Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in May 2019 and has been updated to reflect the latest research and fun summer promotional items.
Summer is the perfect time to hit the beach, go to a campout or have a barbeque. In fact, 16% of adults engage in outdoor activities daily, while more than half of adults (52%) do so weekly. Summer is the perfect season to host an outdoor event, whether a company picnic, summer festival or community gathering. As you plan your summer event, we’ve got some summer promotional items that will help make the event memorable for a long time to come.
Decorate with themed summer giveaways
With a bit of imagination, you can combine your theme, industry and summer giveaways to create one-of-a-kind event memories.
A fun, unique location, like an airport hangar or parking garage, can inspire event decoration ideas that double as party favours. Decorate tents on the tarmac with these Paper Jet Aircrafts and send them home with eventgoers at the end of the day. Provide ambient lighting with imprinted Light-Up Centerpieces that also add a whimsical touch.
Holding a nighttime event for employees only? Decorate tables with event swag. The Frosted Light-Up Margarita Glasses create a fun lighting effect, and partiers can take them home at the end of the night.
Award exciting door prizes
Set the tone for fun when you have guests enter to win prizes as they arrive at your event. Summer giveaways, like the Summit Cooler Tote or a Boost Wireless Charger Speaker, make a great door prize.
Keep event attendees cool with hot promo items
It’s easy for the “fun” in “fun in the sun” to fizzle when guests become hot and uncomfortable. Tents and large fans provide a place to get out of the sun and cool down. Imprint this Pre-Programmed Message Fan with the event’s date, a company slogan or another meaningful saying and watch it appear every time they turn it on to cool down. The Twist and Chill Fan with Lanyard is another fun event swag option to help attendees keep their cool.
Make sure there are plenty of water stations. Providing guests with a Mood Stadium Cup or a Recreation Sport Bottle reduces disposable cup waste and serves as a fun memento of the day.
Bonus: Seventy percent of Canadians will keep quality promotional drinkware (PDF) which means they’re more likely to remember your event and your brand every time they use it.
Provide entertaining fun and games
Everyone loves a good game, whether for the competition or the camaraderie. Classic outdoor games, like the Wooden Ring Toss Game, Oversize Wooden Yard Dice Game or even a Fun Flyer, can get people playing, laughing and having fun.
Create memorable photo opportunities
Around 81% of Canadian households have at least one smartphone, and up to 73% of Canadians spend 3-4 hours per day online. That means it’s likely that your guests will carry a smartphone with them and will probably want to check their phones sometime during the event.
Give your eventgoers something to text, tweet and post with photo-themed summer giveaways. Set up a photo booth with a fun hashtag and props, like a Photo Booth Kit and a Thought Bubble Selfie Kit, to up the photo-taking fun.
Set up a FrameWorx Banner Stand that serves as a backdrop. Or if you have an especially scenic event location, hand out a Ring Light Clip that can attach to mobile devices to attendees and encourage them to snap photos with perfect lighting.
Summer promotional items make fun events
As you plan your outdoor event, remember that summer promotional items make memorable decorations, door prizes, photo opportunities and more. For more summer giveaway ideas, check out our article on how to use summer giveaways to heat up your brand.