10 ms·
Lessons learned from bringing promotional sweets to a conference
- jawns 3y agoI still wear T-shirts from vendors at tech conferences that I received years ago. They're durable, and they advertise the company not just to me but to others. But perhaps the swag that has had the most staying power is stuff I could bring home for my kids to play with. I've gotten company-branded balls, puzzles, figurines, and other toys, and not only do they make a good "Guess what I brought home for you" surprise, but they sit around the house for ages, so you get a lot of exposure to their logos. One thing I've never gotten as swag, but could see being a good ROI, would be a children's picture book, with a "Compliments of [Brand Name]" on it. With my kids, they would request that I read the same book to them 50+ times, so that's 50+ exposures to the brand.
- castalian 3y agoThis image of kids playing with commercial merch is so dystopian.
- vincnetas 3y agowhats the difference between merch logos and regular toy brand for the kid? they dont care. as a parent i also dont realy care if they having fun.
- foofie 3y ago> whats the difference between merch logos and regular toy brand for the kid? On top of that, some children's shows are clearly tailored to push toys and all kinds of things, hoping to create a feedback loop of demand for swag-adjacent gear.
- GuB-42 3y agoLess so than kids at school wearing apparel with very prominent branding. At least, people usually don't pay for commercial merch.
- joseda-hg 3y agoThere's an entire fashion style that leans heavily on oversized logos, logomania Streetwear is weird
- saiya-jin 3y agoWhats wrong with that? Kids play with anything, wooden stick is a great toy anytime for example. That there are some logos and not some other logos or pictures they couldn't care less about
- winphone1974 3y agoAll merchandise is commercial. Do your kids wear a Nike swoosh t shirt? Okay on an iPad? Love Lego? What the difference if it's a Microsoft football or new relic slingshot (all things I see from where I'm sitting)?
- Moru 3y agoOh! Fun questionaire! Nike? No, iPad? No, Lego? No, Not sure what the other things are.
- bombcar 3y agoI have a few Lego minifigures branded with a (since merged away) corporate logo. Branded Lego is probably the most durable chotchki you’re going to find.
- justinlloyd 3y agoYep, LEGO endures. I've done entire branded boxes filled with a custom instruction booklet, such as "build this diorama of our video game studio" or "this is a character from our upcoming game" or "it's a LEGO GameBoy with our game on the screen." And it has to be LEGO. Anything else is considered cheap and reflects on your company.
- bombcar 3y agoThe top-tier of this, of course, is to have LEGO make a special set and color for you, like the Maersk promotion sets: https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Maersk https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Maersk (Now it's kind of boring because they sell them online, before those were exceptionally rare as they were basically only sold directly to Maersk.)
- xattt 3y agoI used to get all sorts of medically-branded pens and merchandise courtesy of my parents. I had an infinite supply of pens. Years later, I was working as a nurse on a medical floor. I had a realization that I was filling out an IV med label for Avelox with an Avelox-branded pen.
- wlindley 3y agoMemories: Being in sixth grade and wondering why the teacher thought it was odd that I was using pencils with "Diazepam HCl" on them.
- Doxin 3y agoThis dutch web shop selling mostly printer ink includes very nice ballpoint pens with their branding in the packages. End-result: Those pens get used by news readers and youtubers all over the place.
- msrenee 3y agoMom's a nurse, so we grew up with about everything in the house being branded drug merch. The diflucan dolphin beanie toy is probably my favorite. As an adult, I wish she had brought home Viagra swag. They gave out some hilarious stuff.
- avgcorrection 3y agoThe only swag I am comfortable with wearing in public are things that look like it might just be a [sweater] with a cool image on it. No way I’m walking around with “Castiron ᴀʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɪʀᴏɴ ɴᴇᴇᴅs sɪɴᴄᴇ 1887” on my torso.
- zemvpferreira 3y agoI actually love these, to my shame.
- maroonblazer 3y agoMe too! The more obscure, the better. At least in the circles I run in, I can always count on someone asking me about what's on my torso.
- delogos 3y agoI would absolutely wear your hypothetical Cast Iron shirt, just as an aside. There's always someone who's interested in niche topics.
