This month, we’re keeping an open mind. With the US Open just around the corner—and OpenAI continuing to reshape how business gets done—we’re exploring what it means to stay receptive to new ideas, new tools and new possibilities. Whether it’s reimagining a familiar product or embracing a new way of working, innovation often begins with a willingness to stay curious. Because when the landscape keeps changing, being open isn’t just an attitude. It’s a business advantage.
From open court play to open-minded workplaces, this month’s Market Basket explores thoughtfully designed products that adapt, expand, and transform as life changes. From the rise of pickleball and time spent on the open courts to the evolving ways we work, travel, and create, today’s lifestyles call for products that are just as flexible. From a bag that grows with your journey to a notebook that evolves with your ideas, these products prove versatility isn’t just a feature—it’s smart, timely design. Because the best promotional products aren’t the ones that do one thing well; they’re the ones that keep finding new ways to be useful, wherever the day takes you.
Sometimes the most interesting materials aren’t new. They’re simply overlooked.
Every year, more than 330 million tennis balls are produced worldwide. Most are discarded after only a handful of matches and, because they’re made from bonded layers of rubber, wool and nylon, they’re notoriously difficult to recycle.
Many will spend centuries in landfill.
Belgian bio-designer Mathilde Wittock, founder of MWO Design, looked at that waste stream and saw something entirely different.
Not garbage. Raw material.
At Fabulist, we’re always searching for products that do more than carry a logo—they carry an idea.
The memobottle™ is one of those rare promotional products that immediately sparks conversation. Its flat, paper-inspired silhouette isn’t simply a design statement; it’s a thoughtful solution to a problem most of us have accepted for years. Traditional water bottles roll around, bulge out of bags, and compete for space. The memobottle was designed to slide neatly alongside laptops, notebooks and documents, making hydration fit seamlessly into modern work life.
What makes the brand even more compelling is the story behind it.
We’ve spent the last two decades digitizing nearly everything.
Our wallets became phones. Boarding passes became QR codes. Signatures became fingerprints. And now, artificial intelligence can generate faces, voices, emails and even conversations that feel convincingly human.
As digital identity becomes easier to imitate, something unexpected is happening.
Physical identity is becoming more valuable.
That’s what drew us to GOVO.
We often think innovation means adding more features. Piorama proves the opposite. Their philosophy is built around creating products that transform instead of multiply—objects that adapt to changing situations so you can own less, carry less, and do more. It’s thoughtful industrial design that responds to real life, where plans change, luggage expands, and the line between work, travel, and everyday living continues to blur.
Rather than asking you to adjust to the product, Piorama designs products that adjust to you.
Artificial intelligence has quickly become the industry’s favorite buzzword. Every platform claims to have it. Every product promises to be powered by it. Every conference seems to have at least one keynote predicting it will change everything.
But beyond the hype, something meaningful is happening.
AI is quietly reshaping how promotional products are sourced, designed, personalized and measured. It’s helping distributors work smarter, marketers make better decisions and brands create more relevant experiences.
The question isn’t whether AI is coming. It’s whether it will prove to be just another technology trend—or become one of the most valuable tools our industry has ever embraced.
Clarity, taste, and transformation for
promotional marketing procurement.
Artificial intelligence has gone from novelty to necessity almost overnight. Every platform claims to have it. Every business seems to be talking about it. But once the buzz settles, what does AI actually mean for the promotional products industry?
In this episode of The FabCast, we’re joined by Bobby Lehew from commonsku to explore how AI is changing the way distributors work, how brands make decisions and why the future of promotional products may be less about searching catalogs—and more about finding smarter solutions.
Bobby Lehew has spent over 25 years in the promotional products industry, 15 as CEO of Robyn, a branded products fulfillment company, and the last decade at commonsku, where he built the content engine that established the company as the most trusted voice in promo. Today, as Chief AI Officer, Bobby applies that same strategic lens to a new challenge: helping distributors navigate AI. He owns the intelligence loop between commonsku’s customers, product team, and the AI landscape, leads AI adoption programs for commonsku customers, and authors the AI Promo Brief, the industry’s leading AI newsletter. A multiple PPAI Gold Pyramid Award winner, PPAI Silver Technology recipient, and host of the skucast, Bobby speaks nationally on AI adoption, B2B strategy, and the future of the modern distributor.
Carlo, Lori, Jamie
Bobby Lehew
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