PA / EA guide to sourcing corporate branded bags for your event

In our line of work we assist many corporate Executive Assistants or Personal Assistants to provide them with the perfect corporate branded bag for their special event.

If you are an EA or PA - ensuring your custom made bag for your VIPs, special event, trade show, staff give-away gift bag, launch event bag, or any other bag need... is an important job to get right, so we thought we'd give you some guidelines on what you will need to consider when sourcing and purchasing your event bag:

Your brand image: your bag needs to fit in with the brand image (look) of your corporation. You should be able to work with your Marketing team to gain their advice on what colour the bag should be, the quality of the bag, and even the shape of the bag - which can all relate to your brand image, and how people will perceive you - for example with the colours and shape of the bag, you could be seen as a fun, funky brand or a very serious formal brand.

Size: the size of the bag is very important. You don't want a corporate bag that swallows up your product or giveaway, or a bag that is too small so that your flyers or promo items stick out the top in a messy and unprofessional way at your VIP event. Your product or event giveaways should fit neatly and snugly into the bag - the bag should be custom made to fit you product or your giveaway needs.

Shape: if you really want to stand out from the crowd, you could source a bag that is an unusual or unexpected shape. It is bound to get people looking more closely at the bag (and at your brand). If you can, try to make your product corporate bag fun or memorable. Even if you are a serious brand, spot uv or embossing of the logo or design can make the corporate branded bag more luxurious and interesting.

Colour: the colour of your bag should match your brand colour. That's why it's important that you source from a bag supplier that can custom print to your exact CMYK / PMS colour code requirements. Think of the colour blue for example: there are dozens upon dozens of shades of blue. The ANZ bank blue is a particular shade of blue which never changes; therefore when they order event bags, they would provide the bag supplier with the blue CMYK colour code that is unique to their brand.

Printing: depending on your brand image or what the bags are used for, you can get creative with your printing needs. What about a call to action or unique  pictures for a series of events that you hold throughout the year? with short runs you can make each event unique, you don't have to print just a generic logo on the bag and hand the same bag out at every event, in every shop, for every product pack bag you give out. Talk to your Graphic Designer or marketing professional about what you want to achieve - you might be surprised just what a bag can achieve in terms of communicating to your target market.

Special printing features: this could include Spot UV, foil stamping, or letter press printing for example. Think about what you want to achieve with your bags - a high end look for special deleguates to your exclusive event? or a product packaging bag that will stand out on the shelves alongside your competitor's products? Your bag is a mini-billboard and should reflect not only your brand image, but should be used to communicate to your audience. First you've got to get their attention - and that's where special printing features can assist!

Lamination: The type of lamination you choose on your bag, will depend on 'look' you want to achieve. Think of the brands on your level - are you a luxury brand that would need a high gloss look, or are you trying to project an earthy, environmentally friendly look, which a kraft paper bag could suit the brand image best? Or even a textured paper stock for a unique look and feel.

Thickness: think about what your bag is needed for, and you will be able to choose the appropriate gsm or paper / cotton bag thickness. For example if you are packaging a heavy product in your product packaging bag, you would need to look at around 400gsm thickness, but if you're just after a classic boutique retail bag, you could get away with 200gsm, which looks good quality, and can hold clothing and other light items. Even if you are purchasing bags for events, you need to know how heavy the items are that you are going to put in them. If you are going to be placing a bottle of wine, a promotional item, a heavy brochure and other items, you need to ensure you source a bag that has a re-enforced base, thick material (paper or cotton) and has re-enforced handle holes so they don't break.

We understand that each client's needs are unique - that's why we do not stock any standard bags. We custom make to your unique requirements.

Contact us to discuss your tailor made branded bag (or box) needs for your next event!
(02) 8959 7455 or admin@cpbab.com.au (Australia) or
(09) 930 7199 or admin@cpbab.co.nz (NZ)

www.cpbab.com.au