Even the Oscars embraces product sampling.
The Oscars is all about promotion.
Nominees dream of walking away with a gold statue and press attention; fashion designers dream of their red carpet creation scoring praise; and dozens of businesses dream of their product finding a home in the Oscar goody bag.
Last year, the Oscars gift bag was valued at a whopping £116,000, and included an impressive array of gifts, such as free Silvercar Audi rentals for a year, an £8,500 glamping holiday, a train trip on the Rocky Mountaineer, a nine-night Italian holiday package valued at £9,000, £2,500 worth of liposuction, and £15,000 of custom made furniture.
These are impressive gifts, but ultimately, the Oscar gift bags are nothing more than a product sampling exercise – albeit a creative and highly targeted one.
Be different
You may not have an Oscar’s gift bag budget, but that’s okay – you don’t need one. The key is to include a mix of practical, promotional items and a few luxury products, that are unique, quirky and of value to your audience.
The creativity goes for the event itself too. Make the event memorable; choose a theme or focus to develop the evening around, and an interesting or obscure venue.
Your gift bag, with excellent gifts and product samples needs to remind them of your great event, or the time and money you’ve spent will be wasted.
Let them eat cake
Think back: its likely that the first goody bag you ever received was a party bag after a children’s birthday party. Don’t forget the rules you learnt back as a child; the cake is the best bit.
If you include something edible and tasty in your goody bag, it is likely t o go down a treat with everyone. This works particularly well if you can make your edible product say something about your business.
When the National Football Museum opened in Manchester their goody bags contained edible chocolate whistles which were a much tweeted and photographed highlight of the evening.
Wear your brand
If you include a personalised t-shirt or item of clothing in your goody bag, it will create hype around your brand and prompt guests to inadvertently promote you.
A t-shirt designer had the pleasure of seeing their design on Beyonce Knowles on the cover of Ebony magazine after she received it in a gift bag.
What’s more, staff at the event can show off your promotional clothing and show your brand identity to high profile guests and businesses.
Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.