- 542458 3y agoI actually have gotten a children’s picture book from a brand of cloth diapers that describes a silly and exaggerated story of how they invented their core product (a pivot from the two founders’ masters degrees in aerospace engineering). It is, as you suspected, very effective marketing as it is now seared into my brain from many re-readings.
- XorNot 3y agoMy son was gifted a toolset by his aunt and uncle for Christmas. Plastic tools, belt etc...and a little voice box which every 3rd press or so extolls the virtues of John Deere tractors. Those slogans are now going to be stuck in my brain forever, so I've got to hand it to them (no one realised it did this before they got it).
- mauvehaus 3y agoA month after I met my now-wife, I went with her to Thanksgiving at her sister's house. My nephew was two at the time, and he had three magnets: a horse, a frog, and a duck. Each of which made the respective noise when you pushed a button on the magnet. Naturally, being who I am, I took it upon myself to swap the circuit boards around among the magnets. Apparently this caused some distress a couple days later when my nephew discovered that the frog now made horse noises. We did not give our wedding guests the opportunity to object to our union. TL;DR: it sounds like you have an opportunity on your hands!
- spoonjim 3y agoI never give that shit to my kids because I know it’s made in some uninspected Chinese factory
- maroonblazer 3y agoThe catch with t-shirts is they MUST be made of high-quality material. I've been handed so many promotional t-shirts where it's obvious they went with the lowest-cost supplier and they just feel awful on against my skin. Straight to the Goodwill with those.
- dylan604 3y agowhy not straight to the trash. why would you feel that some article of clothing that is so poorly made that you refuse to wear it should be foisted upon someone else? this just feels like you trying to make yourself feel good without actually doing any good.
- flir 3y agoI've never had a t-shirt "feel bad against my skin". And I wear some pretty cheap t-shirts. I'll take 'em. (Or "One man's trash is another man's treasure").
- tom_ 3y agoSome random suggestions: 1. other people may not feel the same way about the material 2. somebody else one or two sizes smaller might be able to make routine use of it with some other garment underneath 3. somebody else might feel it's fine for emergency use or painting and decorating or whatever 4. could come in handy for use with an animal
- ghaff 3y agoFurthermore, in some places (e.g. MA), it's actually illegal to toss textiles in the trash. I'm sure no one cares with a garment here and there but if you have a couple of large trashbags you should probably be donating them.
- MadnessASAP 3y agoDon't forget rags for in the shop, I love me some old t-shirts for that.
- 3y ago
- acdha 3y agoVery age dependent but my toddler son loved the CNCF animal logo plushies. They got tons of use and did not feel wasteful like the direct to landfill stuff I’ve gotten at so many conferences.
- justsomehnguy 3y agoI would agree with the other comment: commercial merch is dystopian. This month I finally disposed of my simple, black HP (not HPE) T-shirt. It is truly dystopian what the current merch doesn't hold up for.. does a quick 24 - 08 math .. 16 years!
- toyg 3y ago> commercial merch is dystopian We're all digital serfs anyway, enslaved by subscriptions and work for hire - might as well get something back for it.
- japhyr 3y agoI think the best piece of swag I ever got was a high-quality fidget spinner from Pluralsight. Even though fidget spinners were a fad, they're still pretty cool to have around. That one from the conference is still around in our house somewhere, and people still play with it. I've also brought home so much garbage, that was fun to play with for a couple minutes but either broke or had no lasting interest. If you're in charge of choosing swag, please think about whether it has any lasting value. It does say something about your company's values and follow-through.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoAbout 6-7 years ago, I attended a hacker convention and of course I made the rounds to pick up swag. American Express had brought a limited supply of fidget spinners, and they were in extremely high demand. I was unable to secure one of my own. PayPal had the best cache of stuff. They had this earphone holder that was designed like a fishbone. You were supposed to wrap the cord around the "ribs". Then I also picked up a shirt that said on the back "report phishing attempts to phishing@paypal.com". I wore the shirt in public and a woman accosted me at a bus stop. She asked me if I worked for PayPal, which I denied. Then she told me anyway about some dispute she had. I decided to stop wearing the shirt and other swag that wasn't directly related to me.
