Free gift with purpose: How tariffs offer a chance to do the right thing
October 1, 2025
By Jason Keehn
Despite the challenges posed by tariffs, brands have an opportunity to align with mission-driven manufacturers and create meaningful, profitable initiatives.
There’s no way around it: the tariffs are tough. President Trump's ongoing barrage of threats, delays, and about-faces on tariff policies has sown the seeds of chaos and uncertainty.
Add to that questions about the legality of certain tariffs, and it’s clear that “business as usual” is not a standard operating procedure in most industries.
Take, for example, the recent extension to trade-truce on tariffs that are set to impact up to 90% of imports from China, where rates now stand at roughly triple those of other countries. Beauty and luxury brands, in particular, are scrambling to reconfigure budgets. These sectors will have to make difficult choices to manage the fallout. Naturally, such brands are hard-pressed to change sourcing for core products amid tariff-induced volatility.
However, our backs are not to the wall. In fact, this disruption offers a prime opportunity to make smarter, more meaningful choices. By choosing to engage with mission-driven manufacturers, especially on non-core or promotional merchandising, brands can unlock a virtuous cycle that allows purpose and profit to work in symbiosis.
While such efforts do not necessarily avoid tariffs, they can offset potential margin pressure by creating value – higher sales conversion, long-term loyalty, stronger brand health and word of mouth. One-off campaigns still carry weight, especially when they connect to a larger intention. Not every program needs to have a five-year plan. What matters more is that the effort is real and connected to something more than optics or profit.
The power of promotional products
Promotional products, such as gift-with-purchase bags, branded seasonal items, or other small-format goods, often sit outside a brand’s core product line. Yet, they aren’t small potatoes: the international sales volume of promotional products was $26.1 billion a couple of years ago.
Retailers are consistent in their investment, given the need to “anniversary” their promotional events, or otherwise risk not matching last year’s revenue.
These limited-edition programs and seasonal campaigns create natural openings to try mission-aligned sourcing in a way that’s low-risk but high-visibility. Short-term efforts can spark deeper partnerships over time and an enduring commitment to a fair trade certified or non-profit partner.
Such mission-led work has the potential to truly transform communities while also generating added value for a brand. It is a strategy that can both galvanize a brand’s growth performance and change the lives of at-risk workers and disenfranchised communities.
It is entirely possible to do business at the same cost and to help people. I know because I built my career proving it.
I’m clear-eyed about supply chains: they’re built for cost, quality and speed. But those levers are now shaped in part by customers, who also reward proof of care and integrity. Consumer feedback points plainly to a better and more profitable way forward.
For leadership teams wondering how this pays off, this is indeed about doing what’s smart, not just what’s right.
Promotional programs like these can support premium pricing, spark customer loyalty, and build goodwill that adds up over time – and, in turn, offset any initial investment or margin erosion that accompanies a mission-led pivot in manufacturing.
And in moments of uncertainty, this builds trust that becomes a very real form of equity. To put it bluntly: consumers want to feel more meaning from their purchases and have brands to do better on their behalf.
According to a Harris Poll, 43% of Americans shifted their spending to correspond to their moral values in the past few months. Seeking out mission-driven manufacturers isn’t about charity: it’s about smarter business decision-making during an economic crunch.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers study also suggests consumers may be willing to pay more than 10% more for products that align with their values. Putting customers’ emotional needs first – instead of just seeing value in the form of low, cost-plus pricing – offers strategic advantages that drive growth.
Updating a cosmetics staple
Last year, my agency, Accompany Creative, developed and delivered an impact-driven approach to the classic cosmetics case giveaway.
Traditionally, “free gifts with purchase” are inexpensive and logo-driven, offering little meaning or value beyond the transaction, and we saw an opportunity for purposeful innovation.
Neiman Marcus’ 2024 Holiday Beauty Event received a mission-led makeover with free ”Gifts with Purpose”, leaning into women’s empowerment, aligning with the aspirations of the beauty category.
