Corporate Branding Through Promotional Merchandise: Ultimate Guide

by Justin Reynolds | Nov 4, 2024 | Corporate Branding

Think of popular brand logos you could spot from far away or perhaps a slogan that instantly brings a brand to mind. These are just some of the examples of the power that good corporate branding can bring businesses. 

But what is corporate branding?

Corporate branding is the strategy of promoting the brand rather than just the product or service. Creating a strong and consistent brand image helps you stand out from your competitors and keeps you in the minds of your target audience. When done right, corporate branding can result in growth, brand loyalty, and repeat business.

In this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into everything there is to know about corporate branding and how promotional products can help in your branding strategy.

Understanding Promotional Merchandise

Think of the time you’ve attended an event or purchased something and received a complimentary product branded with the company’s logo. Promotional items are seen everywhere today and for good reason. They are an effective and cost-effective way to bring your brand more awareness.

According to the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), 74.6% of customers believe that promotional products are a good way to learn about sales and events.

Consumers’ engagement with branded merch is also on the rise since the pandemic, as 60% now reference promo products for information, more than double that (24%) of two years ago.

Promotional merchandise are items that are branded with your company logo or slogan and are distributed with little to no cost as a way to promote your brand. The strength of promotional products over other advertising tools is their longevity—giving your brand longer impressions and direct engagements that help build deeper connections.

Typical promotional products include branded apparel, office supplies, and even tech accessories. They can be seen everywhere from branded merchandise being sold at entertainment events to employee welcome kits containing company branded items given to new hires on their first day.

The Role of Promotional Merchandise in Corporate Branding

Promotional products are more than just giveaways. When used correctly, they go hand in hand with corporate branding by creating more memorable impressions and experiences with both clients and employees.

But to understand what makes promotional merchandise important, we must look at the difference between advertising and promotion.

Advertising is a continuous strategy to build long-term awareness and increase demand for the product or service. It typically has an end goal of brand building.

Promotions drive immediate responses by giving the buyer incentives such as discounts and free products. It can involve disseminating information about a product or company.

Promotional products are in an interesting position to offer a business the benefits of both advertising and promotion. They can last long enough to help advertise your brand in the long term. According to PPAI, 41% of consumers keep promotional merchandise for one to five years.

At the same time, they can give your brand that immediate promotional boost. PPAI states that around 80% of consumers react immediately to promotional and marketing products, even if they have never heard of the brand.

Advantages of Using Promotional Merchandise for Corporate Branding

One hurdle businesses might encounter would be how they could properly add promotional merchandise to their existing marketing strategies. More than just an additional avenue for promotion, it’s an important pillar in strengthening your corporate branding.

Here are some of the advantages that promotional merchandise can bring to your corporate branding:

• Brand reinforcement: Designing promotional products that are in line with your company image and values helps create a consistent image of who your brand is. By leveraging promotional products, you create a tangible connection for consumers to connect with your brand on a deeper level as they use and interact with your product.
• Brand awareness: Promotional products become and extension of your brand and give you that visibility, especially with wearable items like t-shirts, tote bags, and caps.
• Customer loyalty: In a PPAI survey, 78% of consumers mentioned they enjoy receiving free stuff from brands they love. Making customers feel happy and valued helps drive repeat business and foster brand loyalty.
• Employee engagement: Branded promotional products help reinforce company culture and promote a sense of belonging within a team. This deepens their engagement with your brand as a whole.

Key Types of Promotional Merchandise for Corporate Branding

Promotional merchandise comes in many shapes and forms. Different companies have different needs for promotional products. There are factors like customer base, industry, and type of event that can dictate what promotional merchandise can be more relevant and useful for the occasion.

Corporate Uniforms and Apparel

Corporate uniforms and apparel are clothes designed to help employees represent a company with a unified look. There are plenty of benefits of corporate uniforms such as giving your team a distinct and professional look. This helps identify them when they’re meeting customers or going about their workday.

Uniforms also create brand consistency if designed to capture the brand’s colors. For new hires, getting their corporate uniforms can help create a sense of belonging and boost team spirit.

Welcome Kits for Employees and Clients

Welcome kits are strategic tools given to new employees to celebrate their first day. They can also be given to clients or key partners when celebrating business milestones.

These welcome packs are designed to be engaging and memorable for their recipients, often containing branded merchandise items that are functional for everyday use. There are many ways to design your welcome kit, but it’s good to consider your budget and target audience to really curate a kit that would be memorable for them. To make it more personal, add some personalisation by including items with their name on them or writing a personal message.

Branded Merchandise

Branded merchandise is a must-have for any promotional product giveaway for events and special occasions.  They are simple, straightforward, and give your brand that extra exposure it needs. Whether it’s eco-friendly merchandise or fitness-related products, there are plenty of branded merchandise item ideas depending on your target’s profile and demographics.

Custom Office Supplies

The more usable a promotional item is, the more effective it is as a tool. Office supplies are another popular item for branded merchandise because they are simple and functional. Items like note pads, pens, desk organisers, and notebooks are all things that can be easily branded and packaged for your promotional merchandise use whether at home or in the office.

Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Merchandise

Appeal to eco-conscious consumers with eco-friendly and sustainable merchandise. The rising demand for companies to embrace ESG practices shows in changing consumer preferences for supporting companies that share that same advocacy.

Eco-friendly merchandise takes a spin on regular merch with the use of recycled materials and ethical supply chains. Organic tote bags, bamboo pens, and wooden desk lamps are just some examples of how you can add a greener twist to everyday promotional items.

Crafting a Promotional Merchandise Strategy

Now that we know of the impact of promotional merchandise on your business’ marketing and brand strategy, let’s take a closer look at how you can effectively implement it.