- atomicnumber3 3y agoThe trap with shirts is that girls LOVE oversized, soft t-shirts as nightshirts. And since "unisex" shirts are often actually just men's-fit shirts, you have the double-whammy of a) give it to a guy, decent odds his partner steals it, and b) give it to a woman, good odds she doesn't want to wear it as a normal shirt (because "unisex"=men's) but it's a great night-shirt. I got a Datadog t-shirt in 2016. Amazing quality. I have never worn it; it is my wife's favorite pajama shirt. She says the dog is cute. ...Dang maybe this is actually the master plan, though. I've seen datadog's logo like 50% of nights for the last 8 years.
- paulddraper 3y agoI had too many shirts, so I eventually collected T-shirts for the wife. I did get some funny looks asking for a (women's) small instead of large, but gotta bring home the goods.
- pallas_athena 3y agoConditioning you to love Datadog, brilliant
- nox101 3y agoI detest branded clothing. why should I be paying a company to advertise for them? LV, Boss, etc. I know for most they want to show off the logos hoping it makee them look like they have taste and/or money. It's crazy to me tho. Some of the designs are atrocious more on topic though. You know the there are branded children's book right? Example: https://www.amazon.com/Ms-Brand-Counting-Book/dp/0881068543 https://www.amazon.com/Ms-Brand-Counting-Book/dp/0881068543
- WalterBright 3y agoI wear t-shirts a lot, but not advertising t-shirts. Just blank ones. Same goes for any other logo clothing. I get that others like them, it's just not for me.
- thex10 3y agoAt my last conference I got a (unfortunately unbranded so I don't even remember who it's from) spinning top, my toddler loves watching it go!
- KnlnKS 3y agoSomewhat related to the children's book idea. I've received a Postgres coloring book from an Azure event.
- gibspaulding 3y ago> a children's picture book I don't know the story behind this or how many were actually printed, but Microsoft seems to have tried it: https://archive.org/details/mommybook https://archive.org/details/mommybook
- humbleferret 3y agoThe most memorable piece of swag I've ever received (not given out) was a small Hydro Flask thermos – I use it all the time. Thinking about the use of sweets at conferences, I'd assume they are most effective at the end of a conversation. Eating a sugary sweet might just trigger a small release of dopamine, creating a psychological association that paints the interaction – and by extension, the person involved – in a positive light. No idea if there is any truth to this, but could be the reason some services leave sweets in a bowl at reception sometimes?
- sva_ 3y agoOffering any kind of food surely makes it more welcoming.
- KptMarchewa 3y agoHydro flasks are great the first time, cool the second time and then are quite meh. I've got like 5 till now and ran out of people to give them to.
- CobaltFire 3y agoMy most used merch is from a coffee company that sent my unit an absolute ton of coffee on deployment when I contacted their coordinator. Due to their market they have a specific person who ships those care packages of older coffee out (I promise we don’t give a damn if it’s older on deployment; free decent coffee is amazing). They sent me a hydro flask as a bonus for being the one to reach out and I’ve been using it for years now.
- kgwgk 3y agoIf you want to stay with sweets, just put them in a metallic box with your logo. The mint box is likely to stay around much longer than the mints.
- masklinn 3y agoA good quality well sized tin is always appreciated, no matter the material really.
- dylan604 3y agobut you just specified a tin is always appreciated. you didn't say a well sized container is appreciated. so, it seems the material does matter
- tourmalinetaco 3y ago“A tin” is not specifically tin, so it can be of varying materials.
- whartung 3y agoIndeed, but there's something tactile about a tin box over, say, a plastic box. Mind there are some rather nice plastic boxes, but I think a cheap tin box rates a bit higher than a cheap plastic box.
- yetihehe 3y agoIf you bring free sweets to a consumer show, you will get a lot of happy smiles on small faces and unmeasurably small business effect. At least you get some smiles, so not a total waste. Some customers will probably be a little less likely to do business with you because they think you are trying too hard, but I don't think it's a big effect.
