Your logo, your brand, your merch
Branded merchandise is still one of the most effective ways to boost brand recognition, build customer loyalty, and turn everyday items into walking advertisements.
With the right promotional products, you can stand out from competitors and leave a lasting impression on customers.
In this guide, we explore 15 branded merchandise ideas to help you choose the best products and promote your business with impact.
T-shirts
T-shirts rank among the top three most impactful promotional products for brands, businesses, and organizations of all sizes.
Advantages of using t-shirts as promotional products:
- Cost-effective: A simple t-shirt with your logo becomes a powerful marketing tool, capable of increasing referrals by up to 500%.
- Easy to personalize: Using tools like our Product Creator, you can easily add your brand’s logo, color scheme, messaging, or a combination of all three to create a unique t-shirt.
- Highly practical: The key to maximum brand visibility is to choose items that people use daily – and it’s hard to beat the practicality of a great-fitting tee.
Are t-shirts among the most creative merchandise ideas? Not really. But they’re affordable, versatile, and very effective.
Take a look at our graphic design tips and discover how to create a design for your brand from scratch.
Mugs
Last year, the global mug market was valued at $28.09 billion – and it’s set to more than double over the next eight years.
Often overlooked, mugs are more than everyday essentials – they’re reliable promotional items that people always appreciate.
Advantages of mugs as promotional products:
- A wide selection. Whatever image a brand wishes to present, there’s a specific style of mug to match the brand’s personality.
- Budget-friendly: Branded mugs are affordable swag items that make an impact without breaking the bank.
- Universal appeal. Whether for employees or clients, they appeal to a wide audience, making them a versatile marketing tool for any business.
Printify offers customizable mugs in different sizes, colors, and price points – so you can easily find the best one for your brand.
Custom mugs are a branded merch staple – in-demand, easy to customize, and inexpensive. Use our Product Creator to easily customize mugs with your company logo and add them to your product lineup today!
Hoodies and sweatshirts
Nearly 90% of people keep promotional products for more than a year, and 40% hold onto them for over a decade. That means choosing high-quality, cool branded merchandise is critical for maintaining a positive perception of your brand.
Printify’s custom hoodies and sweatshirts are guaranteed to impact your brand positively – they’re highly rated, comfy, and offer an outstanding price-to-performance ratio.
Advantages of hoodies and sweatshirts as promotional products:
- Trusted year-round favorite: Whether it’s chilly outside or the office AC is blasting, people naturally reach for hoodies and sweatshirts.
- Durable and long-lasting: Built to withstand wear and tear, they keep your brand’s message visible for years.
- Ample branding space: With room on the front, back, or sleeves for your brand’s message and logo, they’re a solid choice for bold designs.
To find the perfect garments for your needs, filter sweatshirts and hoodies by fulfillment method (print or embroidery), price, packaging insert availability, and more.
To increase brand loyalty, gift your customers and employees all-over-print hoodies. While they cost more, they feel premium, making your brand stand out without saying a word.
Discover the best blank hoodies for printing to find the one that meets all your expectations.
Make your own promotional products today!
Tote bags
46% of consumers prefer eco-friendly promotional swag. Tote bags offer visibility, practicality, and brand values all in one item.
Replacing single-use plastics for everything from grocery runs to office commutes, totes are a simple win for brands looking to make a lasting impression.
Advantages of a tote bag as a promotional item:
- Walking advertisement: Your brand’s visuals travel wherever your customers or employees go.
- Generous branding space: The flat, wide surface is perfect for your design, logo, or text.
- Sturdy, stylish, and long-lasting: A quality tote can last for years, gaining character with use – exactly what you want in promotional merchandise.
Branded totes also pair well with pins, caps, or tech accessories. Explore the Printify Catalog and create custom bundles.
Hats
Branded hats do it all – they protect from the sun, cover bad hair days, and double as stylish, people-powered billboards. Perfect for events, giveaways, or everyday wear, they’re an effortless way to get your name out there.
Advantages of hats as promotional products:
- Low cost: A budget-friendly marketing solution that works great for gifts, trade shows, or employee swag.
- Worn anywhere: Hats stick around long after a campaign ends – at the park, gym, or on vacation – quietly promoting your brand with every wear.
