Corporate winter holiday gifts for SDG

Three perfect NY projects in a row: three years of collaboration and creativity to achieve great results and deliver high-quality custom merch.

Context

We’ve all been there – another year at the company, another generic T-shirt or hoodie with the logo slapped on it.

Our client, Social Discovery Group (SDG), wanted to break that cycle. They wanted corporate merch, but something completely different this year. This holiday season, they came to us with a mission: create corporate gifts their team would genuinely love and remember. They didn’t want another branded hoodie collecting dust in the closet, but only thoughtful, exciting gifts that would make their people feel appreciated.

We have worked with SDG for three years in a row, and every year, they prepare something special for their 1200+ employees.

Solution

Swag42 designed, produced, and sent 820 corporate Winter Holiday gifts and 350 kids’ gifts to 65 countries. We handled both office and personal deliveries.

How SDG selected gifts people love

What is the secret to great gift-giving? Just ask people what they want!

That’s exactly what Social Discovery Group did. They sent out a merch survey to their team and got 900 responses. Then we used that feedback to build something better than the usual one-size-fits-all approach.

Here’s what we created:

Working with SDG, we designed a collection of nine custom items. Each team member got to pick their main gift from options like:

• Three different hoodie styles (six total designs)
• A branded shirt
• Crocs with custom pins
• A backpack

Everyone also received a custom notebook, a card, and nice packaging to tie it all together.

Why this actually worked:

The survey helped us understand what different people actually wanted. New employees had different preferences than folks who’d been around for years and already had a closet full of company gear.

Some people wanted clean, simple hoodie designs. Others wanted something bold. The creative types went for the Crocs. Others picked the practical backpack they could use every day.

When you give people choices based on what they actually tell you, the gifts don’t end up in the back of the closet.

Custom hoodie

We designed three hoodie styles with custom prints and a clean SDG logo label. Each came in different fits – oversized, slim, and regular – so people could pick what they liked. 

Branded shirt

The denim shirt came in a cappuccino color with a creative print on the back and a small SDG logo up front. We used silk-screen printing for the designs, pulling inspiration from SDG’s original characters.

Crocs

The classic Crocs were a hit with the SDG team. We made custom charms featuring the SDG logo and playful creatures from their brandbook. People could mix and match the charms to make them their own.

Backpack by Swag42

For the practical-minded, we made a custom backpack from waterproof Oxford fabric. It’s durable, roomy, and works for whatever you need to carry – office gear, gym clothes, daily essentials, you name it.

Each backpack has a foldable top, double handles, and adjustable straps for comfort. We added embroidered SDG logos and a fun silicone zipper pull.

These backpacks are popular with our clients because they’re both useful and good-looking. We’ve made similar ones for Wargaming, but used sublimation printing there – a technique that covers the entire fabric surface for a completely different visual effect.

Samples creation and photoshoot

Quality matters to SDG, so we made several samples first to nail down the fit and finish before moving into production.

Our project manager, Victoria Khalapuk, conducted a mini photoshoot to help SDG employees visualize the merch items. For example, we showed how the hoodies fit men and women in different sizes. This way, each SDG employee could choose the best size and fit to get something they’d actually love wearing.

Logistics and delivery

Getting everything delivered was just as important as making it. We shipped to multiple countries (from Europe to the US), each with its own customs rules and paperwork.

Starting early gave us the breathing room we needed to get it right.

Swag42 handled the entire logistics chain: prepping all the documents, packaging everything, managing customs communications, and clearing shipments. Even in trickier locations like Georgia, we made sure nothing got stuck at the border.

Swag42 managed all logistical aspects, from document creation to shipment tracking and delivery to various locations, including offices and individual addresses. We also handled customs clearance in countries where it was necessary, such as Georgia.

Some more items we delivered for SDG during our partnership

Results

SDG corporate Winter Holiday presents arrived on time and received many positive reviews and warm thanks from the recipients.

This was a unique and complex project. An extensive survey and audience segmentation allowed us to tailor gifts to individual preferences, while our logistics team managed deliveries to multiple countries across virtually every continent.