- dbcurtis 3y agoI've been to trade shows where the jar of small mint candies at the show booth was very welcome to deal with dry mouth or bad-breath-insecurities. My main reaction is to be thankful for the courtesy.
- CPLX 3y agoAs someone who’s the owner of a national conference business my tip is branded chargers. Literally everyone needs them and is incentivized to keep it around.
- delichon 3y agoA medieval war horse is too much responsibility for a gift and it isn't ethical to brand one. But a Dodge sports car is acceptable.
- selimthegrim 3y agoCounting down until somebody names a sports car Destrier
- macksd 3y agoI have a SUSE power strip (1-plug-to-3) that I pull out at airports when everyone is contending for outlets - very popular move. I have a little bag with pouches for chargers and adapters. Really anything that is handy for business travelers is going to land well with a lot of people at conferences.
- bombcar 3y agoAnything involving power is a good option - travel adaptor plugs, 1 to 3 adapters, USB cables, etc.
- geerlingguy 3y agoThose little USB-A to C/mini/Lightning adapters are gold, and I'm up to like 6 of them now, all get regular use. They can't be as expensive as a shirt or some of the other knick-knacks. Otherwise, stress balls and bouncy balls are always a hit to bring home and give to the kids.
- wkjagt 3y agoAnything travel related probably, as a good number of people will have traveled to the conference, and will likely travel to other conferences and will take the banded thing with them. Where it's probably even seen by the correct audience.
- spking 3y agoEveryone in Silicon Valley knows the importance of swag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9eIgg0ArDg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9eIgg0ArDg
- iambateman 3y agoConference booths are usually heavy on sweet and light on salty. If you are organizing a booth, consider salty or savory options (popcorn!).
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoAnd if you do popcorn, let your guests season their own bag to their own taste. Have regular salt, butter-flavored salt, and... whatever that other weird stuff is that people put on popcorn. Plus, if you've got a popcorn maker, the smell will draw people to your booth.
- wffurr 3y agoOne of my colleagues had a big movie style popcorn maker on a small table near his desk. Whenever we fired it up, it would inevitably summon people from all corners of the office to stand around eating popcorn out of the small cardboard boxes. It’s pretty great.
- whartung 3y ago...and if you let it burn, it'll summon the fire department!
- bsenftner 3y agoI remember during the console wars and then again during the dotcom craze some sag was pretty damn nice. I remember a PlayStation backpack that lasted far longer then my PSX. During dotcom, I remember getting a laptop bag that was amazing, like a Swiss army knife, from some networking company that I used far longer than that company existed.
- morelisp 3y agoThose Sony backpacks are (probably, were) something. I had a Vaio backpack that lasted me from ages 17 to 22 as a "daily driver" laptop and general purpose bag, then 22 to 35 as a grocery and travel bag - though if I'm being honest those last few years were more emotional than rational. Unfortunately no manufacturer information other than Sony on it. :(
- TomasEkeli 3y agolicorice! salty licorice. many people don't like them, but even more people haven't tried them. a sure-fire conversation-starter.
- albert180 3y agoThe fizzy saucers aren't also a 08/15 sweet though
- apantel 3y agoAnother problem is you can’t click on a sweet to open a browser.
- jonah 3y agoI came across an entire carton of MongoDB coffee mugs at the thrift store a few years ago. Excess merch... My favorite swag was an Intel spaceman/clean suit guy doll - but he's stuffed in a box in the shed somewhere. I had a really nice Timbuk2 laptop backpack with some big corp's logo on it. Super functional and well made bag but I never used it because I don't like wearing/displaying logos in general.
- ghaff 3y agoOh yeah, the bunny people. Andy Grove was apparently really big on those at one point. Think I have one in my office. I either have another one someplace or I tossed it. I admit I have so much merchandise from over the years from my company and others. I've dumped a lot but some I really like and use regularly.
- blitzar 3y ago> I never used it because I don't like wearing/displaying logos in general I have a roll of gaffer tape - covers the logos. It is unironically almost a brand of its own now
- jonah 3y agoI like seeing that on TV shows and the like where someone is wearing clothing that isn't one of the sponsors, etc. I also had a zip-up sweater I really liked, but wasn't in to the brand, so I sewed another embroidered patch over the branding.
