Month: June 2025

Posted: June 26, 2025

In a world where inboxes are crowded and ads are skipped, tactile, well-branded merchandise is cutting through the noise and proving its value.

Done right, branded premium items are more than giveaways. They’re strategic marketing tools that build brand equity, foster loyalty, and spark engagement at every stage of the customer journey.

And summer is the perfect time to activate this approach.

Whether you’re sponsoring events, supporting your sales team, or building out a demand-gen campaign, branded merchandise can make your message stick — literally and figuratively.

Why Summer Is Prime Time for Branded Swag

Summer brings more outdoor events, travel, team-building, and community moments. And that means more opportunities for your brand to show up in memorable, useful, and highly-visibile ways.

Think branded:

• Cooler bags at company picnics
• Performance tees at community races
• Water bottles on desks and dashboards
• Bluetooth speakers at beach days
• Towels, totes, caps, and sunglasses
• Fans – the manual and the rechargeable kind

These aren’t novelties. They’re brand billboards people actually use and associate with good experiences.

The Business Case for Branded Premiums

Let’s break down the ROI:

• Drive Awareness – Quality merch extends your brand’s reach beyond digital impressions. A custom cooler in someone’s trunk is seen over and over by their family, friends, and coworkers.
• Increase Recall – A branded power bank or stylish tote used regularly creates strong, subconscious brand reinforcement.
• Support Sales – Promotional products used in account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns, event activations, or sales leave-behinds can increase response rates and conversions.
• Elevate Perception – Premium items elevate your brand from “vendor” to “valued partner.” When the product is useful, attractive, and well-made, your brand earns more credibility.

Don’t Just Print Your Logo on Stuff. Build a Strategy

Not all swag is created equal. Great branded merch aligns with your audience, objective, and channel.

Ask yourself:

• What’s our goal? Is it awareness, engagement, lead gen, loyalty?
• Where will this item be used? Will they be in public, at events, on desks, in cars?
• Who’s the recipient and what’s relevant and meaningful to them?
• Does the quality reflect our brand’s standards?

And always aim for long shelf life and daily use. That’s where staying power lives.

Real-World Use Cases That Work

Here are just a few smart ways JTS clients use summer premiums:

• Event Marketing – Branded performance gear for 5K runs and golf tournaments
• Sales Enablement – Product-themed kits with QR codes for lead capture
• Employee Advocacy – Swag packs for internal brand ambassadors
• Community Presence – Local sponsorships backed with wearable merch
• Client Engagement – Seasonal drops that reinforce value and stay visible

Ready to Be Remembered This Summer?

At JTS, we help brands choose, design, and deliver promotional products that serve a purpose and deliver results. From concept to fulfillment, we’ll align every element with your campaign strategy, timeline, and target audience.

Want to make this summer your most visible one yet? Let’s talk branded merchandise that builds brands.

Posted: June 16, 2025

In an era where digital marketing seems to dominate every conversation, one channel continues to prove its staying power. That channel is PRINT. But print marketing in 2025 doesn’t mean turning your back on digital. In fact, the most successful campaigns are those that bridge the gap between physical and digital experiences. By incorporating tools like QR codes and personalized landing pages (pURLs), your print materials can become powerful gateways to online engagement, lead nurturing, and measurable ROI.

At JTS, we help businesses turn traditional print into dynamic, interactive experiences that amplify brand visibility and drive results. Here’s how your brand can take advantage of this evolving synergy.

Why Print Still Holds Power

Despite the fast pace of digital, print remains one of the most trusted marketing channels. Studies continue to show that print materials command greater attention, create stronger emotional engagement, and are remembered longer than digital ads. When people receive a well-designed piece of print, whether it’s a postcard, brochure, or catalog, they’re more likely to view the content thoughtfully and retain the message.

But that doesn’t mean print can’t be innovative and leverage some of today’s powerful digital advantages. Today’s best campaigns use print to capture attention and then seamlessly drive that attention into the digital world where further interaction and conversion can happen.

QR Codes: The Bridge Between Print and Digital

QR codes have gone from niche tech to everyday utility, especially since the pandemic made touchless interactions a necessity. When placed on printed materials, QR codes offer a direct, frictionless pathway to your online content.

Here are a few ideas for how to use QR codes in your print marketing:

• Event Flyers and Banners: Link to registration forms, event details, or speaker bios.
• Postcards and Direct Mail: Drive traffic to a seasonal landing page with a limited-time offer.
• Retail Signage: Provide customers with access to product details, how-to videos, or mobile checkout.
• Packaging Inserts: Encourage repeat business with QR codes linking to review pages or loyalty programs.

The best part? Every scan is trackable. You’ll know which piece drove the engagement and how well it performed.

pURLs and Personalized Landing Pages

Want to take the experience one step further? Personalized URLs (aka pURLs) allow you to create a unique landing page for each recipient of your print campaign. This makes your communication feel custom and relevant which are two factors that significantly improve response rates.

Imagine mailing out 500 brochures to business prospects, each with their own unique pURL like: www.yourbrand.com/john-consumer. When John types it in or scans the QR code linked to it, he lands on a webpage with content specifically tailored to his interests or industry.

Benefits of pURLs include:

• Higher conversion rates due to relevant content
• The ability to track individual responses
• Behavioral insights can help drive additional personalized experiences
• More effective A/B testing of offers, headlines, and messaging
• Clear insights into campaign ROI

This level of personalization creates a hybrid experience where the credibility and tangibility of print are matched by the precision and convenience of digital.

Why Omnichannel Wins

Today’s customers don’t think in terms of “print” or “digital”. They interact with brands across multiple touchpoints and expect consistency across them all. Integrating QR codes and landing pages into your print strategy helps deliver that consistency while giving you measurable data to optimize future campaigns.

Omnichannel marketing isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the future. When print becomes part of that strategy, you ensure your message reaches your audience wherever they are, in whatever format they prefer.

Print + Digital = Stronger Together

At JTS, we’ve worked with companies across industries to create smart, modern marketing strategies that combine the best of both print and digital. Whether you’re launching a new product, planning a tradeshow, or nurturing prospects, our team can help design print materials that don’t just inform; they engage, connect, and convert.

Let’s build a campaign that bridges the gap.