Coming Up Aces
Seasonal swag for the win!
Swag is not a thing — it’s a strategy.
We’re going to talk about our first employee box of the new year — we nicknamed it “Ace.”
If you’re a Swag Rules reader, you know the data and strategy behind the boxes.
If you’re new (or somehow have forgotten past posts!), here are some quick reminders…
Highly branded companies deliver 2x the return compared to the S&P 500. One of the most effective ways to become a highly branded company is to reward employees.
The average number of followers on LinkedIn is around 500 per person, so think about what swag posts from employees would mean in terms of brand impressions.
And here are some other stats that will help you make the case:
- Swag is ranked the most effective form of advertising across all generations. (Source: PPAI)
- 72% of consumers believe that the quality of a promotional product is directly related to the reputation of the company. (Source: PPAI)
Alright, let’s put our cards on the table shall we?
The Swag Rules framework in action:
The highlight of this employee box was the deck of customized playing cards that Cassie LeBlanc created.
Since our employee boxes arrive the day(ish) before our All-Company Meetings we wanted to see if we could bring the box into the agenda.
Naturally this meant hiring a real magician to surprise the teams and teach hundreds of us a card trick on a live Zoom call without rehearsing it beforehand.
Naturally!
Luckily we found magician Gary Ferrar and the fifteen minutes he spent with our teams was awesome; engaging, a little odd and most importantly, he taught us something that makes our kids think we’re cool.
The kid part is intentional — we always include an item or idea that we think will appeal to the younger set because so many of us have kids or are a kid at heart; it’s about seeing the whole human not only their role as an employee.
Now let’s get back to the cards. Here are my three favorite parts about them:
- They incorporated all of our Nymbus iconography
- Everyone wanted to see if we used real employee faces on them; that’s an incredible idea and I hope someone out there does it!
3. Mike Grinberg and the team at proofpoint Marketing created an EPIC card deck and game which I had never seen until he reached out to me on LinkedIn, so thank you Mike — everyone go check them out!
How can we do that?
We partnered with Mr. Playing Card, a small business in Orlando, Florida.
Their printing business has been around over 100 years but they are as modern and tech-forward as any partner we’ve worked with.
What’s next?
Here’s a hint — our next All Company Meeting is on May 4th.
