What type of promotional material is a good investment?

With our range of t-shirts, bags and hoodies customers often come to us in search of branded items they can give away at a trade show. A useful tool, the aim is to create merchandise that will be memorable, give a return on investment and create business opportunities.

With this in mind we crowd-sourced to find out what the best and worse bits of merchandise you had received at a conference and why. This is what we came up with.

Merchandise is good if:

• It is useful – the recipient wants to keep it around after the event. Think useful or fun items people want to keep on their desk and your brand will be a constant reminder in work situations for them and others.

Fact: People spend an average of 7.48 hours a day at their desk. Get your promotional message in front of them on a mouse mat or mug.

• It is fitting of your target audience. Design your merchandise with your customer in mind.
• Someone wants to wear it. Consider creating a t-shirt that people will actually enjoy wearing, even if it is just to bed!
• The merchandise is something they will want to give to their kids. A branded stress ball or a yo yo that attendees can give to their kids will create good will – with their brand and family.

Merchandise is bad if:

• Your logo is removable or not an integral part of the item.
• It will end up in the bin soon after.
• It doesn’t convey clearly your brand message.
• It has a date or year on it. Create items that you can use later if you don’t give it all away.

Ideas:

1. Personalised shopper bags with your logo on them. Always useful at exhibitions with the huge amount of material people are offered. Also they are guaranteed to be taken home and offer considerable space to pass on information to the potential customer.
2. T-shirts, hoodies and hats. Not only useful in targeting the individual, promotional clothing is often worn again and can generate significant publicity.
3. A branded puzzle or game that can be used at your exhibition booth and cause people to hand around.
4. Branded Lens cleaning microfibre cloths. An unusual option but very useful. Most of your audience will wear glasses and all will have monitors.

Thanks to our customers Kraftwerk Personal Training for this picture of their finished merchandise.