Branding is not a logo. It is a feeling you carry home.

I know it is unlikely many people will be reading LinkedIn on Christmas Day. That is fine. This is not meant to be consumed quickly. It is meant to land when it is read, whether that is tomorrow, next week, or in the quiet stretch between Christmas and New Year’s.

This reflection is about companies and their brands. Not just how a logo looks and feels to customers on the outside, but how a brand is experienced by the people on the inside. The employees who live it, represent it, and either wear it with pride or distance themselves from it quietly.

One of the earliest companies I worked for, all the way back in 1999, was CA Technologies, originally known as Computer Associates. I joined as a systems engineer. A techie. Early in my career and still forming my professional identity.

From day one, they rolled out the red carpet.

Onboarding was not transactional. It was intentional. You were welcomed in a way that made it immediately clear that you mattered and that you belonged. There was a branded swag bag waiting for me with pens, pads, a mug, mints, and thoughtful little touches that felt generous rather than obligatory. There was a lunch pass. There was care in the details.

And then there was the food.

Every single CA office, worldwide, offered daily breakfast spreads. Not occasionally. Not as a perk rolled out during engagement campaigns. Every day. It was understood as part of who they were. Generosity was not an initiative. It was a value that showed up consistently.

It felt like a home away from home.

Over the years, I amassed quite a collection of branded items. Computer bags. Gym bags. Mugs. Coffee carafes. Pens in every imaginable form. CD holders, yes that was the media back then. Later, thumb drives. Polo shirts. T-shirts. Fleece pullovers. Jackets. Hats. Towels. Thermal lunch bags. Thermoses. Sunscreen. Travel accessories. More than I could reasonably use.

At the annual summer picnic, they made sure we were adorned with even more items. It was joyful. It was fun. It was communal.

To say CA had a large marketing budget would be an understatement. And that does not even account for what they gave away to customers at events. Leather portfolios. Heavy metallic pens. Backpacks and knapsacks. Gaming items like digital Sudoku. Magnetix boxes. Branded gadgets that were clever and playful.

Because I worked many trade shows, I was often on the receiving end of these giveaways as well. I remember one event in Las Vegas, it may have even been LinuxWorld, where I returned home with talking stuffed animals, light-up bouncy balls, basketballs, fleece sweatshirts, and so many branded items that I had to buy an extra carry-on just to bring everything back.

Many people would call this stuff junk.

And yes, some of it eventually gets donated or regifted. Socks, pens, glasses. That happens. But here is what I have come to realize.

When you have a real emotional attachment to a company, you hold onto these items. Not because of their intrinsic value, but because of their sentimental value. They carry memory. Identity. Belonging.

I did not realize how many of these items I had held onto until recently, when I started pulling them together from different storage areas around my house. Closets. Bins. Drawers. At last count, I still have over 30 CA-branded items in excellent condition.

They are 23 to 25 years old.

And I cannot part with them.

Why?

Because I hold CA dear in my heart. I have deep, fond memories of the environment, the culture of psychological safety, the spirit of learning, growth, and fun. No company I have worked for since has ever come close to the magnitude of that experience. Not even those where I stayed for a decade. 

Some companies did initial onboarding gifts, then nothing more. Others rolled out items only during product launches. Some offered a once-a-year holiday gift. An umbrella that broke. A gym bag with a faulty zipper. A folding blanket that was odd but acceptable. And then the truly puzzling Sunbeam white smoothie blender. I am still not sure what problem that was solving.

The difference was never the item itself.

The difference was intention.

At CA, they even had a company store at their Islandia headquarters where employees could buy additional branded items for family and friends. And people did. It was popular. Because employees were proud of where they worked and wanted to share that pride.

I once tried to pitch this same concept at another large organization. The HR partner kept asking, “But why?” They genuinely did not understand. Brand pride. Employee engagement. Momentum. These concepts existed for them only as words on a slide deck, not as lived experiences worth investing in.

Here is the thing leaders often miss.

People do care about their organizations, especially the ones that take care of them. When employees feel seen, appreciated, and connected to something meaningful, they wear that brand with pride. They become living extensions of it. They embody its values. They amplify its mission. They accelerate its strategy.

These giveaways do require budget. That part is true. But employee engagement, commitment, and pride are priceless. The return on investment may not always show up neatly on paper, but it shows up everywhere else. In loyalty. In advocacy. In discretionary effort. In how long people hold onto a logo, not just on their clothing, but in their hearts.

Branding has to start from the inside out.

And sometimes, decades later, it is still sitting quietly in a closet, reminding you exactly how it once made you feel.