Do you have ambitions of being the next president of the United States of America or the next Prime Minister of Australia? Then your success will depend on promotional items. Seriously, no modern government in the Western World has won an election without promotional mugs, printed tee shirts and personalised merchandise. In this case study, we are going to check out some of the best and most creative merchandise created by presidential hopefuls over the past years in the United States.

Best Design Wins

The Democratic party in America has a considerable number of people looking to secure the nomination to run against Republican President Donald Trump in 2020, but in order to get that nomination they need to win over voters, and many of them are turning to some seriously eye-catching promotional products to get their messages out there and noticed by the general public.

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren is one of the better known Democrats hoping to score the nomination, and her marketing merchandise pushes the idea that she is a reliable person who is fighting for the people. The "Warren has a plan for that" custom shopping totes are being used all over the country and she's interestingly added a personalised dog collar to her range of goodies recently to coincide with her adoption of a golden retriever puppy. Our verdict? These are savvy goods, very current with tailored slogans on each -- definitely one of the top candidates based on her swag!

Julián Castro

Not as well-known as Warren, Julián Castro was formerly the secretary of housing and urban development portfolios and is a young and progressive candidate looking to stir things up. His range of merchandise primarily focuses on basics like tees and caps, but he also has some fun goodies like stickers and baby onesies as well. One thing to note is that Castro embraces his Mexican-American heritage in all the designs on his merchandise with Spanish used effectively in many of his slogans. Our verdict? Not the most imaginative products but the fun designs and slogans put him a cut above the rest.

Kamala Harris

The second woman in the race for the Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris was born to a Tamil Indian mother and a Jamaican father and grew up to become a lawyer then later senator for the United States. Embracing her diverse background, Harris has put together a range of promotional gear that paints her as the candidate for all Americans. This includes a custom tee shirt featuring her name in the colours of the trans pride flag as well as a vibrant purple & gold bandanna with her name against the stars of the American flag. Our verdict? Kamala is trying some different things with her merch and reaching out to marginalised communities at the same time, very powerful.

Which one of the candidates has the swag that will get them across the line? I guess we'll have to wait and see. We'll be checking out some of the other nominees' merchandise as well because there's lots of exciting branded goodies they're selling that will undoubtedly provide you with some inspiration for your own custom products.

Products first spotted here: https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a28196381/2020-election-campaign-swag/