Without any increase to the promotional budget, we delivered 50,000 units, all produced by hand in a women-run, women-owned WFTO-certified cooperative in Bangladesh, known for its empowerment-focused model, matching the previous year’s sales.
Reports from retail staff confirmed that shoppers were highly engaged with the mission narrative. By redirecting those 50,000 bags to an impact-led source and wrapping them in meaningful storytelling, we developed a campaign that elevated both emotional and commercial ROI.
One might counter that the tariffs will send brands hopscotching around the globe to take advantage of different trade measures in different markets. Ultimately, though, it’s a balance between the buy-low-sell-high numbers game of merchandising arithmetic and the merits of a more intentional sourcing strategy – one guided by corporate and brand values, which deliver long-term financial returns by staying focused on and committed to a mission.
Launched before President Trump returned to office in January 2025, the campaign is slated to expand in 2026.
Despite tariff headwinds, it offers an effective model for brands to elevate emotional connection by being human while delivering strong returns.
Short-term does not mean low value
Short-lived by nature, seasonal moments are perfect testing grounds for new ideas, especially those that speak to deeper values.
Another example: Nespresso boutiques in the US launched an artist-designed, limited-edition mug collection benefiting a nonprofit partner, delivering full-funnel impact.
Short term, Soho boutique traffic spiked 70% for the launch event, organic social engagement 105%, and sell-through beat the plan by 116%. Long term, Nespresso’s brand equity scores for “supports local communities” and “makes a meaningful social impact,” had the highest lift they’d ever seen since measuring these attributes, and 80% of retail employees reported both higher engagement and positive sentiment – driving operating efficiencies through higher employee lifetime value.
Such performance can melt the heart of even the most skeptical finance leader. Critically, this kind of storytelling creates a new form of value that’s not a cost-cutting race to the bottom, but a means of premiumization and loyalty building.
Retail employees also want a better story to tell their customers – and themselves. Integrating social impact into sales and marketing programming can, therefore, aid employee retention.
Something that makes employees feel better and increases their satisfaction on the job has real financial implications in the form of lower HR costs related to hiring, training, productivity, and workflow efficiency.
As the trade war wreaks havoc on operational costs, this lift is vital. Brands that fail to engage this kind of strategy risk both falling behind financially and failing a clear moral imperative.
Framing matters
In light of the ESG backlash, reframing can help make sure these initiatives land.
An NYU CSB case study, for example, found "sustainability claims expanded brand reach by 24-33 percentage points above a category claim alone."
By definition, “sustainability” is about maintaining the status quo and doing no harm, whereas mission-driven work seeks, with conviction, to make the world better – moving beyond “less bad” to create real and lasting good. This grounding shapes the marketing message, too: “not made of plastic" lands differently than "empowering disenfranchised women."
That storyline also has the potential to yield more media exposure and hold more attention in a noisy polycrisis environment. Research shows that, amid political frustration, consumers want brands to stand up for the causes they care about and to take action on shared values.
When Neiman Marcus ran its mission-led promotion, it could point to the 130 women who made these bags and benefited from the opportunity. These artisans earned wages 88% above the local minimum wage and 73% over the WFTO minimum.
Consistency matters, of course. And so does sincerity. Most people don’t expect brands to have it all figured out; they’re looking for honesty about where you’re starting, and clarity about where you’re going.
In Neiman Marcus’ case, the impact extended beyond wages. The collective we worked with funds healthcare and education, and provides a financial safety net for the women it employs. The artisans also receive a year- end dividend. A local photographer was hired to document the community; the portraits were featured at the makeup counters and on e-commerce.
Disruption can be an opportunity
Tariffs are disrupting business as usual – and creating space for innovation, not just defensive moves. Now is the time to choose mission-led manufacturers, instead of a factory that does the bare minimum to comply with labor standards. This choice can empower disadvantaged communities while generating both value and growth.
And, when this kind of thinking moves from a seasonal tactic to embedded strategy – uniting mission, merchandising and marketing – it ceases to be a line item and evolves into a bankable growth driver. As we do so, we can rise above the political noise behind the tariffs: the impulse to help people is a shared, bipartisan value – and a bankable one, too.