- High visibility: When employees or customers wear your hat, your logo is front and center, creating organic exposure without extra effort.
Whether you’re after embroidery or direct-to-garment designs, our Print Providers are ready to create branded hats that look great and feel even better.
You don’t need a design background to make something great. Learn the basics of embroidery design in minutes and start creating hats people love to wear.
Stickers and magnets
Looking for fun, low-cost merch? Stickers and magnets are playful, affordable, and endlessly customizable.
Advantages of stickers and magnets as promotional products:
- Affordable yet impactful: With low production costs, they’re great for freebies, giveaways, or event handouts.
- High visibility: Stickers end up on laptops, water bottles, and notebooks – all prime real estate for your logo. Magnets shine on fridges and office boards, keeping your brand in daily view.
- A fun way to promote: These aren’t just cheap throw-ins. A well-designed vinyl sticker or magnet can express your brand’s personality and make people smile.
The Printify Catalog offers high-quality stickers and magnets in various styles, shapes, and sizes that any business can easily customize.
With Printify, there’s no order minimums. Start small, test a few designs, and scale up when you see what hits.
Make your own custom stickers and magnets today!
Phone cases
Phone cases are one of the most practical and visible daily accessories.
Start by finding out which smartphone models your employees or customers have – once they start using your branded case, they’ll do the promo work for you.
Advantages of phone cases as promotional products:
- Endless customization: Choose from different models, finishes, colors, and design placements to match your brand’s vibe.
- Practical and protective: More than just stylish, phone cases safeguard valuable devices from scuffs, scratches, and drops.
- Highly popular: Almost everyone has a smartphone, making branded cases a smart, universally relevant choice for any industry.
The Printify Catalog has phone cases for many popular smartphone models – finding the right one for your business won’t take long.
For a complete gift set, pair your branded phone case with functional items like wireless charging pads and magnetic induction chargers.
Water bottles and tumblers
With healthy living on the rise, water bottles and tumblers have become more popular than ever.
Including them in your product lineup shows you care about your employees’ and customers’ well-being – while giving your brand valuable, everyday visibility. It’s a smart way to promote health, sustainability, and goodwill all at once.
Advantages of bottles and tumblers as promotion products:
- Easy to carry: Great for work, travel, workouts, or just staying hydrated throughout the day.
- Safer for health: Most water bottles and tumblers are BPA-free, making them perfect gifts for health-conscious consumers.
- Eco-friendly: One bottle can replace hundreds of single-use plastics – good for the planet and your brand image.
We also offer a range of other eco-friendly products, enabling your businesses to create a whole collection of sustainable promotional items.
Mouse pads
Whether at home, in the office, or part of a gaming setup, mouse pads offer consistent, daily exposure for your brand.
They’re practical, durable, and simple to design – making them a smart choice as standalone merchandise or as part of a bundle.
Advantages of mouse pads as promotional products:
- Practical and useful: They improve comfort and precision for anyone using a mouse regularly.
- Endless customization: Perfect for logos, text, patterns, or full-color illustrations that align with your brand’s aesthetic.
- Long-lasting impact: Quality mouse pads stay on desks for years, keeping your brand visible day after day.
There are plenty of great options to choose from – add an eye-catching design, and you’ve got a practical promotional item unlike any other.
Got a gamer-heavy audience? LED gaming mouse pads are a great way to connect with them and stand out from typical corporate swag.
Bottle openers
Small but mighty, bottle openers make excellent event merch – especially for brands in the food, beverage, or hospitality space.
They’re easy to carry, easy to use, and even easier to brand.
Advantages of bottle openers as promotional products:
- Functional: Handy at office events, company parties, or at home.
- Niche appeal: Perfect for bars, breweries, or lifestyle brands with a relaxed vibe.
- Customizable: Just add your logo, and you’ve got a useful keepsake people won’t toss.
If it fits your brand personality, this little item can go a long way in terms of impact and memorability.
Notebooks and journals
Whether it’s jotting down ideas in a meeting, doodling during a brainstorm, or making a to-do list, everyone needs a place to put their thoughts. So why not put your brand on a lovely notepad that people reach for every day?
Advantages of notebooks and journals as promo products:
- Consistent demand: Students, professionals, creatives – just about everyone uses them.
