👋 Welcome back to This Week in Print-on-Demand Presented by Brand Sauce, where we stir up the week’s spiciest insights in promotional merchandise, employee experience, HR trends, employee recognition, and a whole lot more.

This week we’re serving a full platter: from office design hacks that boost well-being, to employees pushing back on return-to-office mandates, to a burrito-inspired dorm decor. No single theme, just a smorgasbord of useful news and fun facts.

Let’s dig in!

NEWS & NUGGETS: A DASH OF INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

🏢 Office Space & Well-Being: 87% of employees want healthier perks like wellness rooms, standing desks, and better food. Smarter office design isn’t just aesthetic, it directly boosts health, focus, and retention. Read more here.

🍲 Cracker Barrel Breaks the Mold: After nearly 50 years, Cracker Barrel dropped its iconic old man-and-barrel logo for a streamlined, text-only design in gold. The refresh sparked a social media frenzy (and a 7% stock dip) as loyalists cried “generic,” but leadership insists the update will help modernize the 56-year-old brand. Learn more here.

🏠 Remote Work vs. RTO: As some CEOs beat the drum for full-time office returns, employees are not having it. A new UK study (covering over 1 million data points) reveals that less than half of workers (42%) are willing to go back to the office full-time. In fact, 50% say they’d rather look for a new job than be forced back five days a week. The research concludes that flexible hybrid models are here to stay, delivering benefits in equality, retention, and even productivity, whereas rigid RTO mandates risk backfiring by driving talent out the door. The message for HR leaders is clear: flexibility isn’t just a perk anymore, it’s a baseline expectation for the modern workforce. Source.

🎁 Employee Recognition 2.0: AI can help draft kudos, but 3 in 4 employees still say a personalized thank-you matters most. Recognition tied to mission or impact is 10–12× more meaningful, and custom awards make employees 3–5× more likely to remember it as a career highlight. Authenticity wins every time. Read more here.

 🎉 Giveaway Winner Alert: Shout-out to last week’s 9 winners - Jojo, Marfisa, Hayden, Emily, Jessica, Telrod, Cole, Justin, Idealla, and Jennifer. Everyone who participated in the weekly poll walked away a winner. We’ve got a saucy prize below!

WEEKLY POLL + GIVEAWAY

🔊 Giveaway Alert: Eclipse Tumbler Tote

Word on the street is…Tumbler totes are smokin’ HOT right now. This week, we’re giving away 5 Eclipse Tumbler Totes.

To enter, answer the poll below.👇 P.S. Everyone who participates will get early access to our premium playbook that is yet to be seen!

📊 Poll of the Week

SWAG INSIDERS

🌯 Burritos + Rewards + Swag = Loyalty

Chipotle just launched its first-ever college student rewards program to engage the Gen Z crowd on campus. The first loyalty program from a major restaurant chain built exclusively for college students.

Members get treated to perks at every turn of their college journey: 1,000 bonus points just for signing up and 20% more points on every purchase, so late-night burrito bowls during finals week turn into free guac that much faster. It’s essentially a recognition program for students.

As Chipotle’s Chief Strategy Officer put it, this personalized approach is designed to celebrate student milestones and make an already loyal fanbase feel even more valued.

But Chipotle didn’t stop at burritos and points — they doubled down with actual branded swag for dorm rooms. To celebrate the launch, the brand teamed up with Urban Outfitters on a limited-edition “A Little Extra” Dorm Collection that transforms Chipotle’s menu favorites into must-have college accessories.

The result? A whimsical product line that’s part decor, part superfan merch. Highlights include giant bean bag chairs modeled after black and pinto beans, a shiny silver throw blanket that looks just like a foil-wrapped burrito, and a bedside lamp shaped like Chipotle’s iconic chip bag.

It’s a bold brand crossover that extends Chipotle’s identity into students’ living spaces, infusing dorm life with the brand’s personality. By pairing a loyalty program with lifestyle merch, Chipotle is boosting engagement and deepening loyalty in a fun, memorable way.

