👋 Welcome back to This Week in Print-on-Demand, Episode #58. We’re charging into December with big promo moves, HR insights, and a giveaway that’ll take your desk setup to the next level. Plug in, power up, and let’s get into it!

NEWS & NUGGETS: A DASH OF INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

📈 Promo Market Rebounds: After a sluggish start to 2025, the promotional products industry saw a 5% sales jump in Q3, the biggest in over two years. Nearly half of distributors reported higher sales as tariff chaos eased, signaling a potential recovery. Source.

🔥 Burnout by the Numbers: More than 55% of U.S. workers report feeling burned out, the highest level in years. Gen Z is the most fried (66% admit burnout), and fully remote folks report more burnout (61%) than those in the office. Consider this a friendly reminder for leaders to check in, lighten loads, and maybe encourage some R&R this holiday season. Source.

💰 Holiday Economy Hits $1T: The National Retail Federation projects 186.9 million Americans will shop Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday (a record turnout). Holiday retail sales are expected to top $1 trillion for the first time, though growth (~4%) is a tad slower than last year. Source.

🎄 Holiday Fun Fact: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s origin story is pure marketing magic. He wasn’t part of Santa’s crew until 1939, when a Montgomery Ward copywriter invented Rudolph for a holiday promotion. Everyone’s favorite red-nosed reindeer began as a department store giveaway

🛁 Shower Thought: If you clean a vacuum cleaner, you become a vacuum cleaner.

 🎉 Giveaway Winner Alert: Shout out to the winners from last week: Jaime Lewis and Kaitlin Brady, who won the Vanilla Ridge Fur Blanket from Terry Town by participating in our weekly poll. We’ve got another weekly poll & giveaway below! But first, check out the poll results from last week below.

BEHIND THE SCENES

🎅 Webinar December 4th

Hey fam, consider this your official invite: our December 4th webinar is shaping up to be a banger (50+ people are already registered). We’re breaking down how to save serious time and budget when ordering branded swag and promotional merchandise. Plus, the 6 ingredients of a perfect company store.

You’ll also get a peek at how teams are using their stores to drive recognition, referrals, onboarding, marketing… and more.

Oh, and since it’s the holiday season? Santa Ross and the team are cooking up an epic giveaway you won’t want to miss!

Grab your seat here, we’d love to see you there!

WEEKLY POLL + GIVEAWAY

🎁 Giveaway Alert: Aukey Qi2 Wireless Charger

The Aukey Qi2 Wireless Charger isn’t just a pretty desk flex. It’s a 3-in-1 charging beast that powers your phone, watch, and earbuds all at once. No more cable chaos. No more dead devices mid-meeting. Just sleek, executive-grade swag that makes your workspace look (and feel) next level.

Details:

• The winners will receive an Aukey Qi2 Wireless Charger, custom-branded with their company’s logo for an extra personal touch.

• Winner announced in next week’s newsletter.

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

📊 Poll of the Week

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

🤝 Meet BKF Engineers

Established in 1915, BKF Engineers is a civil engineering firm that has literally helped build California. Beyond their technical prowess, BKF is known for a close-knit, collaborative culture where innovative ideas are encouraged, and hard work is appreciated.

📣 Our Collaboration

This year, BKF is taking holiday gifting to the next level.

Instead of handing out the same generic item to everyone, we built BKF a custom holiday gifting page where each employee can choose a gift they’ll actually use and feel good wearing. No more waste, no more guesswork, no more boxes of unwanted swag.

By pairing their company store with a personalized gifting experience, BKF is saving time, eliminating wasteful spending, and making every employee feel like an individual, not a number. It’s smarter, cleaner, and a much better way to represent the brand during the holidays. 🎁

🤝 Connect With BKF Engineers

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 year, Thanksgiving fell on my birthday, and I made myself a promise: to slow down, to be present, and to actually feel the joy of it. This week, surrounded by family, that promise felt easy to keep.

I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude. And at the top of that list are my four kids, something I never imagined for myself. After my divorce, I didn’t picture a future where I’d meet someone with two little ones who would steal my heart. Life has a way of surprising you in the most beautiful ways.

Being a parent isn’t for everyone, but for me, it fills a part of my soul. I spent five days with Bo and Max in Atlanta, and every moment felt special, playing pickleball, watching movies, sweating through workouts, or simply lying in bed together while they talked about their worlds. Seeing them laugh with their cousins, hug their grandparents, and feel so deeply connected to family made my heart feel full in a way that’s hard to put into words.

When we got back home, we walked straight into Thanksgiving with Madison’s family. Ryleigh and Kinsley ran up to me with birthday cards they made by hand, the kind that only kids can make, where every line is crooked but every word is perfect. They wrapped their arms around me and shouted “Happy Birthday!” with the kind of excitement you can’t fake. Later, when it was time to blow out the candles, all four kids crowded around me. In that moment, I closed my eyes and wished for something simple: that for all the birthdays still ahead of me, these four little humans will be by my side.

I feel lucky that my birthday always falls near Thanksgiving, a built-in reminder to reflect on what truly matters. But this year, I felt something deeper. I felt the blessing of belonging, of being needed, of being loved by four incredible kids who have reshaped my life in ways I’m still discovering.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with warmth, health, and the people who make your heart feel like home.

And if you read last week’s newsletter and invited a special guest to your holiday table, thank you. It was the kindest birthday gift I could’ve asked for.

👥 Connect on Social Media

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

• Ross’s LinkedIn

• BrandSauce LinkedIn

• BrandSauce YouTube Channel

• In Print on Demand | EP#57, we brought the holiday heat with burnout-busting HR tips, promo trends that prove swag still reigns, and a peek inside our Brand Sauce Holiday Deck (yes, pet swag too). Plus, the Ducks showed us how merch becomes movement. It's an episode that’ll recharge your strategy and your spirit. Maybe hum “Jingle Bells” into your next team meeting.

• In Print on Demand | EP#56, we mixed up a fresh batch of HR wisdom that keeps your people thriving, holiday swag ideas that remove every ounce of stress, and a behind-the-scenes look at our latest gifting webinar. It is the kind of episode that helps you plan smarter, gift better, and avoid December chaos entirely.

• In Print on Demand | EP# 55, we served up holiday gifting insights, premium swag that turns heads, brainy HR nuggets, a marketing moment worth stealing, and a giveaway that felt suspiciously like shopping at Lululemon (without the price tag).

• In Print on Demand | EP#54, we served up something for everyone: the biggest promo event of the year, a must-watch HR conference you can stream in sweats, a wild PR stunt inspired by breakups, and a leftover turkey invention you didn’t know you needed.

THAT’S A WRAP

And that’s a wrap on this week’s mix of swag strategy, recognition wins, and future-ready merch moves!

Got big plans for your company store or next gifting rollout? Just reply here or snag a quick demo.

Until next time, stay saucy! 👋 

– Ross & the Brand Sauce Team

© 2025 On Demand Global, LLC, DBA Brand Sauce