- Multi-use: Great for journaling, sketching, making lists, or taking notes.
- Long-lasting: Unlike many disposable promo items, notebooks and journals stick around – keeping your logo visible for months or even years.
Notebooks are useful at trade shows, workshops, and welcome kits. Choose a style that fits your brand, and your merchandise will look and feel intentional.
Pair your notebooks with other custom stationery – pens, sticky notes, desk pads – to create a polished, professional set your clients and team will appreciate.
Laptop sleeves
Laptop sleeves are among the most practical pieces of branded merch – sleek, durable, and highly visible.
They protect valuable devices while putting your brand front and center daily, whether at work, in cafes, or on the go.
Advantages of laptop sleeves as swag:
- Practical: Laptop sleeves provide constant peace of mind, protecting one of employees’ and customers’ most prized possessions.
- Built to last: Made from durable materials that hold up over time, keeping your logo visible longer.
- Versatility: Works for laptops, tablets, eReaders, or other slim tech devices.
If your audience is tech-savvy or remote-first, this is a merch item that won’t miss.
Posters
When designed with intention, branded posters can be high-impact merch that adds personality to any space. Whether used for decorating an office, organizing giveaways, or as event products, posters are a simple way to get your brand on the wall – and in people’s sight.
Advantages of posters as promotional products:
- Convenient to make: Quick to produce and easy to ship, posters can reach your customers in less than four days.
- Full focus on your branding: Showcase your message, design, or limited-edition artwork in a way that fits your brand’s style.
- Display value: Posters turn walls into brand real estate – offices, bedrooms, studios, cafes, and any other space.
Socks
Socks are a surprising and fun piece of promo merch – practical and always appreciated. They get a lot of wear (so, constant brand exposure) without being in-your-face.
Advantages of socks as promotional products:
- Daily essential: Everyone wears socks, so if you get your customers or workers high-quality socks, your brand will be associated with quality and practicality.
- Creative canvas: Add bold patterns, logos, or even custom messages – socks give you room to be playful or polished.
- Low risk, high reward: They’re compact, affordable, and have a high perceived value, making them great for gift bags or surprise-and-delight moments.
Fanny packs
Fanny packs are back – and they’re some of the best promo products for summer. They’re functional, stylish, and easy to wear, making them a solid merch pick for modern brands looking to offer something a little different.
Advantages of fanny packs as promotional products:
- Practical and portable: Great for travel, fun, commuting, or everyday use. People love gear that keeps their hands free.
- Trendy: The fanny pack resurgence is real, especially with younger audiences and creators who care about style.
- Prime branding area: Front-and-center placement means your logo or message is always visible.
Bring your branded merchandise ideas to life
The stats make one thing clear – branded merch works.
- 73% of workers say company products increase their sense of belonging.
- 69% of people use and wear branded items outside of work.
- 85% of people who have received promo merch tend to pick the brand.
With Printify, creating branded products has never been easier. Whatever your goals, we’re an all-in-one solution for all your business needs.
Step 1: Sign up for a free account
After signing up, access 1,300 promotional products and our extensive network of thoroughly vetted Print Providers.
Step 2: Select a product and apply a design
Select the product you want to customize and design it in our free, beginner-friendly Product Creator. No designing experience necessary.
Step 3: Order samples
When the creative part is over, we recommend ordering samples to ensure you’re happy with the result. Once you see the product quality, you can rest easy knowing your customers and employees will enjoy them, too.
A few closing thoughts
As we conclude our list of the best branded merchandise ideas, it’s time to head to Printify’s Product Catalog, put your custom branding on products, and start making an impact.
Frequently asked questions
Merchandise with a clear message, eye-catching design, and relevance to your audience is more likely to sell best. Top-performing items include t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, tote bags, phone cases, and water bottles – products that people use or wear regularly.
The most popular promotional items include custom apparel (like t-shirts, hoodies, socks, and hats), drinkware (mugs and bottles), tote bags, notebooks, and tech accessories. These items offer high visibility, everyday use, and a strong return on investment for brand awareness.
Branded merchandise examples include logo t-shirts, printed mugs, custom tote bags, branded water bottles, stickers, phone cases, notebooks, and embroidered hats.
