👋 Welcome back to this week’s Print-on-Demand. This edition has something for everyone: the biggest promo event of the year, a can’t-miss HR conference (from your couch), a clever breakup-themed PR stunt, and the surprising invention born from too much leftover turkey and a fresh giveaway you’ll actually want to win. Let’s dig in!

NEWS & NUGGETS: A DASH OF INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

 📅 Biggest Promo Event On Deck: Mark your calendars, PPAI Expo 2026 kicks off January 13–15 in Las Vegas. It’s the promo products industry’s mega show, expected to draw thousands of suppliers and marketers showing off the latest swag trends and tech. Source.

🗣️ HR World Goes Virtual: Coming up Nov 17–21 is HR Week 2025, a massive 5-day online HR conference focused on AI, talent, and the future of work. Over 10,000 HR pros globally are set to attend sessions on everything from reimagining jobs with AI to new strategies for people ops. It’s free to attend live, with premium perks available for on-demand access. If you’re craving fresh ideas to level up your HR game (without leaving your desk), this is the event to crash. Check it out here.

📣 Quirky Marketing of the Week: Tinder took “heartbreak therapy” to the next level with a “Breakup Shrine” pop-up in Tokyo. In Japan, it’s tradition to visit a shrine to end bad relationships, so Tinder built a modern shrine where the broken-hearted could literally toss mementos of their ex into a fire (symbolically cleansing the past). It’s an offbeat PR stunt that resonated culturally and got people talking. Moral for marketers: meet your audience where they are emotionally. Source.

🦃 Thanksgiving Leftovers Created an Icon: Fun fact, we owe the invention of the TV dinner to Thanksgiving. In 1953, Swanson found itself with 260 tons of unused turkey after the holiday. A fast-thinking salesman suggested slicing it up with sides into aluminum trays… and voilà, the first TV dinners were born. Source.

 🎉 Giveaway Winner Alert: Shout out to the winners from last week: Tracy Ledford and Philmon Thomas, who won the Snack Box from FairyTale Brownies by participating in our weekly poll. Check out the poll results from last week below. We’ve got another weekly poll & giveaway below!

BEHIND THE SCENES

Stop Stressing Over Swag

Calling all HR pros, marketers, ops leaders & swag wranglers:

We’re going live on November 4th for a fast-paced webinar that’ll save you hours (and probably a headache or two) on your next swag project.

Swag ordering shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth or hitting minimums that make no sense. We’ll show you how print-on-demand tech is flipping the script—cutting costs, simplifying workflows, and making swag fun again.

We’ve got 150+ already signed up, and spots are going fast.

👉 RSVP here.

WEEKLY POLL + GIVEAWAY

🎁 Giveaway Alert: Vantage Apparel

This week’s prize is next-level swag from Vantage Apparel. Choose between a varsity jacket with retro-cool edge or a ridiculously soft quarter-zip built for cozy, branded flexing. These are the kind of premium pieces people want and actually wear

Details:

• Winners will get to pick their favorite style, size, and color straight from the Vantage Apparel site. 🧥✨

• Winner announced in next week’s newsletter.

👉 To enter, just answer this week’s poll below.

📊 Poll of the Week

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

🤝 Meet Premier League

Based in Southern California, the Premier League is known for its competitive, fun, community-driven vibe. With pickleball now America’s fastest-growing sport, they’re building a community that celebrates movement, connection, and good vibes.

📣 Our Collaboration

They wanted to elevate their brand and unite their community off the court, too. Enter Brand Sauce! We partnered with them to build an online swag store. The goal: give their members, fans, and sponsors a one-stop shop for awesome merch without the organizational headaches. The magic sauce? We handle everything behind the scenes, from sourcing quality gear to on-demand printing, inventory, and shipping, so the Premier League team can focus on their business.

🤝 Connect With Premier League

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

 🎃 Happy Halloween

I hope you all had a fun and safe weekend celebrating Halloween. Every other year, Madison and I get all four kids together for the holiday, and it always feels like such a gift. The kids are still young enough to see Halloween through that magical lens, running from house to house, thrilled by the costumes, the lights, and the candy. It’s one of those fleeting stages of childhood that reminds you how special simple joy can be.

This year, Madison went all out decorating our home, and on Friday night, we had friends and family over for pizza and trick-or-treating. Two weeks ago, she shared something that really made me pause. When she was a kid growing up on a ranch, there weren’t many neighbors, so she never got to go trick-or-treating. Every year, her classmates would come to school talking about their costumes and all the candy they collected, and she’d feel left out. Hearing that reminded me that not every child experiences holidays the same way, and that something joyful for some can quietly hurt for others.

Last weekend, we took the kids to a few local Halloween events during the day and then to a big party on Saturday night. The daytime events were free and hosted by our community, and it was wonderful to see so many families out enjoying the day together, no tickets, no pressure, just people celebrating. It made me realize how rare and valuable that is. Too often, kids’ events have become so expensive that families miss out on experiences that should be for everyone.

That thought has stayed with me. It’s so easy to get swept up in our own celebrations and forget how many people would love to share in that same joy but can’t. I recently learned that many local businesses run candy buy-back programs that donate extra candy to our troops and families who don’t get to experience Halloween the way we do. If you find yourself with leftover candy this week, take a moment to look up where you can donate near you.

In moments of happiness, it’s worth slowing down to notice just how lucky we are, and to help our kids see that too. Sometimes, the best part of celebrating isn’t what we receive, but what we give back.

Wishing you and your family a meaningful, joy-filled Halloween. 🎃

THAT’S A WRAP

That’s a wrap on Episode 54! We hit some fun highlights, from the biggest promo event on the horizon, to a virtual HR week you won’t want to miss, to a breakup-inspired marketing stunt, and the Thanksgiving leftovers that accidentally invented an American classic.

As always, we’re here to help you bring your culture to life. With custom merch, creative recognition ideas, and tech that makes it easy. If you’re curious how Brand Sauce can spice up your company’s swag game (and save your HR team time), just hit reply or book a quick demo. We’d love to cook something up with you.

Until next time, stay saucy! 👋 

– Ross & the Brand Sauce Team.

If you missed our last few editions, you can find them here:

• In Print on Demand | EP#53, we mixed business with brownies (literally). You’ll find bite-sized HR tips, fresh market updates, and a behind-the-scenes look at our next Brand Sauce webinar—all wrapped in a deliciously fun read.

• In Print on Demand | EP#52, we cover Merch by GS’s big gifting expansion, record-high employee retention, a wild “front-row swag vs. ad” stunt, plus spooky trivia and cosmic facts for fun.

• For Print on Demand | EP#51, we mixed up a fun blend of swag inspo and HR smarts. That week’s lineup featured spooky-cool merch trends & must-see events.

• In Print on Demand | EP#50, Learn how the federal shutdown impacts swag, how companies boost engagement, and a fun Halloween candy stat.

Not following Ross & Brand Sauce on socials yet? Let’s change that. Click the links below to stay connected for fresh swag inspo, behind-the-scenes drops, and exclusive updates 👇

• Ross’s LinkedIn

• BrandSauce LinkedIn

• BrandSauce YouTube Channel

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