- gnatolf 3y agoWe had a very interesting and successful run with branded BBQ tongues. They are very cheap, unassuming and large enough that you could see them sticking out of bags here and there. It was by far the oddest giveaway at that conference. The 13th pen just doesn't yield any reaction at all. The tongues were a bit of a conversation starter.
- wffurr 3y agoDo you mean “tongs” or like jerky dried Ox tongue or something?
- sdenton4 3y agoAll the ox tongues hanging out of people's bags, remnants of drool and blood pooling on the floor...
- dbcurtis 3y agoThanks for that clarifying question... I was having strange images until you pointed out the possibility of a typo
- gnatolf 3y agoOh. Maybe. Is a 'tong'-sticking-out smiley appropriate? :-P
- quercusa 3y agoOne early 90s Comdex, some company gave out 4' fiberglass rods with Beatings will continue until morale improves on them. I have no clue what the company did (something with printing, maybe), but everybody in Vegas was carrying one. I kept it for years in the corner of my office.
- HL33tibCe7 3y agoThe company name and logo are very forgettable imo
- wodenokoto 3y agoThe article ends by asking for favorite swag. At Gitex I got a small bottle of hand sanitizer with a clip so I can hang it on my bag. Great idea. Useful item and I’m carrying some company’s logo with me for months after the show.
- cco 3y agoAt my current company I love trying to come up with fun and creative swag ideas that are actually worthwhile and enjoyable. Last year our creative pick was hot sauce [1]. We bring hot sauces into there office to share with coworkers and I got the idea into my head to bring that same thing to conferences. [1] https://stytch.com/blog/developer-conferences/ https://stytch.com/blog/developer-conferences/
- AlbertCory 3y agoHere's one you wouldn't think of: Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) wrote about his radical diet that took off 100 pounds, and kept it off. It ends in a regular vegan-type diet, except he's allowed to take days off now and then. Anyway: for the first two weeks it starts with eating only potatoes. No butter, no sour cream, no fat. Then other foods get added in. Here's the giveaway part: he would go to show business parties and say to people, "Would you like a potato?" He claims a lot of people would say, "A potato? Sure!" https://www.amazon.com/Presto-Pounds-Disappear-Other-Magical-ebook/dp/B01CD8J2PU/ref=sr_1_2 https://www.amazon.com/Presto-Pounds-Disappear-Other-Magical...
- ctur 3y agoWe give away potatoes to trick or treaters on Halloween. They are immensely popular and we’ve become known as the potato house in our city’s Facebook groups. The weird delight on the faces of kids of all ages was hugely unexpected but surprisingly consistent.
- Am4TIfIsER0ppos 3y agoDo you give away cooked or raw taters at halloween?
- justinlloyd 3y agoWhen I lived in Santa Cruz back in the early 2000s I lived in a duplex, and my duplex neighbour and I would cook and give away well over three 30lb bags of baked potatoes each Halloween. Bake the potatoes early in the day, cut them open, put in the butter, salt and pepper, then close them up and wrap in tin foil. Kids and teenagers would go out of their way to get a potato from us.
- Nursie 3y agoAh man, you're making me look forward to winter when we can make bonfire potatoes again, by wrapping them in foil with butter and a few flavourings, then putting them into the hot coals for a couple of hours. I'm in the southern hemisphere and in general I love summer, but those potatoes are a thing of joy.
- dbcurtis 3y agoHa ha, yeah. I remember years ago getting a cookie at a conference that had been frosted by the equivalent of a "frosting jet printer" -- the cookie was great, but I ate the URL before leaving the show booth. I tucked that lesson away as a mistake to never make myself.
- orzig 3y agoI will always upvote a good lessons learned post!
