👋 Welcome back to This Week in Print-on-Demand Episode #70, where swag meets culture.

NEWS & NUGGETS: A DASH OF INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

🫶 Employee Appreciation Day: Employee Appreciation Day lands on Friday, March 6, 2026, and it’s one of the best opportunities to show your people you care. Want the playbook our clients use to make EAD special for all their employees. Reply "appreciation" to get our complimentary playbook.

🤝 Work friends are basically a retention strategy now: A KPMG survey found 81% say work friends are highly important, and 83% say friendships help them feel more engaged (plus job satisfaction and connection). If your recognition strategy ignores social glue, you’re leaving value on the table. Source.

💸 Merit raises are getting… spread thin: Nearly half of companies are reportedly leaning into across-the-board raises instead of differentiated bumps, and Fortune frames it as a familiar recession-era move. A detail that should catch HR’s attention: the piece flags pressure on pay bump budgets and broader uncertainty driving comp decisions. If you’re trying to keep high performers engaged, “everyone gets the same” is a risky emotional story to tell. Source.

🎉 Giveaway Winner Alert: Shout-out to the winners from last week, Amira Ward, SHRM-CP, and Sarah-Jayne Lehtinen,who scored the Sound Saber Clip-On Wireless Monitor Speakerfrom HPG.We’ve got another giveaway below!

WEEKLY POLL + GIVEAWAY

Giveaway Alert: Puffer Moon Bag

This week’s prize is built for the MVP of every offsite, airport sprint, and coffee run. The Puffer Moon Bag is crafted from super soft, water-repellent RE: NYNET® material with a roomy 3.5-liter capacity that carries everything you need to the moon and back. With an inside zipper pocket, two inner slip pockets, and an adjustable strap, it’s equal parts function and main-character energy. Sustainable, durable, and backed by a 2-year warranty, this bag doesn’t just hold your stuff. It holds the vibe.

Details:

👉 To enter, just answer this week’s poll below.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT

🤝 Meet Body By Heart

Body By Heart is a Los Angeles–based plastic and reconstructive surgery practice led by Dr. Ryan Spivak, a surgeon widely recognized for innovation in awake body contouring and outpatient aesthetic care. A graduate of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania with residency training at USC, Dr. Spivak has developed proprietary techniques and surgical systems designed to elevate safety, consistency, and natural outcomes. Beyond aesthetics, he has served as Medical Director for complex wound care programs and published nationally recognized research in gene therapy for craniofacial anomalies. It’s a practice grounded in clinical rigor, surgical mastery, and a commitment to continually raising the standard of modern plastic surgery.

📣 Our Collaboration

Their on-demand store, https://swag.bodybyheart.com/, keeps the lineup clean, curated, and lifestyle-forward. You’ll find a tight mix of apparel, drinkware, bags, and everyday accessories that actually fit into someone’s routine.

Quick store strategy lesson: they did not overbuild. The brand shows up on items people will genuinely wear, carry, and reuse. Not the kind of merch that gets tossed in a tote and forgotten.

They’re using the swag store strategically, gifting clients with complimentary swag to encourage referrals. Big brain move.

🤝 Connect With Body By Heart

Shoot me a note at Ross@brandsauce.io to get connected with the team.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Around the Water Cooler With Ross AKA The P.O.D. Guy

The Kind of Bond That Never Leaves You

Four years ago, when I met Madison, we were both walking through the quiet wreckage of divorce. Not living with our exes anymore, but not officially divorced either. That strange in-between space where life feels uncertain and unfinished. The paperwork takes time. Healing takes longer.

Somewhere in that season, without knowing it, we both found the same music. A DJ named Kygo. His songs became part of the background of our rebuilding, long drives, late nights, and small moments of hope. A favorite song called Lost Without You.

One night, I put on one of his tracks, and Madison smiled and said, “I love Kygo. It’s my dream to see him live.”

I didn’t say much in the moment. But I tucked that sentence away. The way you do when something matters.

Fast forward four years.

On Valentine’s Day, Kygo was playing a show with Calvin Harris. By pure coincidence, or maybe something better than coincidence, it was two days before the POD Conference in the same city.

I got to surprise her with tickets.

But what made the night unforgettable wasn’t just the music.

A few of my college tennis teammates live in South Florida. Guys I trained with every day. Traveled with. Won with. Lost with. Guys I hadn’t seen in 25 years.

We all went together.

And here’s what struck me: the years disappeared. It felt like we had just finished practice. The jokes were the same. The rhythm was the same. The trust was still there.

When you sweat beside someone.

When you push through pain together.

When you compete shoulder to shoulder.

Something permanent forms.

There’s a loyalty that doesn’t fade. A quiet promise that says, “I’ve got you. Always.”

With those guys, I would do anything. And I know they would do the same for me.

It made me think about something we talk about often at Brand Sauce.

Why do sports teams and the military create bonds that last a lifetime?

It’s not just shared time. It’s shared experience. Shared struggle. Shared meaning.

And what if work could feel more like that?

What if teams didn’t just collaborate, but connected?

What if trust wasn’t assumed, but earned and deepened?

What if the people you worked with became people you would show up for, no matter what?

That’s what we think about at Brand Sauce.

We’re not just in the business of gifting. We’re in the business of strengthening human connections inside companies. Helping people feel seen. Helping teams feel closer. Helping moments turn into memories.

Because when people feel connected, everything changes.

To Hamid, Stefan, and Vahid, thank you for a night I’ll never forget. And thank you for reminding me what real bonds feel like.

That’s what we’re trying to build.

Go Gators!

👥 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 👇

⏪ Previous Episodes

In Print-on-Demand | EP #69, we explored what meaningful appreciation actually looks like, from Delta’s $1.3B profit-sharing payout to the growing conversation around heartbreak leave and workplace empathy. We previewed our upcoming Masterclass on company store technology, spotlighted Teledyne’s precision-built branded store, and gave readers a shot at upgrading their workspace with a Sound Saber monitor speaker. And in this week’s Water Cooler, Ross shared a powerful reminder from a 200-person Shabbat dinner in Miami that connection, not algorithms, is what really brings people together.

In Print-on-Demand | EP #68, we leaned into smarter hiring, smoother swag experiences, and the systems behind both. From why candidates are skimming job posts to what makes HR transformation actually work, this edition explored clarity over clutter. We also spotlighted Patch My PC’s on-demand store, previewed POD Conference 2026 with Ross taking the stage, and asked a simple question: What if a better user experience is the real competitive edge in swag?

In Print-on-Demand | EP #67, we connected the dots between culture, commerce, and a little Super Bowl chaos. From planning ahead for Employee Appreciation Day and smarter company store strategies to $10M ad slots and MrBeast’s $1M giveaway moment, this edition explored how brands are investing in attention and recognition. We also spotlighted Janux Therapeutics’ on-demand store, teed up POD Conference 2026, and asked a simple question: what if swag actually made work better?

Print-on-Demand | EP #66, we explored how brands are showing appreciation, scaling swag smartly, and leaning into culture-building moments. From Employee Appreciation Day prep and the NFL’s crossover merch drop to mega indoor golf news and global hiring trends, this edition covered what’s making noise (and impact). Plus: a peek into our Swag Masterclass, the latest from PPAI, and how Anika Systems is leveling up with their own branded store.

THAT’S A WRAP

That’s everything worth knowing this week in promo land.

Until next time, stay saucy! 👋

– Ross & the Brand Sauce Team