Sendoso, another startup in the rapidly growing gifting-as-a-service space, recently landed $100 million in Series C funding. That brings the company’s funding total to $152 million, surpassing the totals of Snappy and Alyce, two similar startups that have attracted significant attention from venture capital firms over the last year or so…
Read MoreAuthor: Sean Norris
DC Public Library Supporters Hoped to Sell 50 ‘Punk’ T-shirts—a Few Months Later, They’ve Sold 7,000 (and Raised $100K)
“What’s more punk than the public library?” That’s the question supporters of the D.C. Public Library System’s Mt. Pleasant branch printed on T-shirts earlier this year. They hoped to sell 50. A few months later, they’ve sold 7,000, raising over $100,000 for the library. Here’s how…
Read MoreRobinhood Investors Use Earnings Call to Ask the Big Question: When Can We Get Branded Merch?
Robinhood, the stock trading and investing app, held its second quarter earnings call last week, giving shareholders the opportunity to ask questions about the company’s financials. The fifth top-voted question: When can we get some Robinhood branded merch?
Read MoreMinnesota Twins Look to Draw Younger Fans to the Ballpark With ‘McDonald’s Approach’ to Merch
The Minnesota Twins are taking a “McDonald’s approach” to ballpark promos. No, they’re not replacing dollar dog night with discounted Big Macs. But they are borrowing from McDonald’s recent merchandise playbook with a ballpark-exclusive capsule collection and a focus on social commerce…
Read MoreIowa Shirt Company Goes to War With State’s Governor Over (and Via) T-shirts
Last week, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a republican, released a T-shirt on conservative fundraising platform WinRed. The red shirt reads “Find Me At The Fair” in large, blocky, right-aligned type. But, for RAYGUN, a T-shirt company based in Des Moines, it may well have read “Shots Fired.”…
Read MoreA Pandemic-Altered Labor Market Is Making Hiring Difficult—and Causing Unexpected Problems for Promo Companies
Industry companies are reporting difficulties hiring, both for positions vacated due to layoffs at the start of the pandemic and for new positions necessary to meet surging demand. These issues are contributing to slower production times for suppliers already navigating supply chain challenges and causing problems for distributors as the economy rebounds…
Read MoreHow One Industry Pro’s Virtual Game Nights United a Community (and Showed The Lasting Value of Online Communication for Promo)
This is the story of “Quarantime,” an interactive party game that began as an impromptu Instagram Live hangout and ultimately became a way for a socially-distanced community to stay connected while raising thousands of dollars for charity (and much more). But let’s start at the beginning…
Read MoreThe Future of Corporate Gifting? How ‘Gifting as a Service’ Works and What It Means for Promo
“Gifting-as-a-service” or “one-to-one gifting” companies are attracting big investments from venture capital firms as they bring tech-startup sensibilities to corporate gifting. But what exactly do these companies do—and why should the promo industry be paying attention?…
Read MoreACLU Celebrates Supreme Court Victory With Branded T-shirt Featuring Student’s Expletive-Filled Snapchat Rant
The ACLU won a Supreme Court decision last week and celebrated just as anyone would: by releasing a branded T-shirt commemorating the victory. The short-sleeve T-shirt features a student’s expletive-laden Snapchat rant (the focus of the legal battle) on the front and an ACLU logo on the sleeve…
Read MorePromotional Products Industry Recovery Research: 4 Big Product Demand Trends to Watch
The latest installment of our ongoing Promotional Products Industry Recovery Research found a number of reasons for optimism. It also captured some revealing product demand trends—almost all of them positive. Let’s take a look at four of those trends and dig a little deeper into what each means…
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