Stewart Marketing Group Promotes You!

  Besides a low tolerance for missing a sunrise, what gets me out of bed every morning is a desire to help businesses achieve their growth goals while ensuring their marketing is in line with their brand and values. I bring my creativity, and passion for learning, to the role of Sustainability Manager; and I leverage many years of refining service offerings and vendor management to Stewart Marketing Group's Governance. Through a patchwork of seemingly disconnected experiences, careers, and roles that shaped who I am, not the least of which was becoming a grandmother, I embraced the responsibility to ensure that the footprints we leave in this life promote the health of the planet and the ethical treatment of others. At Stewart Marketing Group, I bring the “G” to our ESG goals (Environment, Social Equity, Governance) by increasing and then sharing my knowledge of sustainable sourcing , social and environmental challenges and innovative solutions to those challenges. If you’re fir...

Is the current economy putting the squeeze on your marketing dollars? Partnering with complementary organizations can be transformative! By joining forces with shared marketing partners, you can extend your reach, reduce costs, and deliver greater value to your audience.  Consider the value of a local non-profit joining hands with a community health clinic. Together, they create a direct mail campaign that not only raises awareness about vital health services but also promotes an upcoming charity event related to those services.  Or picture a restaurant start-up teaming up with a local theatre. Their joint campaign can offer special dinner-and-show packages to local residents, enticing them to enjoy an evening out with exclusive discounts.  Strategic partnering can add lasting value: Broader Audience Reach: Tap into each partner's network, giving your brand exposure to new communities eager to connect with your offering. Reduce Costs: Share co-branded merchandise or creat...

                      photo courtesy of cottonbro studio & www.pexels.com   Making Customer Appreciation Memorable This Holiday Season As the holiday season approaches, take a moment to reflect—when you receive a promotional gift from a business, does it truly feel like heartfelt appreciation, or just another brand message tucked into festive wrapping? In an era where everyone is bombarded with holiday offers and branded trinkets, the line between a thoughtful gesture and a mere marketing play is thinner than ever. What makes a simple thank you stand out this time of year? The holidays are a season of gratitude, renewal, and connection. It’s a time when people hope for meaning behind every exchange, not just another transaction. Businesses that recognize this can turn a routine promotional item into a moment of genuine warmth—a gift that feels less like a sales tactic and more like a person...

  Stewart Marketing Group (SMG) is committed to the health and welfare of our planet and those people and creatures who share it with us. While we cannot control the purchase decisions of our clients, we commit to educate and offer product options that are eco-friendly and that use eco-friendly processes and/or materials. In addition, Stewart Marketing Group, LLC prioritizes partnering with suppliers who are committed to treating their employees ethically, ensuring fair labor practices and safe working conditions throughout their operations. As a small business, we have reduced our environmental footprint by: ·                 * Adopting a paperless process ·                 * Using electronic storage and delivery processes ·                 * Where paper is necessary, utilize recycled paper ...

  Early in my leadership career, I made a common mistake: I assumed my best employees knew how much I appreciated them. They were high performers—dedicated, dependable, and always going the extra mile. I thought my gratitude was obvious. It wasn’t. Over time, I learned that appreciation left unspoken often goes unheard. People don’t just want to know they’re valued—they need to feel it. That realization changed everything about how I lead, communicate, and celebrate others. Gratitude, I’ve come to believe, isn’t just a personal virtue—it’s an organizational superpower. When companies intentionally weave gratitude into their culture, everything shifts. Engagement rises. Innovation follows. Teams grow more connected and resilient because people feel seen and valued. Gratitude also strengthens relationships with customers and members. In industries built on trust—like credit unions, nonprofits, and community-driven businesses—it reminds us that service is both a responsibility and a p...

  Honoring Indigenous Peoples Day : Transforming a Neighborhood Dumpsite Cleaning up trash when I go for a walk is something I do often—just my part of who we are as a company that cares about the planet. This week I decided to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day by taking a large bag and my trash picker* out for a clean-up walk through our neighborhood. I expected to be able to clean 2 miles and come home with a half bag of trash. My normally neat little neighborhood’s contribution to the debris that makes its way to the river is usually confined to escapees from the morning trashcan pick-up or dropped food wrappers, and (interestingly) “bagged” dog feces from humans that respectively must not be able to bend at the waist, and those that can bend at the waist but lack the hand coordination to carry the bag home to their trash. As I rounded the end of my first block, I spotted a dump site tucked into the edge of a wooded field, a place so often overlooked that...