- emp_ 3y agoHad a very similar experience hosting e-sports events and buying probably the cheapest sponsor slot ever: the badge lanyards, every single interview had our logo right there around the neck of every single person at the venue, while the TV crews were trying to frame the giant master sponsor logos in the background
- justinlloyd 3y agoI learned, quite by accident, that carrying around several boxes of the small Cadbury's Flake chocolate around a conference in Las Vegas was an amazing ice breaker to conversation. From there, the next game developer's conference, I dropped about $400 on custom printed sleeves for small Toblerone chocolate bars that I could give away. I've also always carried a different style of high quality business cards from everyone else, so that also became a conversation starter (about $150). I've also done a glossy magazine for my video game company showing off our achievements and projects for the past year (about $2,000). And a pop-up book of projects ($1,500). And a high-quality custom Rubik's cube (about $4 each). And a colouring book with branded crayons (about $1,200). Custom phone cases. Custom phone chargers. Custom USB cords. Custom tools for network admins. Ribbons for conference badges. High-quality tape measures. Custom branded private blend coffee beans. LEGO in our own custom branded box. Digital single-game "game & watch" style toys. So many different toys that endure. Toys seem to always go over well. All those tiny marketing promotions break the ice and have lead to several successful business deals.
- randycupertino 3y agoWhat vendor did you use to make the pop up book? I work in medical research and I could see that being a great learning tool to train our sites on the lab kits.
- twic 3y agoDo people still do badges as promotional items? My dad had a collection of button badges from long-defunct vendors that I found fascinating as a child. They're intrinsically longer-lasting than stickers, cheaper than t-shirts, and most people won't eat them.
- mauvehaus 3y agoPepperdata gave away bottles of branded hot sauce at a conference I attended. And they thoughtfully selected bottles under 100ml so we could bring them home on our flights! The hot sauce was delicious, and I ended up eating most of it by the spoonful from the bottle. I kind of still wish I could get more. I searched everything I could find on the bottle to figure out who actually made it. No luck.
- easton 3y agoIf they have contact info on their website you could ask. If I was on the other end of that inbox I’d definitely tell you, in the absolute best case it could convert into a sale (or maybe you’ll just make someone’s day).
- dmd 3y agoA story my dad (who wrote for various magazines in the 80s and 90s) used to tell: > My friend Ken worked for what was then a first-tier Japanese hifi company. At the time -- it was the eighties -- companies exhibiting at CES gave shit away. Shirts, pens, calculators... you know: trade show crap. Rather than have his giveaway get lost in that sea of crap, my friend decided to give out pocket-sized mirrors, each encased in a blue silicon sleeve emblazoned with the company logo. His Japanese masters said "Ken-san, why you give away small mirror. We don't understand." And Ken-san said "trust me, they'll love it." And they did, because a) it was the eighties, and 2) while some preparatory activities are best done on a cardboard record jacket, others require an unyielding surface. I should add that the notion of including a single-edge razor blade in the package crossed his mind, but was rejected as being too on-the-nose.
- cdibona 3y agoBack around ...2007 or so I had papabupple make a 'google (heart emoji) open source" hard candy, they were absolutely terrific. People loved those things. Papabubble had a shop in SF in those days. Expensing 600 lbs of candy was a first for google accounting I think.
- a_bonobo 3y agoThe coolest conference giveaway I ever got was from NVIDIA: the NVIDIA ruler! They look ultraslick and are very useful. Here's one on eBay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/114530985211 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/114530985211
- rkagerer 3y ago3D printed and assembled dozens of these for a conference a few years back, and handed them out instead of business cards: https://forum.formlabs.com/t/babyform2-3d-print-your-3d-printer/13823 https://forum.formlabs.com/t/babyform2-3d-print-your-3d-prin...
- Ruthalas 3y agoThese are stellar. Thank you for the write up!
- dhruvkb 3y agoAt a WordCamp I attended, Yoast was handing out stroopwafels. They were delicious and made such a good conversation-starter and introduction to Dutch desserts.
- aqwsde 3y agoSo, lessons learned? Bring bigger sweets, with more eye-catching designs, including a clear call to action, and which are sugar-free and inedible. Typical tech-guy reaction! xD I think the obvious lesson is: Just grab any bag of sweets and go for a chat. You say it yourself: It can be a bit intimidating to go up to strangers and say "TALK TO ME". But saying "Hello! Would you care for a sweet?" is a socially acceptable ice-breaker. The printing didn't matter.