👋 Welcome back to This Week in Print-on-Demand, Episode #59. We’re gliding into December with fresh insights from our December 4th webinar, new swag stories shaping the industry, and a giveaway built for winter weather. Zip up, settle in, and let’s unwrap the goods.

NEWS & NUGGETS: A DASH OF INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

🏙️ Boston Embraces Swag: Boston is considering an official branded merchandise program (inspired by NYC) to trademark city logos on hoodies, mugs, totes, and more. In addition to fueling civic pride, it could bring in serious revenue for Beantown. Source.

🎾 Serena Williams + HR: Serena Williams is headlining a Paycom-sponsored webinar (Dec 11) on purpose, success, and work ethic in the workplace. It’s not every day you get leadership tips from a 23-time Grand Slam champion. (If her advice is anything like her serve, expect it to be fire and on point.) Talk about a grand slam for professional development! Source.

🤗 Appreciation = Retention: Only ~25% of employees feel appreciated by their employers, and 34% are eyeing the exit in 2026. That kind of turnover could cost U.S. companies trillions. But there’s good news: showing love pays off. Employees who do feel valued are 12× more likely to find their work meaningful and 17× more likely to plan a long-term future with the company. Consider this your friendly nudge to show a little extra appreciation this week…it pays dividends. Source.

🎨 2026’s Color of the Year: Pantone has spoken: the 2026 Color of the Year is “Cloud Dancer.” It’s a lofty white hue that the color gurus say symbolizes calming influence and a fresh start. Expect to see a flood of sleek white designs in marketing, branding, and swag next year. Is minimalism making a comeback? Source.

💌 Holiday Fun Fact: Americans send over 3 billion Christmas cards each year. If you lined up all those cards, you’d circle the globe a few times. Source. 

🤔 Shower Thought: If you’re waiting for the waiter, aren’t you the waiter?
Abbott and Costello would’ve had a field day with this one.

 🎉 Giveaway Winner Alert: Shout out to the winner from last week: Christine Pavlakovich, who won the Aukey Qi2 Wireless Charger from Twin Tech 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

On Dec 4, Ross & Justin hosted a webinar for the swag community where we pulled back the curtains.

We broke down how to save serious time and budget on swag, plus revealed the 6 key ingredients of a perfect company store. Big thanks to everyone who showed up and brought the energy!

Missed it? No stress. Another webinar is already in the works. Stay tuned… we’re just getting warmed up.

👉 Reply to this email with ‘recording,’ and we’ll send the replay your way!

WEEKLY POLL + GIVEAWAY

Giveaway Alert: Mercer+Mettle® Puffy Parka

Meet the Mercer+Mettle® Puffy Parka, a cold-weather staple made to handle the season’s chilliest days. Its smooth outer shell and plush insulation keep warmth in and winter winds out.

Perfect for the wintertime, whether you're stepping into frosty mornings or heading out for evening errands.

Details:

• The winners will receive a Mercer+Mettle® Puffy Parka.

• Winner announced in next week’s newsletter.

👉 To enter, just answer this week’s poll below. May the warmth be ever in your favor.

📊 Poll of the Week

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

🤝 Meet OSF Digital

Headquartered in Canada and spanning the globe, OSF Digital is a leading digital transformation partner and top global commerce solutions company. With 20+ years in the game and over 2,200 employees across 50+ worldwide offices, OSF helps brands create seamless, engaging customer experiences online. But despite its size, OSF runs on a “One Team” ethos – a unified, diverse culture dedicated to customer success and giving back. From innovative e-commerce integrations to award-winning cloud solutions, OSF Digital is all about outperforming expectations while keeping its team spirit and innovation mindset front and center.

📣 Our Collaboration

OSF Digital recently hosted a sales event with their top leadership team. The CEO originally planned to hand out the same vest to everyone attending. Instead, we suggested something simple but far more powerful: give people a choice.

We built a custom landing page where attendees could pick their own gift. More than 50 leaders participated, and the clear winner was the Nike hooded jacket. No contest.

That is the insight. When people get to choose, they select what they truly want rather than what we assume they want. It is a small shift that creates a much bigger impact.

Choice-driven landing pages work incredibly well, and every company should be using them for moments exactly like this.

🤝 Connect With OSF Digital

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

The holidays are here, and with them comes a beautiful kind of chaos.

Christmas and Hanukkah are both alive in our home, and every corner feels full, full of noise, full of activity, full of love. Every night before bed, Madison and I rush to make sure the Elf is in place, and every morning at 7 AM, without fail, Ryleigh and Kinsley burst into our room with pure joy, thrilled to report on what the Elf is up to. This morning, I was still in the shower when Ryleigh came yelling through the door that the Elf was playing pickleball. Moments like that, loud, messy, unexpected, are the ones I know I’ll miss someday.

Madison has been nothing short of incredible. She’s decorated the house, tracked down gifts, shipped packages across the country, and held our blended, multi-holiday family together with so much grace. Celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah means there’s always more to do, more to plan, more to remember, but she somehow brings warmth and intention to all of it.

And in the middle of it all, I keep reminding myself to pause.
To slow down.
To breathe it in.
Because this season, with all its busyness and clutter and laughter, is temporary.

Brand Sauce is deep in our busiest quarter, and new clients seem to come on board every day. The to-do list is long at work and at home. But when I look at the kids, eyes wide as they see the gifts under the tree, pointing out Christmas lights from the car at all the decorated houses, searching for the Elf with the kind of excitement only children have, I’m reminded that these days won’t last forever.

There will come a December when the house is quiet, when the kids are grown and gone, and it’ll just be Madison and me, remembering these loud, magical years. And that thought alone makes me hold on a little tighter.

So this week, I’m choosing to appreciate the beautiful mess.
To hug the kids a little longer.
To put my phone down more often.
To laugh, to play, to fully embrace the miracle of this season.

We are deeply, unbelievably blessed. And this year, I’m promising myself to slow down, soak it in, and treasure every moment. Because these are the memories that will stay with us long after the gifts are unwrapped and the decorations are put away.

👥 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#58, we charged into December with a mix of promo wins, HR truth bombs, and a retail season that crossed the trillion-dollar mark. We unpacked burnout trends, highlighted smart swag plays, and kept things festive with a holiday fun fact or two. It’s an episode that’ll spark ideas, lift moods, and maybe convince you to finally embrace that cozy office blanket.

• 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).

THAT’S A WRAP

And that’s a wrap on this week’s dose of swag strategy, recognition boosts, and merch ideas built to make winter a little brighter.

Got a store you want to revamp or a gifting play you want to streamline? Just reply or snag a quick demo. We’ll help you swag smarter.

Until next time, stay saucy! 👋 

– Ross & the Brand Sauce Team.

© 2025 On Demand Global, LLC, DBA Brand Sauce