The Magic of Limited Edition Swag

Many marketers and consumers alike will refer to swag as an acronym for “stuff we all get,” and this is very much the connotation that promotional products should have. They should feel accessible and give consumers an easy way to get connected to a particular company. With this said, however, there is immense power in making some of the branded items that your business gives out “limited edition.” Here is how limited edition swag can help your brand.

Add value to your brand.

By virtue of the scarcity heuristic, the more difficult something is to acquire, the more value it has. This means that making something limited edition automatically adds value to it in the eye of the consumer. So even if you are giving away your promotional products, limiting how many of a particular item you give out (in other words, engineering scarcity) is going to create value for your brand. Consumers will automatically have a higher affinity for your brand.

Drive up event attendance.

Maybe you’re a company that frequently gives out promotional products like t-shirts, cups, and pens at trade shows and sponsored events. These events are heavily attended since they are so heavily marketed by the organizations who are running them. But what about the events that you host? Since it’s up to you to drive up attendance at your own events, you need to be able to give consumers incentive and reason to come to your event. One way to do this is through limited edition promotional products. Create an especially high-end branded item that only attendees to the event can get—like Ironman has done with their racing sunglasses and getaway duffel bags at certain events.

Reward customer participation.

Limited edition swag can do much more than encourage people to attend events. It can also serve as a reward to customers who post frequently on forums, like your Facebook page, finish a race that you sponsored, etc. Using limited edition swag to reward customers is a great way to build that brand relationship while making customers feel like they have earned your branded item. (And when customers own things they feel like they have earned, they are more likely to show them off.)

Generate hype around your brand.

When there are “limited edition” items branded by your company out there, these items are likely to generate hype between consumers. A newcomer to Ironman events, for example, might strike up a conversation with someone who owns an Ironman gear bag from a race in 2007. Limited edition swag easily makes for a conversation piece, and it has the power to build camaraderie amongst consumers.