As Business Leaders, Let’s Move Away From Swag

When decluttering your home, you might have found relics of conferences and jobs of the past: branded keychains, tote bags, water bottles, T-shirts and hoodies, to name a few. 

Some of these items are useful. You might use a water bottle you got at a conference while on your morning runs, and a hoodie from a former employer can keep you warm when you run quick errands during the winter. But over time, swag adds up. If you’ve accumulated, say, 10 water bottles from conferences over the years, it’s likely that most of them are sitting in a kitchen cabinet. If you have five hoodies, each with the name of one of your former employers, some might be stashed away in your closet, never seeing the light of day. 

It’s understandable that business leaders want to give out branded swag. After all, it’s a marketing strategy, with the idea being that every time someone picks up an item with a company’s name on it, they’ll think of that company and, ideally, take a step that benefits that company, like making a purchase or referring a friend. But most people already have a lot of stuff sitting at home. As business leaders, let’s avoid adding to the clutter — and instead, approach this element of brand awareness in a different way. 

Swag Creates Clutter 

One of the biggest issues with swag is that it creates clutter. People who receive swag have to deal with one more thing in their homes, and business leaders who hand out swag might have to deal with extra inventory at the office or home until the next occasion to give it away arises. 

Clutter can be bad for us. As WebMD points out, “at least one study suggests that a messy room spurs creativity,” but clutter has “many more downsides. It can even be damaging for your physical and mental health.” Additionally, as Libby Sander, an organizational behavior professor, wrote for The Conversation, “Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus.” 

It can be argued that people decide whether or not to pick up a free water bottle or keychain at a conference or other event. They can choose to donate a free T-shirt or tote bag an employer gifted them. But my response to those arguments is, why put more stuff in the world in the first place? With every new item, we have to figure out what to do with it. And if we decide to throw an item away, it can have environmental consequences. 

Swag Damages the Environment 

Promotional items ultimately damage the environment. According to Sonali Diddi, a Colorado State University professor, conference swag “‘has a huge environmental impact as most of them are made from cheap plastic and materials, are of poor quality, and have a short product life.’” She also explained that since “‘typically the cost of swag items is very low, there is a high likelihood that some of the products are made in facilities that have poor working conditions — directly affecting workers’ health.’” 

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People already produce a lot of trash. The United States Environmental Protection Agency notes that “the total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons (U.S. short tons, unless specified) or 4.9 pounds per person per day. Of the MSW generated, approximately 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted.” Some of that trash ends up in landfills. According to the EPA, in 2018, “about 146.1 million tons of MSW were landfilled.” 

Landfill gas is bad for the environment and bad for us. As the New York State Department of Health states, it “can move through soil and collect in nearby buildings.” Moreover, the organization notes that in studies of “communities near landfills and waste lagoons,” there were various health complaints,” such as “eye, throat and lung irritation” and “aggravation of asthma.” With every piece of swag that business leaders don’t produce, that’s one less item that might end up in a landfill. 

Let’s Stop Handing Out Physical, Non-Edible Items

According to a report by the Advertising Specialty Institute, the swag industry generated $25.8 billion in revenue in 2022. Instead of investing in items that might end up in cabinets and landfills, business leaders should pursue other brand awareness avenues. 

No matter who we want to give something to — be it prospective customers, employees, members of the community, etc. — we should prioritize digital gifts, edible items, experiences and helping people rather than physical items. For instance, my team and I were asked to give out a swag bag for an event that’s taking place next year. We said absolutely not (I’ve never given out a swag bag). Instead, we’re looking into offering people a digital gift, such as an NFT. 

Digital gifts, like NFTs, audiobooks and subscriptions to online publications, can help your brand stand out, especially if they’re aligned with your brand’s core messaging. For instance, if you run an executive coaching business, you can send your clients the audiobook version of your favorite business book. Handing out edible items, such as cookies and popcorn, is also a great way to connect with people, provided that you follow all health codes and rules. Experiences are another way your brand can leave a positive impact on people. For instance, if you take your employees to a local concert as a form of appreciation, that’s a memory they can fondly look back on. Then there’s helping people. Instead of handing out swag, you could ignite collaboration that helps other people. For example, at a trade show, instead of giving each person who registers for a demo at your booth a keychain, you could let them know that your company will be donating $5 to a nonprofit.

You don’t need to highlight your brand with physical items. By moving away from swag, we can build stronger relationships with the people we want to reach.