Kits: The Hottest Trend in Promotional Marketing

In today’s highly competitive and overcrowded marketplace companies are looking for new creative ways to stand out, reward employees, gain customer loyalty, and win new business. The millennial generation has solidified the idea that consumers value experiences over things, and that extends to gifting. Everything needs to be an experience from the moment the package is delivered. The box or bag, packing materials, personalization of items, and ultimately the gift itself, are all an important part of the experience. Hence the popularity of Kits, the gifting solution that allows companies to deliver a memorable, customized experience to their audience.

We’ve put together a quick “Need to Know” guide on kits and included some of our favorite examples of kits we’ve done for our clients. Additionally, we’ve included ideas for various promotional budgets to help you maximize your marketing efforts.

Want to get started on your own kitting project? Email us at info@imprintengine.com or give us a call today.

Kits: The “Need-to-Know” Guide

What is a Kit?

A “kit” is a catch-all term for a package of marketing materials, products, company literature, gifts, or swag packaged together in a cohesive way to create a memorable brand experience for the recipient.

Kit Components

Container

The container is the first point of contact with the recipient, so it’s really where the experience begins. A container can be a discardable delivery mechanism for the contents held within, like this customized cardboard box, or can be a critical component of the gift itself, like this backpack or this customized wooden box.

Packaging Materials

The materials used in the kit are also an important part of the brand experience. There are endless options for customization when it comes to packaging materials, but we’ve included a few of our go-to favorites below.

Customized Inserts

When budget is no object and you’re going for maximum “wow factor,” customized inserts that fit the contents of your kit are the way to go. Inserts provide a true retail experience, and elevate the value perception of the kit to the recipient. A customized insert shows that great planning, expense, and attention to detail were put into your kit, and makes a strong statement to the recipient that you value their attention.

Crinkle Paper

When presentation is important but you’re working on a tight budget or require the flexibility to customize each kit you send out with a different product selection, crinkle paper is a great packaging option. Crinkle paper can be customized to match your brand colors for a very customized experience, or always looks great in Kraft style. Crinkle paper is prized for its versatility, and it’s a big step up from foam packing peanuts to keep all of the items in a kit protected during shipping.

Custom Tissue Paper

Another way to keep your kit feeling high end is using custom printed tissue paper to wrap the contents of your kit. If you don’t have the budget to customize your tissue paper, you can always select blank paper in your brand colors and use a custom sticker to secure everything together and keep your brand front and center.

A kit can contain a variety of items from informational material to a fabulous gift. The most important thing is to always keep the recipient top of mind when selecting what you put in your kit. Make sure the contents represent your brand, and clearly convey the message you’re trying to send. Check out the gallery below to get ideas on some of the great things you can send in a kit.

Fulfillment

Selecting the contents and packaging materials of your kit is only part of the process. Getting the kits assembled and shipping them off to their final destinations is where you really need a partner like Imprint Engine. We handle every step of the kitting process from identifying and ordering the packaging and contents to securing the components in our warehouse to assembling and shipping out your kits. Our expert team of professionals has sent out over 100,000 kits, and will put our expertise to work for you to ensure that your kits arrive in pristine condition at their final destination and make the desired impact for your brand.

Types of Kits

Employee Onboarding

Hiring and retaining talent is a top priority for most companies, and presenting new hires with an impressive onboarding kit is a great way to make a first impression and create a memorable experience that will set the tone for a long and happy career with your company. Onboarding kits can contain new hire paperwork, company handbook, facility access cards, company identification, branded swag, and more.

Customer Acquisition

Getting the attention of a sales lead can be hard, but your chances of breaking through the clutter are much better when you send out a customized kit, like this one from our client Foodsby. Email, phone, and social media are crowded arenas where it’s difficult to set yourself apart, but when you send out a customized kit it’s nearly impossible not to grab the recipients attention.

Media/PR

If you’ve got a story to tell and want the media’s attention, sending a kit is a great way to do it. Editors are inundated with press releases all day long, but if you send your release in the form of a customized kit like Uber did for their St. Patty’s Day campaign, you’re sure to get their attention, and in turn some great press resulting in huge ROI on the cost of sending out your kits.

Influencer

The era of the influencer is upon us, and companies have quickly moved to harness the power of social media influencers in a variety of ways. One of the most cost effective tactics identified so far has been influencer kits. Sending a clever kit that makes great content for the influencer to share, like this one from our client Uber Eats, or one stocked with high value freebies, is almost guaranteed to elicit some great social media exposure for your brand.

Client Gifting

The annual holiday gifting season has turned into a critical touch point for building relationships with customers in order to ensure customer retention. Sending the wrong gift, like a boring Starbucks gift card, can signal indifference and will at best be ignored but at worst can leave a bad taste in the recipient’s mouth. By sending a thoughtful/creative corporate gift kit, or one that contains high value contents, you are guaranteed to make your customers feel special and stand out from the rest of the holiday gifting crowd. To understand why corporate gifting is so important, read our related blog post.