We see it as a case study in how promotional merchandise can amplify a campaign, not just swag for swag’s sake, but a strategic play to strengthen brand love among the next generation of professionals.

👉 Check out all the Chipotle swag here.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

 🤝 Meet Patrice & Associates

Looking to make your next great hire or land your next great job? Patrice & Associates has been a recruiting leader for decades, specializing in restaurant, food service, and hospitality, and now placing top talent across industries from retail and finance to technology and executive search.

With hundreds of offices across North America, they’re known for values like Respect, Excellence, Service, and Teamwork, plus free coaching and resume support for job seekers. For employers, it’s one call, one partner, unlimited reach. Patrice & Associates isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about helping people and companies get to GREAT.

📣 Our Collaboration

As a national franchise, Patrice & Associates needed a way to unify branded merchandise across hundreds of locations while keeping it simple for their team. That’s where Brand Sauce came in. We set up a custom company store to handle all their swag and merchandise needs, from recruiter apparel to client gifts, with no bulk orders required.

Now every franchise owner has on-demand access to high-quality branded gear, shipped fast and tracked in real time. For a people-first company like Patrice & Associates, it’s one more way to make sure their recruiters, clients, and job seekers feel recognized and connected.

🤝 Connect With Patrice & Associates

Shoot me a note at [email protected] to get connected with the team.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Around the Water Cooler With Ross AKA The P.O.D. Guy

This week’s Water Cooler is written through tears. There won’t be pictures or names, just a piece of my heart I feel compelled to share.

On Friday, I got a call that no one ever wants to receive. A friend of mine has been diagnosed with cancer. The words still echo in my mind. If you’ve ever received a call like this, you know the feeling, your stomach drops, your chest tightens, and suddenly the world feels heavier.

My thoughts immediately went to his family. He has a wife and a 10-year-old son. I thought about the road ahead of them, the questions that don’t have easy answers. How do you explain this to your child? How do you hold onto strength when fear creeps in? His wife now carries the weight of being the rock for both her husband and their son, all while silently bearing her own heartbreak.

It brought me back to a summer ten years ago, when I lost another close friend to cancer and stood at his funeral delivering a eulogy through tears. The memories came rushing back, along with thoughts of so many others I know who have lost parents, siblings, and friends to this relentless disease.

My mentor, Bryan Stephenson, taught me, “Life is all about proximity.” When something is close, it changes you forever. When it’s distant, it’s easy to look away. Sadly, cancer has become proximate again for me this week.

In honor of my friend, I’ve been holding my kids a little tighter, whispering “I love you” a little more often, and reminding myself that our time here is precious and fragile. We don’t know how many moments we’ll get, but we do know that every hug, every laugh, every “I love you” matters.

So to those of you walking through this kind of valley, with a loved one fighting cancer or another illness, please know this: I see you. I feel your pain. And though I can’t take away the weight you carry, I hope you can feel the love and prayers from those who care.

Life is unbearably short, but also unspeakably beautiful. And in the middle of the heaviness, I find hope in this community, that we can lean on each other, remind one another of what truly matters, and choose to make every day count.

We may not be able to control how many days we get, but together, we can fill the days we do have with love, kindness, and meaning.

THAT’S A WRAP

We covered a lot of ground and hopefully sparked some ideas for your own organization.

If you found these insights helpful and want to dive deeper, we’ve got resources for you: Grab our exclusive Employee Recognition Swag Playbook by responding to this email with “SWAG” for proven tips on building a culture of appreciation, or book a one-on-one demo here to see how our platform can help you deliver memorable swag and rewards to your team.

As always, we’re here to help you mix the right ingredients for an amazing employee experience.

Until next time, stay saucy! 👋

– Ross & the Brand Sauce Team

© 2025 On Demand Global, LLC, DBA Brand Sauce