When you’re exhibiting at an event, high footfall, quick conversations and a crowded environment make it challenging to ensure your brand stands out. That’s where high-volume event merchandise proves its value. These are the items with your logo on that you can give out generously – products that travel around the event, get dropped into bags and remain in use long after the exhibition has ended.
This guide explains how to choose giveaways that maximise exposure, why usefulness drives brand recall and how small, simple items can deliver powerful visibility before, during and after an event.
If you’re planning for an exhibition, you may also find these helpful:
James shares several high-volume merchandise ideas for events.
Why High-Volume Merchandise Matters at Events
Most exhibitions share the same challenges:
- Large volumes of people
- High movement
- Short interactions
- Competing noise from every direction
Your merchandise needs to work quickly and effectively. In busy event halls, its primary job is simple:
Marketing Tip: Get your brand into as many hands (and bags) as possible without compromising on quality.
High-volume items allow your brand to:
- Reach a wider audience
- Spark fast conversations
- Increase visibility around the venue
- Make your brand mobile during the event
- Create long-lasting impressions after the show
If you want inspiration, we’ve browse our range of useful, high-volume choices in our Exhibition Giveaways category.
Usefulness = Brand Recall
A giveaway is much more effective if it is actually used and not thrown away or given to a friend. When an attendee uses your pen, opens your lip balm or hangs your air freshener in their car, they’re giving your brand:
- Repeat visibility
- Mental reinforcement
- Post-event recall
- A point of contact if CTA included on giveaway
Useful products embed your brand in someone’s daily routine, whereas a novelty item may attract people to your stand, but if it isn’t used afterwards, will it and your brand be forgotten?
Brand recall is much higher when an item is useful because:
- People develop preference for things they see repeatedly. A pen used daily or a lip balm found in a handbag provides micro-impressions that build familiarity over time (The Mere Exposure Effect – Zajonc).
- Brands that regularly pop up in someone’s routine begin to feel more familiar, and therefore more trustworthy (Cognitive Ease – Daniel Kahneman).
- Once someone owns something (even a small item), they value it more. A simple useful giveaway can make your brand feel more meaningful (The Endowment Effect – Thaler).
According to BPMA research:
- 87% of people keep promotional items for 12+ months
- Nearly half use them weekly or daily
- 83% say receiving a promotional product increases their likelihood of purchasing
- 89% can recall the advertiser even years later
For wider guidance on selecting the right merchandise, see our blog on How to Choose Promotional Products.
The Lifecycle of a High-Volume Giveaway
High-volume giveaways don’t stop working once someone leaves your stand – they continue creating impressions long after the event.
First, they’re picked up and dropped into bags during the exhibition. Then they resurface throughout the day as attendees take notes, open their bags, or show others what they’ve collected. After the event, these items settle into daily life – on desks, in handbags, in cars or at home, delivering repeated, effortless reminders of your brand for days or weeks to come.
For more ideas on what people actually keep, you might also enjoy our Best Promotional Items blog.
5 Small, Low Cost Items With Big Impact
Here are 5 promotional products that consistently give exhibitors the most exposure for their spend:
- Pens: Still the number-one high-volume choice. Lightweight, low cost and used daily.
- Lip balms: Huge retention rate. People don’t throw these away! They are extremely popular and not as commonly seen at events as other items.
- Air fresheners: Seen in cars for weeks or months after the event. Brilliant for repeat exposure.
- Mints / sweets: Ideal for quick interactions and positive micro-moments. Choose an item in a reusable tin or packaging for even longer exposure.
- Keyrings: Functional, simple and long-lasting.
These items all share the same characteristics:
- Small
- Useful
- Easy to carry / lightweight
- Easy to distribute
- Budget-friendly at scale
- High recall value
There are so many small, low cost giveaways to choose from. If you are struggling to find one that suits your brand, logo and budget, please contact our experienced team!
Visibility During the Event: The Underrated Benefit
At exhibitions, visibility isn’t only about your stand. It’s about where your brand travels.
Small items make their way around the event hall, but one item amplifies visibility more than anything else: branded bags!
