STEAL THESE IDEAS
Give the people what they want this winter
Winter gifting doesn’t need to be predictable or overly thematic. If you want to avoid the annual fleece blanket and cocoa kit combo this year, here are a few swag/gift ideas worth considering.
Packable outerwear. Lightweight, travel-friendly layers that fold into their own pouch or pocket. Minimal branding. Elevated enough that people actually bring it on trips. They won’t use it every day but they know they can rely on it. (Reliability = great brand association)
Local, shelf-stable goods. Lean into your brand’s geography, HQ or origin story. Support a local business and avoid the overdone/mass-produced gift baskets. Ideas: small-batch cocoa, chai concentrates, tea blends, house-made spice mix. People love a gift they can drink, cook with, or share. Long story short – support local and tie in your origin story while you’re at it.
Specialty socks. (”Socks? For winter? Groundbreaking.”) Hear me out – compression socks for the frequent flyers. Grippy socks for the Pilates girlies. Cashmere for everyone else. Specialty items show you’re paying attention to your employees’ and clients’ interests. And socks don’t have to be boring, they just need to be quality, otherwise you’re lighting your swag budget on fire.
Touchland hand sanitizers. Do not put your logo on isopropyl hand sanitizer (do yourself a favor and close the 4imprint tab). Touchland dominates the hand sanny category with their packaging, scents, colors – so don’t fight it – lean in! Choose one in a prominent brand color and include it in your winter swag gift boxes (in other words: give the people what they want).
THE BUSINESS CASE
How to get your CFO to approve a swag budget
Securing budget for swag is rarely about the items themselves. It’s about whether the spend is intentional, aligned to business goals, and managed responsibly. Most CFOs don’t hate swag, but they do hate waste and uncontrolled costs. It needs to make sense to a finance leader, so you’ll need to speak their language when making the ask.
Reframe how you talk about swag. Avoid positioning it as giveaways or perks or worst of all – “freebies”. That kinda suggests there’s no return on investment. Instead, reference swag as physical brand assets for specific marketing and business initiatives. The language you use signals whether this is discretionary spend or a strategic investment. When swag is framed as part of brand experience, retention, or demand support, it enters a more serious budget conversation.
Tie the request to a concrete business moment. Swag is easiest to fund when it supports something that already exists, such as a product launch, a trade show, a door opener for sales, a customer milestone, new hire onboarding, or change management initiatives. Asking for a general swag budget feels vague; asking for support tied to a specific initiative feels planned, intentional, and integrated. The more clearly you connect the spend to an outcome the business already values, the less friction you’ll encounter.
Define what success looks like in advance. CFOs typically understand that not every marketing investment is directly attributable to revenue. Success measurement might look like increased booth traffic at an event, stronger customer engagement during renewal cycles, or improved employee participation and retention. Be clear that the goal is directional insight, not false precision.
Position the initiative as a pilot. A time-bound test with a clear budget cap and a plan to report learnings back to leadership reduces perceived risk. It shows discipline and accountability, and it creates room to iterate based on what worked the first time.
When swag is treated as a managed program with measurable goals rather than an ad hoc expense, the conversation and perception shifts. You’re no longer asking for money to buy “stuff we all get”, you’re asking for budget to support the growth of the business.
MERCH MUSE
ON24’s Ugly Christmas Sweaters
ON24’s ugly Christmas sweater is such a strong example of merch that works because it’s rooted in an existing brand idea. ON24 uses “webinerd” in their marketing and social media, and the community engages with it regularly. For the holidays, ON24 turned it into a limited-edition, fully custom knit sweater and I’m low-key obsessed. This is a clear example of seasonal merch used to reinforce brand identity and connection, not just to hand out another holiday item. Yeah it’s ugly, but that’s the whole point.
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