Ever run in a 5K (or longer) race? When you register, you almost always get a plastic bag filled with a whole bunch of crap and then your number to pin on your shirt. And that free t-shirt you get is the most gawd-awful thing you've ever seen. I don't even ask for one anymore.
But I digress.
I think that most marketers think that consumers want free stuff - no matter what it is. And so what we're seeing is all this gawd-awful crap when you join a word of mouth campaign or the latest "guerrilla" push. Street teams armed to the nines with bags of, well, useless crap.
We're about to pull the trigger on a brand-new movement. And as we're "gearing up" (pun totally intended), Brains on Fire HQ is being taken over by gear. But each and every piece was thoughtfully created. Thoughtfully desgined. Thoughtfully integrated into the other elements of the movement. In other words, every single t-shirt, palm card, sticker and other things that I can't mention yet have a specific purpose among a specific group of people. Why do we know this? Becuase we walked a mile (or more in some cases) in their shoes. We talked to them. We witnessed how they communicate with one another online - and more importantly - offline.
The beautiful part is that even though this gear was created for very specific reasons, those that will be using the gear will figure out new ways to use it. Ways that we would have never thought of in a million years. Movements are organic that way.
So make sure you gear has purpose. Because, if it doesn't, then it's just junk and will end up in the corner with those race day t-shirts.