OnFulfillment Blog | Promotional Swag (2)

Every year, the most popular trends in fulfillment and merchandise seem to skew ever younger. Or, more accurately, the generation driving trends remains constant, while the rest of us grow older and farther away from what is currently “hip.”

This year, as one might expect, popular trends are being largely determined by social media influencers and the millennial/Gen Z lifestyle. For these consumers, products must look good enough—and be socially conscious enough—to be included as part of their story. For the companies who understand the process, these postings become free advertising to the most coveted demographic.

So what are the trends to look for in 2024? What issues are making these influencers sit up and pay attention while making them feel good about their purchases?

This April, OnFulfillment is celebrating 25 years of meeting the marketing and event fulfillment needs of customers around the world.

To mark this Silver Anniversary, we’re looking back at how the company has evolved over the years. We started with a general overview of the past 25 years (provide link) and are following that with a deeper dive into the various services that have made us an indispensable partner for our customers. (Last week) we covered printing. Today, we’re taking a closer look at how OnFulfillment began offering branded merchandise and other promotional items.

Many businesses today are engaging in “conscious consumerism”— making purchasing decisions based on their perceived social, economic, or environmental impact. In fact, we wrote a blog about this behavior last year (“What is Conscious Consumerism, and Why is it So Popular?,” Feb. 22, 2023).

Fortunately for these businesses, a number of well-known brands have also embraced this practice, donating a percentage of their profits to charitable organizations or modifying their manufacturing methods to minimize their impact on the environment.

In this blog, we’ll provide an overview of some of these socially responsible brands and how they are expressing their conscious consumerism. This is not an exhaustive list, just a random sampling of some of the larger brands (each of whom OnFulfillment has a relationship with). If your business has a mandate to practice conscious consumerism and you’re in the market for branded apparel or other giveaways, you might want to give these vendors a look.

In a recent blog, we defined the various types of fabrics used in apparel production and offered suggestions on which are best for certain applications.

Today we’re going to turn our attention to the various types of apparel available for corporate branding purposes. While the categories are pretty basic—essentially shirts and outerwear—there are certain styles and treatments that impact the look and feel of the final product, which ultimately affects the perception of your brand. Much of what follows may be common knowledge, at least for some, but it provides a nice summary you or your team can consult when considering future purchases to ensure they are investing in the right items for the right audience.

Let’s get started.

Branded apparel is tremendously popular amongst our customers.  It’s the go-to gift for employees, partners, customers, event attendees—just about anyone they will interact with.  Whether it’s a brand-name polo shirt or a baseball cap, a high-end jacket or a t-shirt, branded apparel is a great way to advertise the brand while letting the recipient know they are valued.

Picking the right item for the occasion is fairly easy for our customers; they usually know exactly what they are looking for.  Selecting the right material or fabric, though, is a bit more difficult.  There are so many options that understanding the differences between them requires a fair amount of knowledge. It’s not uncommon for customers to be delighted with their selection but disappointed in the material they chose.