Corporate swag will never die
Hired Inc. was founded in 2012 and acquired by the Adecco Group in 2020. In the intervening years Hired helped tech companies recruit employees, burned through ~$130m in funding, and gave away copious amounts of swag. I also have Hired dress socks and a Hired winter hat, given to me by a friend who worked there.
Corporate artifacts like these are hardly unusual. One Hustle reader has Blockbuster video tupperware. Another received an AOL varsity letterman’s jacket that celebrated a mid-90s milestone of 3m users.
In 2023, the corporate swag industry in the US and Canada — known more formally as the promotional products industry — grew for the third consecutive year to a record of $26.1B , according to the Advertising Specialty Institute ( ASI ), a promo industry trade group. That means swag revenues are roughly equal to those of the US book publishing industry and not far off the global music industry .
Swag has been growing at a moderate clip in an era of white collar austerity. Companies have slowed down hiring and initiated layoffs while nixing free lunches . They’ve also reduced certain types of ad spending.
