Getting Strategic with Giveaways

We all know the classic giveaways that you can find on practically every table: stickers, chip clips, pens, and sunglasses, to name a few. They’re popular with audiences, affordable to order in bulk, and easy to transport. It’s not hard to see why everyone gravitates toward these items. But it’s time to take our giveaway game up a notch and stand out from the crowd! So, let’s talk strategy.

Before we jump in, make sure you are familiar with our guidelines on ordering promotional items and merchandise.

Give with Purpose

First, let’s consider the purpose of a giveaway. Most often, you’re tabling at an event or high-traffic location with the goal of bringing awareness of your department or your message to a specific audience. You might want people to sign up for a mailing list or bring new opportunities to their attention. Maybe you just want to remind your audience that your department exists as a resource. Here’s how giveaways can help:  

• Entice the audience to approach your table: The sight of a good giveaway, food, or even a prize wheel, can draw people in! And you need people to come to your table so you can engage with them and share your message.  
• Build brand awareness and loyalty: When your audience is wearing or using merchandise branded with your name or message, they may inadvertently be bringing awareness of your brand to their circles and beyond. Plus, you want to reward your loyal supporters and brand ambassadors! 
• Make your audience remember you: When someone leaves your table, there’s no guarantee they will remember your conversation or call to action. Luckily, a giveaway can reinforce your message, even if it’s subtle or at a later date. If you’ve chosen your giveaway strategically, your audience will go back to it time and time again, being reminded of you on each occasion.  

Think Strategically

When choosing a strategic giveaway, there are three points to consider:  

• Is it useful? You want your audience to be able to use your giveaway, preferably, repeatedly. Maybe your giveaway is something a person wouldn’t buy for themselves, but it’s great to have once they get it, like a pocket multi-tool. Or it could solve a problem they didn’t know they had, like travel packing cubes.  
• Is it sustainable? We’re in an era of sustainability, and that applies to your giveaways, too. Audiences are no longer interested in plastic tchotchkes and trinkets that will end up in a landfill. Choosing sustainably sourced products and reusable giveaways can help align with Johns Hopkins University’s overarching efforts to reduce our environmental impact. Giving away grocery tote bags and metal water bottles, for example, can help cut down on single-use plastic consumption.  
• Is it relevant to your audience? The most impactful giveaways are those that are most relevant to your department/event and audience. Any group can give out stickers and pens—those are universal. But luggage tags, for example, only make sense as a giveaway coming from a department like the Global Education Office. Gloves and scarves are a great giveaway at outdoor events in the winter, like skate sessions at the Homewood Ice Rink, because they can be put to use right away.  

Get Inspired 

Looking for more inspiration? Here are some of our favorite strategic giveaway ideas. You may recognize some of your own work here!

Whiting School of Engineering Multi-Tool

Ice Rink Hot/Cold Packs

Sustainability Planters & Tote Bags

Alumni Association Hand Fans

ROSEI Plant Pots

Blue Jay Tuesday Mugs

Senior Shirts: 10 Things to Do Before Commencement

Hopkins Dining Glass Cups

Alumni Association Gift Boxes

Other ideas haven’t come to life yet, but we’d love to see them when they do. Don’t forget, you must always use a CLC-licensed vendor when ordering giveaways that use the JHU name or logos and/or are paid for with JHU funds.

• Hand fans (electric or paper) for attendees at an outdoor event in the summer
• Tissue packs for parents at Commencement
• Folding brush, compact mirror, or lint brush for students attending a career fair or networking event
• Apple AirTags, mini umbrellas, packing cubes, sleeping eye masks, or luggage tags for students interested in studying abroad
• Hats, gloves, scarves, and fuzzy socks for attendees at an outdoor event in the winter
• Car accessories, like an ice scraper, sun shade, or key chain, for commuter students
• Lunch boxes, mugs, reusable straws and utensils, and chip clips at a dining event
• Plants and flower seed packets for attendees at an event in the spring or a sustainability-focused event
• Sticky notes, planners, or calendars for a new student audience
• Flashlights, multi-tools, bike bells, or reflective lights at a public safety table

Quality Over Quantity

Many audiences appreciate quality over quantity. They’re looking for brand-name products, like Patagonia and Yeti. But we know that not every budget allows for bulk ordering at those prices. Instead, consider purchasing just a few high-quality giveaways to raffle off—students can enter by signing up for your email list or following your social accounts, for example. Or get a prize wheel for your audience to spin! You can still give everyone a small item, like a sticker or pen, so no one walks away empty-handed!

Stay Local

Baltimore has a wealth of food and merchandise vendors to work with on giveaways. For instance, you could order cookies from a local bakery or mini prints from a local artist. Your giveaways don’t always need to include Johns Hopkins branding. Instead, you can use JHU-branded ribbon, bags, or boxes to package these items for distribution.

That said, if you do want to work with a local crafter to create a custom product using the JHU name or marks, they will need to be appropriately licensed to do so. Johns Hopkins crafter’s license program, Community Connect, provides crafters with an opportunity to use their creativity without infringing the university’s trademarks, while still allowing the university to maintain the integrity of its brand. Please reach out to [email protected] if you’re interested in working with a vendor in this capacity.

Encourage Engagement

Giveaways don’t have to be completely transactional. Instead, your giveaway can be part of an activity for your audience, such as branded mugs at a hot chocolate stand, a DIY cleaning spray station with branded spray bottles, or an opportunity to decorate or tie-dye a JHU t-shirt. Activities can lead to greater engagement between you and your audience, increasing the time they spend at your table or event and, therefore, the time you have to share your message or call to action.

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Do you have any examples of strategic giveaways that your team produced? We’d love to see them and highlight your work in our Brand Showcase! Send us an email with your work to [email protected].

Happy Giving!