free, branded merch refers to customized items that are created to sell to fans for profit. Huge corporations, sports teams, universities, social media content creators, and artists can all benefit from placing their brand, slogans, and creative designs on these types of merch.
Another word for swag but with a different intent, branded merchandise not only generates revenue, but it can also engage fan bases and generate marketing impressions whenever it is worn or used in public. The creativity that goes into making unique branded merch can also be part of what creates the brand itself. Create brand boosting promotional merchandise with stickers and decals, t-shirts, hats, tech accessories, eco-friendly items, drinkware, bags, and so much more. In no other type of imprinted item is artistry and cleverness more important. Yes, fans want something they can use, but most importantly they want something that is unique and reminds them of music they love, a wonderful experience they had, their most beloved hobbies, or a community that they treasure being a part of. Here are a few items that serve as a perfect canvas for your branded merch inspirations:
Trade Show & Event Giveaways
Trade show and event giveaways are items that are presented to guests or visitors during a trade show, conference, or event. They may be small, promotional items passed out to everyone that stops by, or they may be larger gifts raffled off at the end of the day or at the final closing event.
They are designed to increase a business’s visibility and interest by exposing their brand to a targeted and interested audience. Giveaways help to attract potential customers to trade show booths and generate qualified leads.
For a trade show giveaway to achieve high ROI, it should be either useful enough or unique enough to stand out and be remembered. After the show, giveaways help ensure potential clients see your brand and contact information as they use the items in their daily lives. At the same time, marketing giveaway items spread brand visibility outside the event audience as they are used and displayed.
Trade shows aren’t the only events where giveaways come in handy. Marketing giveaways can help initiate conversation, seal the deal, and create goodwill at job fairs, college fairs, conferences, expos, and community fairs. They are effective at conventions, summits, festivals, and charity events as well as at sports games, political rallies, social events, and corporate events.
Some of the most popular trade show or event promotional giveaways include custom printed stress balls, pens, water bottles, tumblers, hand sanitizers, tote bags, mobile phone accessories and t-shirts. Those are some tried and true choices but remember that the ideal giveaway is relevant to your business and matches what your audience wants.
Here is some inspo to get you started:
Souvenirs
Who doesn’t love a souvenir after a fantastic vacation, a memorable day at the zoo, or even a quick stop at a sightseeing spot? Souvenirs help all of us remember those special moments in life or give us something to bring home to loved ones that couldn’t be with us on particular trips or at specific events.
Souvenirs are often found in gift shops, resort or tourist areas, museums, and exhibits. They can also easily be added to parades as throws or other events that would benefit from a small memorabilia.
Here are some perfect souvenir ideas:
Mementos & Custom Party Favors
Don’t forget that mementos and custom party favors add a personal touch for special events like graduations, baby showers, birthdays, weddings, and family reunions. Imprint personal messages, the year of the event, monograms, or special photos to create a memorable giveaway for all those who attend.
Whether you’re celebrating a new engagement or a 50th wedding anniversary, Crestline has something special within your budget to add to the festivities. Sweet sixteen parties, quinceañera, bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah celebrations can be made that much more memorable with custom favors.
Businesses and communities may also celebrate local Olympics, races, fairs, and bicentennials with special mementos.
Here are some memento and party favor ideas to consider:
School Spirit Items & Spiritwear
Whether you’re running a kindergarten, high school, or college, school spirit items are popular among students, teachers, parents, and the surrounding community. These branded items can help unite a school community, boost school spirit at competitive events, or simply foster a sense of belonging.
Collegiate apparel is also popular throughout college campuses, uniting prospective students, current students, and alumni, especially on big events such as homecoming and visitor days.
Here are few of the most popular spirit items used by education institutions:
Although there are different words for swag, they are all items special ordered in bulk and bearing a custom design. Corporate gifts, souvenirs, and spirit wear all publicize a business, memory, or mascot, helping to remind recipients of a special organization or event. Other words for swag include branded merch, mementos, and trade show giveaways. Regardless of the term used and the goal or intent, Crestline can help meet the need for branded merchandise for all applications and budgets.
