How to Brand Big with Trade Show Apparel

Imagine being at a tradeshow with the aim of spotlighting your brand really brightly, but having only a few bits and pieces on display... A modest but good-looking pull-up banner, perhaps, and some well put-together printed literature. Maybe even a screen with your logo rolling on repeat at the end of a promotional video. You might even have a tower of mugs and a fistful of pens ready to hand out to prospective customers, clients and new partners, too. But what you really need is to complement all of these with some high impact branding, something that will really imprint your logo in people’s minds, moving it around the event in an organic way rather than keeping it static at your spot.

Tradeshow apparel

Imagine if the staff who are manning your stall or stand were also covered in your logo as well as handing out any printed promotional gifts! We’re talking about them wearing printed apparel: T-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts, caps and hats and even branded pants. Perhaps not all at the same time – but you never know!

The type of clothing your staff wear, too, will have a big impact on perceptions of your offer. For example, a high-end brand will certainly not want to choose something as casual as a t-shirt, and will probably opt for something a bit more aesthetically smart like a polo shirt or even a standard ‘office’-type shirt. Conversely, an approachable and everyday brand won’t want to risk appearing in any way stand-offish or superior, and so will likely opt for the humble t-shirt as an indicator of its everyday ‘for you’ nature.

Kitting out all of your team with matching promotional clothing for tradeshows is a great way to project coherence – which equates to capability and confidence. It also means you can maximise visibility of your brand during the event, and your staff will be easily identifiable and approachable. Their natural animation during the day or evening means that your logo will make its way around the venue, or anywhere else outside of it that they decide to go while wearing it. This clothing can also, of course, be offered to potential customers as freebies or small sale items – and because of this your brand identity could also make its way further afield, too.

In the same way that a mug or a pen will end up ‘in real life’, then perhaps a customer or client will wear that t-shirt when they’re out on a run or in the park at the weekends, and perhaps that cap you gave them will be seen at a sports event. In effect they become ‘brand ambassadors’ and this kind of soft marketing in invaluable, extending your reach for little effort. The possibilities are endless, really, based on what type of products you hand out at the tradeshow.

Branded name badges

In addition to putting your tradeshow staff in event or exhibition clothing, it’s a good idea to present in an ultra-personable way, by having them wear branded name badges.

These badges have a way of being both formal identification of your member of staff as a representative of your company or organization, and an individual in their own right – someone a customer would want to talk to because they can relate to the fact that they’re a human being and not just some sort of ‘worker drone’. Name badges inspire trust in your brand, and the difference in mood and receptivity between ‘Daphne’ or ‘Bob’ talking to a customer, client or potential associate rather than ‘Employee Person 1’ is worth capitalizing on.

Putting your tradeshow staff in what are, in essence, branded employee uniforms (however non-uniform-like that might appear to be, e.g. t-shirts and snapbacks) will focus attention on your brand. Here at EverythingBranded we stock a vast array of products which will fulfil your requirements so you can make the smart move and get your tradeshow staff on point!

Here are 5 of our favorites…

1. As you’ll see from the photo on the listing for these Promotional T-Shirts, you could be enterprising and kit your staff out like the original crew on Star Trek – or, more seriously, at the very least you can find a colour which is appropriate to your already existing brand identity. The shirts are made of cotton and are available in different sizes and, like all t-shirts used in giveaways or as small sale items, the reach of these after the tradeshow is likely to continue…
2. For a slightly informal look with connotations of either ‘youth’ or ‘the great outdoors’ for your brand, these Dye Sub Hoodies are heavyweight fleece pullovers which can be printed with your logo. Offered as a prestige giveaway or as an item to be sold, they look smart and will certainly inspire trust in the quality of your brand. Perfect, perhaps, for outdoor activity centers or stores and brands involved in camping / outdoors gear.
3. There are many name badges available from EverythingBranded, including these impressive Express Laser-Engraved Rectangle versions. Each one is 3" x 1 1/2" and has radius-style edges for a smooth look. They can be affixed using a safety pin or magnetic backing.
4. Six-panel Snapback Caps are always a popular choice of promotional item for tradeshows, and it’s not difficult to work out why. People love to wear caps – but from your business perspective they offer a massive boost to brand awareness as your logo is more-or-less at everyone’s eye-level all the time on these hugely noticeable items!
5. A smart-looking but simple Polo Shirt can speak volumes about the quality of your brand. These shirts suggest professionalism, expertise and, frankly, ‘getting the job done’. Available in different colors (and different sizes) the polo shirt a brilliant way to add a bit of style to your brand whilst also remaining approachable.