Branded merchandise is a cost-effective and powerful way to keep your brand at the front of your clients’ minds. Offering something as simple as a water bottle or travel coffee cup can offer remarkable marketing and public relations benefits for your business. All you have to do is choose the right branded products that will best suit your customers and visitors. Read on to learn more about how to select, design and craft quality branded merchandise for your events.

What is Brand Merchandising?

Brand merchandising involves using any products that feature your company logo or name and giving them away as promotional materials at your events, conferences, etc. Businesses of all sizes purchase and distribute branded merchandise to increase the brand awareness and loyalty to their company. The dual purpose of branded merchandise is to visually promote your brand, and to build positive associations with your brand. You could potentially also sell your branded merchandise and use it to boost your revenue, but this is a secondary consideration for most businesses. The primary purpose of branded merchandise is to serve as a marketing tool to the recipient and everyone they come in contact with while utilizing your promotional product.

The Benefits of Merchandising

Branded merchandise offers at least five powerful benefits:

  • It increases brand awareness
  • It encourages brand loyalty
  • It is cost-effective and friendly to your marketing budget
  • It can boost employee morale
  • It could offer a secondary revenue stream

Achieving these benefits depends on a carefully thought-out strategy that takes branding design and product selection into account.

Common Promotional Items for Events

What kinds of branded promotional items could you choose for your events and other marketing campaigns? There are plenty to choose from, and you should carefully select those items that will best fit your brand, company and clientele.

Perhaps the most popular choice is drinkware. Everyone gets thirsty and we all know how important it is for our health to drink plenty of water. These days, a travel water bottle is never far from hand for the health conscious. Travel coffee (or tea) mugs are also very popular. Few people leave their homes for the commute to work without a travel cup of some kind, whether for water or coffee.

Tote bags and messenger bags are also very popular branded merchandise giveaways. Not only are they great to throw your last-minute items in on your way to work or the gym, but with supermarkets and other shops charging for grocery bags, a strong canvas branded shopping bag should be in everyone’s car for a quick trip to the market. A cotton canvas document bag may be smaller than a shopping bag, but it may be just right for your laptop, writing pad and a few pens on your way to that important meeting.  A heavy duty messenger bag with a shoulder strap could fulfill the same purpose, all while showing off your branding to everyone the user passes.

Creative Branded Merchandise Ideas

To create your brand merchandise, start by honing your brand identity. Make sure that you fully understand your brand and what it represents. You will then be in a better position to select merchandise that best represents your brand. Create brand guidelines and make sure that everyone involved understands the tone and style of your brand.

Next, you can start generating product ideas that are in line with your brand guidelines. Having whittled your options down to the products most likely to represent your brand in the most powerful way, you can then start designing your merchandise. You don’t have to do this on your own.

Red Iron Brand Solutions is Your Branded Merchandise Solution

If you work with Red Iron Brand Solutions, we can help you design merchandise that is attractive, functional and that boldly represents your brand. We will then print your merchandise in the required quantities and, once you receive them, you can begin applying your merchandising strategy.

At Red Iron Brand Solutions, we work closely with our clients to design and supply branded merchandise for events and other marketing campaigns. Contact us for more information.