Setting Goals

Goal setting is the first and most important thing to do before starting on any promotional strategy. Understanding your goals gives you a clearer picture of what measurable steps you need to take to achieve them.

Do you want to increase brand recognition? Or do you want to build stronger relationships with existing customers? Are you planning to use promotional items for events or trade shows?

Understanding Your Audience

Knowing your target audience is pivotal to your promotional strategy’s success. A target audience is the specific group of people that your business wants to turn into regular customers. Researching your market and creating buyer personas can help narrow down who your audience is, making it easier to identify the right strategies that would work for them.

The same goes for building your promotional merchandise strategy. Understanding your target audience enables you to find products that would resonate with them based on their demographics and position these in the best way possible.

Aligning Merchandise with Brand Identity

Before you get excited and think of all of the different items you can mix and match into your promotional product pool, it’s important to align it with your brand. Think of your brand identity and brand values. What are the kinds of products that would best align with these?

A company that prides itself in being environmentally friendly would be more inclined to select sustainably sourced products that show their commitment. In the same way, a tech-focused company should include tech gadgets or accessories as a promotional giveaway.

There is no one size fits all for choosing the right promotional merchandise. The only thing that matters is that it best reflects who you are as a brand and what matters to you.

Designing Effective Branding on Merchandise

When creating effective promotional products, make sure that you balance branding, creativity, and customisation.

Incorporate your brand logos, tagline, and colors into the design to create a consistent brand experience with your other products and services. Making your merchandise seamlessly fit with what your brand stands for helps reinforce the image of who your brand is.

Make sure the designs are as creative and unique as possible to help you stand out, especially if these are branded apparel that gives plenty of room for creative designs.

But don’t stop there. Consider customising the products for your recipients to increase the engagement that you get out of them. A simple way to do this is by adding their names or initials on the product.

Best Practices for Distributing Promotional Merchandise

Employees as Brand Ambassadors

The best way to sell your promotional merchandise and the rest of your offerings to your customers is to walk the talk. When customers see that your employees are using your merchandise or wearing your apparel firsthand, it brings awareness to your brand as customers also get a glimpse of what the experience is like.

This is a cost-effective and authentic way to engage with customers. It also builds credibility as customers are more likely to trust employees rather than just words spoken by a business entity.

Corporate Events

Events can bring in a lot of brand exposure when done right. One way to stand out and draw the attention of your target audience is through promotional merchandise. Trade shows, conferences, and other corporate events are great avenues to distribute promotional merchandise.

People love free stuff and free promotional items as giveaways can make a difference in getting people to flock to your booth. Choose the right products and time your distribution strategy well to maximise your exposure. Take your event promotion to the next level by including personalisation options to your giveaway or adding some interactive element to your booth such as raffles or games.

Measuring Success of Promotional Merchandise Campaign

Key Metrics to Track

Knowing that customers ‘liked’ your branded merch isn’t enough. Today’s data-driven landscape demands that businesses are able to measure their campaign’s return on investment (ROI). Here are some of the key metrics to look out for:

• Cost per Acquisition (CPA): CPA is the cost that comes with acquiring each customer or lead. Divide the total advertising cost by the number of new customers acquired through your promotional merchandise campaign.
• Brand Awareness: Track your social media engagement, website traffic, or customer surveys to check the effectiveness of your merchandise campaign.
• Brand Recall: Conduct surveys and focused group discussions to assess your brand recall after the promotional campaign.
• Repeat Purchases: Track the number of customers who make repeat purchases after receiving promotional items.

These metrics can be tracked in various ways, from branded URLs and QR codes on your swag, to social media engagements, and lead capture forms.

But remember that it doesn’t stop at knowing the numbers. Optimising your campaigns based on the feedback and results helps ensure that you are on the right track.

Case Studies

The right use of promotional merchandise can go a long way. Check out some of our clients’ success stories at Red Tomato and see the different ways the right use of promotional merchandise helped them reach their business and marketing goals.

Country Racing Victoria

Every year, Country Racing Victoria brings together families and communities through the excitement of racing. Their Kids of Summer Racing campaign was aimed at increasing family engagement and boosting attendance, so they enlisted our help in creating complimentary merchandise products.

The end product was a free customised backpack that came with a trucker cap, patch kit, goggles, a retro lunch box, drink bottles, and sunscreen. The campaign was met with great results, with a dramatic increase of 5% in participants at local events from previous years and a 9% increase in gate revenue.

Kennards Hire

For their 70th anniversary milestone, Kennards Hire wanted to surprise the rest of the staff for all their hard work and loyalty. A custom Monopoly board was designed as a way to celebrate the family-owned business’ history and champion their different branches around Australia.

Red Tomato helped in managing the project from conception to fulfillment. During Christmas, around 2,000 Kennards Hire Monopoly boards were gifted to the employees. As word got out, fans of both the Kennards Hire brand and Monopoly sought to get their hands on the exclusive merchandise, which the business was proud to share with top customers and partners.

Promotional Merchandise Trends

AI Merch Generator

With AI ramping up, the promotional merchandise industry is also changing. AI enables hyper-personalised promotional marketing, highly targeted campaigns, and enhanced customer engagement, allowing businesses to make more relevant campaigns that customers would like.

One of AI’s applications is to help speed up merchandise brainstorming. That is made possible with Red Tomato’s free AI Merchandise Generator. Simply indicate the details of your promotional campaign and watch AI generate tailored branded merchandise ideas for every budget.

Conclusion

Establishing good corporate branding is all about creating a lasting brand impression on your target audience. Promotional merchandise gives you a tangible way to connect with consumers that can help bring brand awareness, customer loyalty, and long-term business growth.

Explore the possibilities of customised promotional merchandise with Red Tomato. Browse our catalogue and book an ideas call to make your corporate branding ideas come to life.