How SwagWear Built Spotify's Global Holiday Gift Shop

The Brief

Every year, Spotify's Audiobooks Mission team comes back to SwagWear with the same email subject line: "It's that time again....." In November 2025, Executive Assistant Mallory Blanco reached out with a clear goal — create a premium holiday gifting experience for approximately 121 team members spread across New York, London, Stockholm, and remote locations across the US. Budget: $150 per person. Vibe: luxe, intentional, sustainable. No obvious corporate swag.

"We want to offer things people will keep, to help them feel valued, not just blasting out branded things that people may or may not use." — Mallory Blanco, Executive Assistant, Spotify

The Challenge

This wasn't a simple bulk order. The SwagWear team had to:

• Build a custom online gift shop where each employee could choose their own gift
• Navigate global shipping to home addresses across the US, UK, and Europe
• Curate premium products that matched Spotify's sustainability values and "non-obvious logo" preference
• Execute everything against a tight end-of-year budget deadline with holiday fulfillment pressures

The SwagWear Solution

Michael Burns went to work over Thanksgiving weekend building a fully custom Spotify Holiday Gift Shop — a first-of-its-kind experience for this client. The curated product selection included:

• The North Face custom embroidered jacket (logo on right sleeve, same color as jacket)
• RAINS branded duffle bag (logo debossed)
• Ocean Bottle + JBL speaker set (logo laser engraved and printed)
• Stanley mug + blanket set (laser engraved + embroidered)
• Mophie travel charger (Spotify bug printed)
• Roots unisex hoodie + beanie set (bug embroidered, same color as garment)

Every logo placement was intentional — tone-on-tone, subtle, and in line with Spotify's preference for merchandise that doesn't scream "corporate."

SwagWear also solved the global shipping challenge by enabling employees to ship to their home address, the NYC office (150 Greenwich St), the London office (4 Savoy Pl), or Stockholm — and built address collection into the shop checkout flow.

The Result

121 employees selected their gifts. The shop closed December 12, 2025 with strong engagement and positive team feedback. Items were received, embroidered, packaged individually, and shipped to addresses across multiple countries in January 2026.

"Getting great feedback from the team on the shop and the options. People are excited." — Mallory Blanco, Spotify

"Thank you for the lovely gift! Our corner of the office is freezing so it will definitely be used." — Mallory Blanco, on receiving her personal gift

Spotify's team still gets compliments on SwagWear items from previous years — proof that the right swag has a shelf life far beyond the holiday season.

Products Featured: The North Face, RAINS, Ocean Bottle, Stanley, Mophie, Roots, JBL

Ready to build your team's holiday shop? Contact SwagWear