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Swag is the term for promotional items given away or gifted to editors, celebrities and other industry insiders who are in a position to influence news and upcoming trends. Used in the public relations and fashion industries, it covers giveaway items — clothing, accessories and beyond — and services such as a complimentary haircut or spa treatment, all meant to familiarize or educate editors on a particular product or service. Public relations agencies and in-house PR teams send the items for editors to experience, enjoy and hopefully review favorably in a magazine or on a website or blog; designers also gift gowns to celebrities for the exposure of a public appearance.
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Swag: Swag Promotional Items - Fashion Terms of Interest to the Fashion Industry |
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The term, which is often used in the public relations and fashion industries, refers to those giveaway items (it can include clothing, accessories, and beyond) or services (a complimentary haircut or spa treatment) that familiarize or educate editors on a particular product or service. In many cases it is the public relations agencies or in-house PR teams that send editors these promotional items to experience, enjoy, and hopefully review favorably in a magazine or on a website or blog.
Many designers gift gowns to celebrities in an effort to gain exposure, including editorial or other types of coverage, through the celebrity appearance. Swag may include items from fashion to beauty, home decor or even tickets to high-profile events and the theater.
Regina Cooper October 2009
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Swag works because firsthand experience is the input editors actually use. A press release describes a product; a gifted product sits on the editor's desk, gets worn, tried and compared, and can be written about with the authority of use. That is why the category stretches beyond merchandise into services and access — a spa treatment, a haircut, theater or event tickets — anything that lets an insider experience what a brand sells or the world it wants to be associated with. The fashion public relations pages cover the profession that plans this giving.
When designers gift gowns to celebrities, the exchange is the same one scaled up: the celebrity receives a garment, and the designer receives exposure through the appearance — editorial coverage, photographs and the association of the design with the wearer. No coverage is guaranteed in either direction, which is why swag is best understood as seeding rather than advertising: the product is placed with people whose judgment others follow, and the favorable mention, if it comes, carries the credibility of independence. The October 2009 note by Regina Cooper that anchors this page dates from the height of the print-and-blog era of the practice; the recipients have since multiplied to include the social media voices the fashion influencer pages describe, but the mechanism — gift, experience, hoped-for coverage — is unchanged.
Editors, celebrities and other industry insiders who are in a position to influence news and upcoming trends. It is sent by public relations agencies or in-house PR teams so recipients can experience the product or service firsthand.
Clothing and accessories, beauty and home decor items, services such as a complimentary haircut or spa treatment, and even tickets to high-profile events and the theater. Designers gifting gowns to celebrities for an appearance is swag at the high end.
Familiarity that turns into coverage. The recipient experiences and enjoys the product, and the brand hopes for a favorable review in a magazine, on a website or on a blog — or, with celebrity gifting, editorial and other coverage through the appearance itself.