The good, the bad and the tchotchke

Our Cohn & Wolfe Digital crew stopped by the SXSWi Trade Show today and picked up a bundle of souvenirs from a variety of brands.  One thing we quickly discovered; all tchotckes are not created equal.  Here are the highlights of the free swag we snagged at SX:

The Good

- Branded Guitar Picks from Cisco: Everyone knows someone who plays guitar and needs a guitar pick.  Conveniently the same size as business cards, Cisco passed out pop-out guitar picks, giving trade-show visitors a fun, memorable takeaway.
- Branded Hohner Harmonica from the Mississippi Blues Trail: This harmonica might only be fun for a few minutes, but it is an original idea and ties back to the Mississippi Blues Trail in a natural and novel way.
- Southwest Airlines Computer Sleeve: Let’s face it – the interactive festival is crawling with laptop-toting attendees.  Who doesn't need a spare laptop case?  A+ Southwest.

The Bad

- Sunglasses: Unless you’re a frat boy rocking plaid shorts and a polo, neon-colored sunglasses embossed with a company's logo are just going to sit in your junk drawer.  Unfortunately, several companies handed these out; they’re cute, but definitely not original or useful.
- Poor Quality T-Shirts: Brands will always want to get their fans to act as walking billboards, but with so many companies purchasing high-quality t-shirts with subtle branding (i.e., something a person might actually want to wear), the stiff and over-branded options are easily ignored.  A note to brands: opt for the American Apparel shirt when screen printing.
- Bouncy Balls: If the purpose of a tchotchke is to gain some permanent real estate in your office (to keep the brand top of mind) its best if that trinket doesn't come in the form of a object that rolls... right off your desk.

The Ugly

- Giant Bowl of (Unwrapped) Candy: Candy is always a winner ... unless it’s a big bowl of unwrapped M&Ms or gummy bears, and everyone at the trade show has put their hands in it.
- A Pre-Used DVD of the Scooby-Doo Movie (Widescreen): While loosely related to the offered service, this “tchotchke” circa 2002 – with remnants of the re-sale sticker still visible on the front – is verging on insulting.
- Oversized pens: Though normal sized pens in a giant fishbowl (ala Microsoft's display on the 4th floor of the Austin Convention Center) can come in handy when your laptop battery dies and you find yourself resorting to hand-written notes, one brand's oversized pen is full of awkward-writing-potential and lacking functionality ... not something you really want in a pen.