It's my job to stay in tune with branded merchandise trends.

One of the biggest trends I am seeing from my clients is a gravitation toward co-branding with premium products and retail brands.

People are LOST without their earbuds and headphones. Well, 87% of us, anyway!

Listening to music, podcasts, & audiobooks or taking a phone call. At their desk, out for a jog, chilling on the couch. They’re practically glued to our ears!

Have you done anything embarrassing lately that you’ve shared with your team to show personal responsibility/ show your vulnerability?

Recently, I had one of my biggest Doh! moments while on vacation.

Hey, HR managers: Branded merch can be part of the solution to the 3 “R’s” that keep you up at night.

1️⃣ Recruitment of talent
2️⃣ Retention of employees
3️⃣ Rewarding and appreciating existing team members

Our social media guru Brittany Wright dropped some branding wisdom in the September issue of PS Magazine.

Hey, marketers…talk about knowing your target audience!

I stopped into this Potbelly Sandwich Works restaurant in Chicago on what happened to be the first day of school for Chicago Public Schools students.

Lane Technical College Prep High School high school is around the corner from this particular Potbelly. From the pic, can you guess what their main school color is?

Recently our team visited the Office Experience where the world of the TV Show, The Office comes to life.

Behold: the desk of Phyllis Lapin-Vance!

Phyllis is a sales representative at Dunder Mifflin, Scranton but judging by what is happening on her office computer, Phyllis is not making many sales.

Phyllis is the quiet-but-friendly type who would rather engage in “girl talk and gossip” than be selling.

“I need to buy some branded merch, what’s the latest and greatest?”

This is probably the most common inquiry I get via email, phone, Zoom or even via text from my clients.

Sometimes when there's a popular trend or two, the answer is easy to spit out:

• Vacuum-insulated drinkware (think Hydroflask, Klean Kanteen etc)

• Sustainably-produced apparel (with recycled polyester content)

• Blankets (comfy is in!)

• Bags made from recycled water bottles (saved from the ocean)

• Insulated cooler bags (like those thick, pliable Yeti-coolers)

I’ve never actually thrown a boomerang before and managed to bring it back!

Regardless, a boomerang is a good metaphor for employees coming back to your organization after they have left to “explore other options”.

No matter how hard we as managers work to build a culture that is fit for a Best Places to Work Award, some employees are inevitably going to leave our teams.

The whole Ark team has been helping some of Chicago's neediest population for years with their amazing philanthropic work and generosity. We were thrilled when they asked us to donate aprons for their volunteers who make a difference in Chicago's Jewish community every day!

The Printable team recently spent a week at the ASI Show in Chicago, looking for the mid-year trends in the promo merch space. After walking tens of miles, visiting hundreds of suppliers, and scoping out thousands of products, here’s an overview of what we found:

If only the whole world was as nice as the people you meet on a hiking trail…

I recently went hiking with one of my oldest friends Bob Eisendrath and our wives in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The scenery was out of this world.

The hiking was challenging but exhilarating.

Last week at ASI Show I was handed this photo of Timothy Andrews presenting me an award for Printable's website back in the early 2000s!

It's hard to remember what that original website that I worked on with Stacie Harshbarger Gass looked like.

When you’re sending a welcome kit to a remote employee, the right merch can send a very powerful message.

Products in the kit should be on-brand for your organization AND things your new team member will be excited to receive (and post about!)

Recognition programs used to be 100% paperweights, plaques, watches, and a clock if you stayed until you retired. Things are a little different now!

Awards ≠ trophies.

Yes, there are still some monumental successes that deserve to be commemorated with an object, one that will be a permanent physical reminder we can display. And these are taking a more modern form now, often being custom-designed with materials to match your brand. The sky’s the limit to what we can help you create!

Yesterday we had the pleasure of joining “TACOS with Jay and Jeff” hosts Jay Busselle and Jeff Solomon for a spicy marketing fiesta!

To quote Bonnie Tyler of 1980s fame who undoubtedly was writing about hard-shell tacos, "Every now and then I fall apart"!

Remote workers can feel disconnected and alone. Incorporating merch in your team-building efforts brings a physical element into a digital relationship.

Here are my top 3 tips for keeping remote teams engaged with branded merch

Savory charcuterie food gifts? Custom branded cutting boards? Really?

I've been helping clients tell their brand stories and build emotional brand connections for 25 years now. But in all those years, I've never seen the popularity of savory food gifts accented with custom-etched cutting boards as high as it is right now.

Growing up I was a huge fan of the Canadian-progressive-rock trio, Rush

Oh, the guitars, the synthesizers, the lyrics, the drums (RIP, Neal Peart)!

So, you could imagine my excitement when I visited the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas and saw that a new Rush pinball machine had just been added to their collection!

My daughter is a HS senior. She recently shared something she saw on her Insta feed that I thought was kind of disturbing.

Have you heard of College-Decision Bed Decorating Parties? It’s the latest way to celebrate your teen’s college choice.