9 cool branded merchandise ideas for 2021
With COVID-19 and various local and national-level lockdown restrictions creating lots of uncertainty right now, we’re noticing that many of our clients are looking to us for inspiration on what to include in their 2021 branded merchandise collections.
So, if you’ve found yourself in a similar position, struggling to work out how best to approach your branded merchandise strategy, we’ve got you covered. In this post, we talk you through a range of cool branded merchandise ideas you can use in 2021 to help you keep brand awareness high, engage new audiences and boost employee morale.
Let’s get to it.
Cool branded merchandise packs
Team work from home packs
This one’s a no brainer. It’s already hard for employees to stay productive at home, without having to contend with a lack of equipment.
As a minimum, you should include pens and notebooks. But, realistically, you should provide employees with everything they’d have available in the office.
New starter branded clothing packs
Let’s face it, onboarding during lockdown isn’t the most exciting experience for new employees. So, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep new starters feeling energised and excited about joining your business.
A good way of doing this – and reassuring new starters that they’re an integral part of your team – is to provide them with a new start branded clothing pack. First, it’ll make them feel like a part of the team. Second, it shows them they’re appreciated. And that’s bound to help keep them high-energy and motivated!
Event merchandise packs
Just because your events are virtual doesn’t mean participants should miss out on the cool branded merchandise goodies they’ve come to expect when attending events in-person. With everyone so far apart right now, a shared event pack also helps create a feeling of commonality and community. Something quirky, innovative, or particularly useful – like the stylish thermal bottle pictured above – creates a talking point for attendees which in turn brings them together.
One of the benefits of using our service for your event merchandise is that we can mail out your merchandise packs to any number of individual addresses for you. That way, you and your team can focus on making your event as impactful as possible, without stressing about individually labelling and distributing merchandise packs.
Employee onboarding packs
As with clothing packs, onboarding packs are an essential part of your new starters journey into your business. Not only do they create excitement, but they also show employees they’re valued.
As a minimum, we’d recommend including the work from home essentials. But, realistically, new starts should get the same treatment as their peers received pre-lockdown. So, we also recommend including useful goodies like water bottles, drawstring bags and power banks.
Click here to explore merchandise packs.
Cool branded merchandise product ideas
Desk toys
With most of the world working from desks at home now, desk toys make the perfect inclusion for everything from onboarding packs to giveaway packs.
Above we’ve pictured our popular Rubik’s Cube speaker, but there are plenty of other options available such as plush toys and folding cubes.
Click here to explore desk toys.
Plant pots
Promotional eco-cubes and branded plant pots were a hot trend in 2020 and they’re set to be even hotter in 2021 with many businesses pushing sustainability.
The benefit of adding these to your branded merchandise packs is two-fold. Not only do they make a great eco-friendly alternative to traditional branded merchandise items, but they also help brighten up your employees home offices.
Click here to explore branded plant pots.
Branded PPE
Even with the great news of widespread vaccinations, it doesn’t look like we’ll be PPE-free for a long time to come yet.
So, to help your employees stay safe when they’re out and about, you should consider adding branded PPE to merchandise packs.
The most obvious choices are face masks and sanitisers. We’re able to brand both cost-effectively and at scale. As a bonus, they also help your employees cut the unforeseen expensive of purchasing PPE, which is bound to be appreciated.
If you’re looking for branded PPE, either use the form at the foot of the page to contact the team or give us a call to talk to our PPE experts directly on 0131 357 6052.
Branded umbrellas
We’ve always been big fans of branded umbrellas as they get a lot of use from recipients. This translates to an increase in brand awareness for you as users take them out and about with them in the rainy UK.
And, since 39% of people are walking more following COVID-19 lockdown restrictions – and with 94% saying it’s a habit they intend to continue – it’s likely you’ll get even more exposure choosing a branded umbrella in 2021 than you typically would! [Source: Road Safety GB]
Click here to explore branded umbrellas.
Eco-friendly stationery
As mentioned before, anything that helps your employees stay productive at home should be included in your work from home or onboarding packs.
However, if you’re also looking for a simple way to make your brand more sustainable, we’d specifically recommend choosing eco-friendly stationery. The pen pictured above, for example, is more from eco-friendly wheatstraw, a sustainable alternative to plastic.
That said, there is a range of eco-friendly options you can choose from, including eco-friendly notebooks, sticky-notes sets and pencils.