Swag (n) – That free stuff you receive often at company events, conventions or on press trips.

My living room floor was half covered in swag, not an easy feat as my floor is fairly large (and often covered in dog hair, but that’s another story). I had recently attended a conference in beautiful British Columbia, called Travel Blog Exchange, went on a personal trip to Costa Rica then followed up with a press trip from the fine folks of the state of Colorado. All of these trips generated swag. I wish I had taken a photo of the sprawl, but I wanted badly to be able to walk through my living room again, so it is now clean.

The piles, and going through them, got me thinking about what is useful to me and what is not. I understand and appreciate companies wishing to give me something to remember them by and hoping their name will stay at the tip of my brain. I get that part. I also understand what I find useful from the point of view of a consumer, which is what I turn into when not at the convention.

To that end, I would like to make this an open suggestion to companies, tourism offices and convention organizers alike on what types of swag I find most interesting and useful. I hope none take it as a ‘You suck!” type of feedback, because it’s not. I know you want to get your message out there with a limited budget and I’d like to help make some suggestions from the ‘attendee’s’ point of view. I’m honestly not a greedy bastard, as this list might make me sound, because I truly don’t need all this stuff. But if you are going to hand things out, I hope you’ll take these notes as constructive.

Water Bottles

I have enough water bottles. But not everyone is like me. If you want me to keep your water bottle and use it, make sure it is quality. On a recent trip I received four water bottles. That’s a lot of water (or gin or beer or …). Want to know which one I left behind for housekeeping? The cheapest one. For you promotional companies out there I know money is always a subject, but quality is what will keep the bottle in my hands (assuming I have four hands). On the last trip the best bottle was a solid Nalgeen bottle from Avalanche Ranch in Colorado. The least favorite I left behind? I don’t remember the name. I know quality is spendy, but that bottle will be with me for years.

Flash Drives

Ah flash drives. They are great at replacing CDs (please, never, EVER, give me a CD….my laptop doesn’t have a slot for it) for handing over your company or locations information. I still remember a Nerds Eye View rant in the minivan on our way to the first TBEX conference about her disdain for CDs (“What the hell?!?!” was often blurted out loud). I applaud those of you switching to flash drives. My suggestion would be two fold: 1) make them cool. The recent drives from Colorado and Aspen had a wood casing with the location name on them. Perfect and identifiable. 2) Don’t make them too wide. On this same Colorado trip the other participants and I were using the extra space on the drives to share photos form the trip. The only problem was when someone brought in their drive, all fancied up in leather from a different trip, and it was so wide I couldn’t use one of the USB ports, slowing the process. It’s a little thing, I know. Keep it stylish and small. I use the drives to grab info, share info on a trip and then I will likely use the drive to send photos to a friend later. Your drive will get more use if it is simple and elegant.

Or, for the techies out there, consider putting a QR code on the back of your business card if you know the crowd is particularly mobile device savvy.

Named Stuff

Named stuff is a general category. It’s hats or bags or toothbrushes or anything else you splash with your company or location logo and name. Most of this stuff I honestly don’t like. I don’t want to be a walking billboard for your stuff unless I really like what the company does and support it. Even then, I don’t like generic logos. Today my daughter went to summer school with a lunch bag from my last trip (because I can’t find her lunchbox). It had the location’s name and then “Chamber” below it. I understand the point of view from this chamber of commerce wanting to advertise and it’s a decent bag. The problem is they missed a chance to make their location shine and instead went with a generic “(Location) Chamber” silkscreen. What would work better might be “(Location) – We keep the ski slopes cold and the hot springs hot” or some such. Something catchy that tells me about the place and is lasting in case the bag makes it into the monthly donation pile and winds up in someone else’s hands at a thrift store.

Luggage Tags

This is a new one for me and I received four this last month. I do like luggage tags and they are useful. But, again, I’m not going to advertise your company, most likely. Yet, if you make the luggage tag interestingly shaped, as one company did, and have the company name on the inside of a flap where it’s still handy, I might use it. In the case of luggage tags, Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) have it easy and here’s why.

To me, the best luggage tag would be one a bit bigger than a business card so I can place mine inside, on one side. On the reverse side is a beautiful photo of the location with just the name. Think tropical beach scene, one lone palm tree hanging over the water, and the word Hawaii in the corner. Simple and nice. Now take the same design and replace the photo with Hawaii’s (admittedly nice) logo….meh. I’ll pass.

For any CVBs out there who are thinking of something like this, find a great shot of your location and run with it. Don’t make your name the feature, make the photo the feature. People will see the photo, then your name and want to go there. Think about what you want to sell me (and others looking at my luggage on the carousel): is it your name or your images? Breaching orca whale = San Juan Islands. Delicate Arch = Utah. A stein of beer = Germany. Most US states already do it with their license plates and it looks good.

What Doesn’t Work

Things that aren’t reusable don’t work as well. I received a nice little tin with some M&Ms in them. 10 seconds later, I was looking for a garbage can for the cute little tin because I didn’t want to pack it home. The thought was nice, but they didn’t last long. The mints, in the same type of tin, did make it home with me and my daughter loved the tin for small stuff storage.

Very goofy stuff also doesn’t work well beyond the initial laugh. Here I’m thinking of goofy hats or show specific items. Funny saying on a pair of boxer briefs? I’ll get a laugh out of it and so will someone at Goodwill when they buy them (though this may work to your advantage).

Candy also doesn’t ‘work’ because I get a sugar buzz and forget your name when the wrapper is in the trash.

T-shirts….hmmm…..this can go either way. I don’t need a lot more shirts, but some people do. The only shirt I kept read “Boba Fett was a Freelancer” but it only gets worn around the house cus I’m not a shirt-with-words-on-it kinda guy.

Fridge magnets with just your company name on it will go in the trash. See previous note about luggage tags.

Other Things That Work

Quality pens

Post-It Note pads

Maps – mainly because I’m a map whore

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from those of you who receive swag. What’s worked well for you and what hasn’t? What would you like to see? (besides: Matching Ferraris) And if you’re in the PR industry, feel free to comment here asking questions about ideas you might have (or email me individually). Most of us like swag in one form or another and if this post can help create more good swag and less trash, I’d feel my typing today was worth it.

Pinterest Twitter Reddit LinkedIn WhatsApp Email