For quite a while now I have personally been obsessed with wristbands. At first, I saw them everywhere from events to fundraisers to concerts to parties! Everyone seems to be giving it away along with their products, services or just as a promotional tool. To see them exist equally across all industries made me think; why is so and how this is so?
Turns out Customized wristbands give one of the best ways to market your product and at the same time make it easier for you manage your events. It became clear to me when I visited an event not too long ago. I had two very different experiences with and without a wristband being given by the event organizers.
Without the wristband:
So this event had me hold the tickets for quite a long time. 4 days to be exact, as they were selling tickets off a promotional kiosk outside a retail store. Once I bought them, I immediately became a babysitter. I had to keep holding, well hiding is the right word, these tickets for 4 days. On the day of the event, I went up to the concert hall and I saw this long line of people holding tickets and some were trying to find theirs from weird pockets of their pants. Finally, I was let in after half an hour. A few hours later in the event, I realized I had lost my ticket which I wanted to save to remember the event by but I wouldn’t have been able to do the same.
With the wristband:
Another time when my favorite rock band was coming to town, they had us buy tickets for the same. This time though the tickets were silicone wristbands. It looked extremely amazing. The customized look of the band with my band’s name plastered across it; I wore it with pride and had no problem protecting it. I was asked by my friends what I was wearing and I gleefully told them about the event. 3 more friends joined me later only because they asked me about my customized wristband. The entry to the concert arena was easy! They asked us to raise our arm and in an orderly fashion asked us to proceed in the facility.
Hence I came to the following conclusion;
If you can make a person wear a wristband on their arm, you have increased your brand’s visibility. This will help you reach a wider audience than you could have ever before. Being sturdy they don’t perish easily and can continue to market your brand days after the event had come to a conclusion. With a wristband, a brand continues to market until the wearer hasn’t removed it.
Apart from the ones not mentioned, Here are some other ways by which we should accept that wristbands have revolutionized the branding and marketing business:
1. Buzz: Send in your wristbands a few days prior to your event or campaign. By the time it starts, all hell would’ve broken loose. People like wearing stylish wristbands (Hence make them look good!) and with the buzz they have created, your event will be packed with people.
2. Visibility: If you have been successful in making people wear your wristbands, half of your work is done. A psychological research showed that when people wear a wristband, they accept your brand and associate with your brand, desire, purpose, decision, commitment, faith, and support. This increases your brand’s visibility as this will enable the viewers to attain similar feelings to your brand.
3. Range: Theoretically, there is absolutely no limit to how far your brand’s visibility can go with wristbands. People with wristbands on their arm can take it to any possible place. This helps them too as it is a great icebreaker! If your business exists on an online platform you sir have hit the gold! If the product and services you provide are top notches, people from across the globe will recognize your brand, which was your primary aim altogether.
4. No limits on personalization or customization: Wristbands are cheap and easier to customize. You can add amazing graphics, indulging texts or start a trend. Lance Armstrong was able to achieve just that by running the campaign supporting those affected by cancer by giving out ‘Livestrong’ bands.
5. On event day: Wristbands will make your life so much easier on the day of the event you won’t even believe! First and foremost, letting people inside the premises won’t be a headache at all. Checking a wristband is easier than collecting ticket stubs. Next comes the segregation of the crowd according to the several presentations or their age in case you’re serving liquor. You can’t possibly lose wristbands since they are affixed to your arm well hence you won’t be hearing a lot of excuses like “I lost my ticket!”
6. Better than tickets and stamps: I detest stamps and have started disliking tickets. Stamps don’t wash out soon enough. Stamps aren’t safe either since they cause irritation and sometimes infections to those with a sensitive skin.
Tickets, on the other hand, are difficult to manage. There is absolutely no way you can manage them without owning a pocket in your attire. They are flimsy and tearable making it inefficient on so many levels!
7. After the event: Your brand marketing doesn’t finish after an event or a function. There are still people to attract to for your next event or to turn them towards your website. Wristbands on those who decided to keep it on even after the event will do that job for you. Again crossing borders and bringing in more people than they intended to take along to your event.
8. For charities as a give away: Charities often require something to give back to the donors in order to show their appreciation and as a token of gratitude. This also allows the donor to own something which he can proudly wear to know that he contributed to a change in the society. This enables donors to make subsequent donations or bring in more donors for the same.
Thus the water runs deeper than you thought! This is a great marketing strategy that adds more than just value, it attracts a higher brand recognition and customer support. So next time when you start a marketing campaign, don’t forget to leave out this very little trump card that you hold, it could be the only thing you might’ve needed all along.