  Corporate “Greenhushing” is a thing now, where companies are removing references to sustainability practices and results from their websites and reports. Sadly, some are even abandoning their environmental initiatives. Stewart Marketing Group is still committed to our vision of a planet that is even more beautiful and sustainable for our grandchildren and yours than the one we enjoyed when we were young. Sustainability, social responsibility, and environmental awareness are not fads we follow, they are our legacy.

  Transforming Promotional Products into Agents of Change When I was a line of business leader in the corporate world, our marketing departments brilliantly standardized our brand across the organization and educated employees, like me, on how to keep the brand consistent. Most, if not all, of our promotional product were made available through our trained marketing professionals. So, when we went to a conference or an event to promote our company, we (the sales division) chose the SWAG we would use to promote our company from what the marketing department had on hand and based on what seemed most appealing for our prospects and customers. We engaged prospects at the events and rewarded their willingness to connect with the SWAG we selected. This was an effective and common approach to promotional product giveaways at that time. But in today's values-driven marketplace, organizations can elevate their approach by using branded merchandise to issue a call to having an...

  Are you tracking ROI (Return on investment) or ROO (Return on Opportunity) on your promotional product campaigns? It isn't as difficult as it sounds. When your goal is something straightforward—like increasing sales or capturing new leads—calculating ROI is simple. Just use the basic formula:  (Sales Growth – Total Marketing Cost) / Total Marketing Cost = ROI.  This gives you a clear percentage that shows how much return you’re getting for every dollar spent. Tracking direct sales or sign-ups using promo codes, special URLs, or unique offers makes it easy to tie results back to your campaign. But what if your aim is more about building brand visibility, which isn’t as easy to measure in dollars and cents? In these cases, focus on metrics like social media engagement, website traffic, search trends, media mentions, and even survey responses.  The key is to set clear, measurable goals up front—like gaining a certain number of followers or media hits—a...

  "The gap between what's expected and what you deliver is where the magic happens, in business and in life." – Jay Baer If you want to stay up-to-date with us, follow our Blog.

  After 10 successful years in branded merchandising and packaging, Michael made the move to the West Coast in 2006 and opened Stewart Marketing Group, LLC .  He now has over 19 years’ experience helping customers build bridges to new markets and create positive energy around their brand with clients and employees.  He has built a reputation for being a trusted and knowledgeable business partner by offering expert guidance to customers that seek ways to promote their brand while managing the delicate balance of quality and cost and he has been recognized for his gifts of time and talent to new business entrepreneurs without thought to financial return. Michael's philosophy is "We focus on the client, not the sale". His first goal is to understand his client's objectives, brand, and budget so that every marketing campaign meets the needs of the client and "Wows" their audience.  Most influential book: The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandin...

  How can a business get more out of their marketing dollars? Consider one of the advantages of adding promotional products to your marketing campaigns. While digital marketing can and should be part of your strategy, your digital ad is viewed and forgotten in a matter of seconds.  On the other hand, promotional products create a physical connection with your prospects, customers, or employees. They are a tangible reminder of your company every time your prospect uses them and over 75% of Adults will keep a promotional product for a year or more. Don't forget to track your promotional product ROI. Plan, Execute, Measure, Refine your marketing strategies for the biggest "bang for your buck". Contact us at sales@stewartmarketinggroup.com if you would like help with that!  

  Stewart Marketing Group is proudly offering promotional apparel featuring Aware™, a revolutionary traceability platform that begins right at the origin of your clothing's fiber . A unique tracer is embedded into the material, ensuring its authenticity. But it doesn't stop there. All the information is stored securely on a public blockchain , making it tamper-proof. So, when you see the Aware™ Virtual ID, you can trust that it reflects the true journey of your product, from its source to your hands. No more greenwashing , just transparent, reliable data. 

  On-Time/Every-Time. Our commitment to customers is to deliver quality products when and where you need them. Turn times vary by product but typically turn in 14 business days and some products can go from order to in-hand in much shorter times. Wherever possible, we source our products from locally based manufacturers to keep turn-times and shipping costs to a minimum.   We believe in transparency. Should we determine, in the ordering phase that the product cannot be delivered in the requested time frame, we immediately notify the customer of available options which generally include: ·        Alternative delivery date ·        Utilization of a different manufacturer ·        Rush requests (customer is notified of associated rush fees prior to finalizing the order) ·        Product substitution ·     ...