According to ASI‘s Global Ad Impressions 2023 Study, a single promotional tote bag generates over 1,940 impressions in its lifetime and 43%
of consumers would keep and use a promo bag for 2 years or longer.
Why they matter at events:
- Attendees carry them all day
- Other attendees and exhibitors see them creating dozens of additional impressions – even from people who never visited your stand
- People place their other freebies inside them
- Your brand becomes mobile during the event
This taps into another psychological principle:
Brand Priming: When attendees repeatedly see your logo around the event, your stand feels more familiar, and so they’re more likely to visit.
Visibility After the Event: The Real ROI
High-volume items continue to work for you long after the exhibition has finished.
For example, pens get borrowed, shared or left on desks, creating small but repeated brand impressions every time they’re used. Lip balms tend to live in handbags, pockets or drawers, resurfacing whenever someone needs them – each moment reinforcing your logo. Air fresheners provide long-term visibility in cars, delivering hundreds of impressions over their lifespan. Tote bags are often reused for months in supermarkets, offices, gyms and schools, extending your brand presence far beyond the initial event.
The cumulative impact of these repeated impressions is huge. Every use reinforces your brand without any additional cost.
How to Choose High-Volume Event Merchandise
When planning your next event, choose items that are:
✔ Useful: People keep useful things.
✔ Lightweight: Easy to carry and more likely to leave the event hall.
✔ Easy to distribute: Ideal for fast-paced environments.
✔ Budget-friendly at scale: Choose something you can give out generously.
✔ Good quality: Don’t compromise on feel or functionality.
✔ Aligned with your audience: Your merch should reflect your brand and attract the right people.
To see what works best at exhibitions, you can browse our dedicated Exhibition Giveaways range.
How Quickly Can You Get High-Volume Event Giveaways?
One of the biggest concerns for event planners is timing – and the good news is that many high-volume items have fast turnaround options. Pens, keyrings, mints and lip balms can often be produced in 5–7 working days, with some available on express 48–72 hour services depending on artwork and quantity.
Tote bags and some eco items may require a little more time, but there are still plenty of express delivery options for last-minute events (Make sure you filter by express delivery when looking at the products on our website).
If you’re working to a tight deadline, our team can recommend products with the fastest production times to keep your event on track.
FAQs
What are the best low-cost giveaways to take to an exhibition?
The best low-cost giveaways are small, useful items that attendees will actually keep and use. Pens, lip balms, air fresheners, mints and keyrings work particularly well because they fit easily into bags, offer long-term use and create repeated brand impressions.
How many giveaways should I take to an event?
A good rule of thumb is to take a high volume of low-cost items so you never run out. Aim for enough stock to cover expected footfall, with extra for busy periods. Low-cost products are designed to be given out generously – the more hands they reach, the greater your visibility.
How do high-volume giveaways increase brand visibility?
High-volume items work because they move around the venue. As attendees carry bags, pens or other free items throughout the day, your logo is seen by far more people than those who visited your stand directly. Many items also continue working after the event, delivering long-term brand recall.
Are tote bags effective giveaways at events?
Branded tote bags are one of the most effective event giveaways. They act as “walking billboards” during the exhibition and are often reused for months afterwards. Studies show that a single tote bag can generate thousands of impressions over its lifetime.
How do I choose merchandise that people will actually keep?
Choose practical, good-quality items that fit naturally into a person’s daily routine. Products like pens, lip balms, cable tidies, mints or tote bags are far more likely to be kept, reused and seen by others.
Final Thoughts: Small Items, Big Visibility
High-volume event merchandise is one of the simplest ways to make sure your brand is seen, remembered and used long after the event is over. Make sure you choose items that are useful, portable, memorable, practical and budget-friendly.
Pair these type of items with mid-range and premium gifts to form a full merchandise strategy. Read how to in our blog How to Choose Event Merchandise to Qualify Leads & Win Business.
Need help choosing high-volume merchandise for your next event? Our team can guide you through low-cost, high-impact options tailored to your audience and event goals. Get in touch here.
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