Nobody wants your brand merch – unless it actually means something.

Promotional items and goodie bags have long been a staple of corporate event planning, serving as a brand touchpoint that triggers connection to your brand post-event. Merch is a strong marketing tool –  if the audience chooses to use it. We all know sometimes another branded gift can be forgettable and ends up in the bin. In fact, only about 20% of branded promo items are kept post-event. What makes these items worth holding on to?

This simple guide to good corporate gifts explores how to select merchandise intentionally to appeals to and resonate with your target audience, transforming forgettable merch into useful tools and part of your brand story.

Your merch reflects your brand

Merch serves as a tangible representation of your brand, so it’s integral that the items you choose to giveaway align consistently with your identity, helping to build brand recognition.

✔ Does it feel true to your values?  For instance, a brand known for its eco-friendly messages would do well to offer sustainable and purposeful gifts

✔ Invest in good quality materials. Your brand isn’t just visual – customers make associations with what they can feel

✔ Think about premium details like embroidery

✔ Collaborate with artists to create aesthetic, exclusive items and add your brand personality  

✔ Customise popular products or partner with brands to build on existing recognition and sentiment

✔ Does the gift align with your event theme or brand? When there’s a real story behind the gift, your audience can tell.

Your merch reflects your brand. That doesn’t mean it needs an oversized logo.

✔ Lose the shouting and opt for storytelling.

✔ Subtle logo placement 

✔ Aesthetic design

✔ Targeted to customer interests

✔ Offer customisation like on site engraving that builds emotional attachment

If it lives in a drawer it’s not merch, it’s clutter. Gift something people will actually use.

✔ Travel or office essentials 

✔ Think form and function

✔ Built to last and be re-used

✔ Would you buy it for yourself or a friend?