Building Brand Awareness With Promotional Gifts

Corporate planners spend thousands on swag that ends up in the trash by Monday. The problem isn’t the budget. It’s the lack of personalization. A generic branded pen creates zero connection. A custom item made live, in front of your guest, with their name on it? That they keep.

Using promotional gifts to make a connection

Free stuff, everyone loves free stuff. A millionaire can book into a 5-star hotel and still get a kick out of the small shampoo bottles because they are free. 

A good free promotional gift needs to be useful, something the person will interact with as often as possible. And the more personal a promotional gift is, the more likely they’ll hold on to it. Think water bottles, mugs, key rings, pens, T-shirts, hats, etc. 

If these only contain company branding, the receiver has no connection to the object. A simple addition of a personalized design and the connection is made. 

Choose promotional gifts wisely. First impressions stick!

Whether it’s a job interview, a date or a promotional gift, first impressions count. A bored student, employed for the day to hand out free pens, is not going to leave a striking first impression. However, a bunch of cool guys personalizing a custom water bottle will create a memory. 

Airbrush Events can boost your brand awareness. We work with established businesses looking for smart and innovative ways to stand out in the crowd. And also new startups developing a brand identity. 

Along with private and corporate hosting events where we personalize airbrush t-shirts, hats, and other funky goodies as party favors. We also attend corporate promotional events to help build brands.

Making your booth stand out in a convention.

When you are one of many booths at a convention, all pitching similar products and services, how do you stand out and attract guests to your booth? You entertain people and ensure they leave with a useful custom product with which they have a connection.

When WEBROOT, a cybersecurity company offering antivirus solutions, were looking for a way to attract people to their booth, they saw our social media and said, “hey, that’s a great idea”.

Custom water bottles were just the way.

On this occasion, WEBROOT supplied their own bottles because they regularly attend conventions and use their own merchandise sourcing company. However, we can also obtain the water bottles on your behalf for painting. We can also arrange for your branding to be screen-printed on the bottles before the event.

Painting on stainless-steel water bottles

The stainless-steel water bottles provide a non-porous surface, which causes airbrushed paint to move around. To solve this, we used paint pens, which dry quickly, are permanent, and the bottles can be washed without affecting the design. Paint pens also offer a solution when space is limited. Although we don’t need more space, there just isn’t space at all events for easels and compressors, which airbrush artists use. 

Our artists for the convention were me (Pete), Regis, and Guillermo. We produced 550 custom water bottles, working 11 hours across three days. WEBROOT used these as corporate promotional gifts to build brand awareness. 

Customization while being entertained is a winning combo

Guests were drawn to the WEBROOT booth by the entertainment value of unique artwork being created live. They were offered a selection of designs to choose from, and they decided what they would like their bottle to say. Requests range from their name, their company’s name, some even get their children’s name painted on. Most designs took an average of 5 minutes to paint. 

While guests were waiting for their custom water bottles to be painted, the WEBROOT staff had time to inform guests about their products and services while collecting follow-up information. Guests then left with a very useful, personalized gift.

Water bottles are a good choice for promotional gifts

The beauty of this particular corporate gift is it has the potential to go everywhere the customer goes (home, work, gym, car, shopping, etc.), so wherever the bottle goes, your brand goes along. 

Not only that but water bottles will really connect your brand with the growing environmentally friendly consumers out there. People are becoming more aware of the impact of single-use disposable cups and bottles and the damage they are causing to our planet (Check out how the founder of Airbrush Events is reducing his carbon footprint). It is now viewed as eco-friendly to carry a water bottle as it helps to stop the use of plastic or paper disposable cups. 

Custom water bottles, hats, and tees made live at your event aren’t just giveaways. They’re branded impressions that leave the venue with your guest and show up at the gym, the office, and the airport.

According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, 83% of people remember the brand behind a custom item they received at an event — and 69% keep it for over a year.

That’s not a giveaway. That’s a marketing asset.

Ready to make your next convention booth the one everyone remembers? Book a consultation today.