We were honored to be interviewed by Gabby Houck of Promo Impressions for their latest article, “How Packaging Elevates the Promotional Kit Experience.”
From tactile embellishments to personalized messaging thoughtful packaging transforms branded kits into memorable experiences that build connections and keep recipients engaged.
They say that what’s inside matters most — and while that holds true for us humans it doesn’t exactly apply to branded kits. As promotional kits continue to soar in popularity, the packaging for these items has also become a focal point of the unboxing experience.
Decoration Methods and Personalization Techniques
In a world where personalization is paramount, how can you make sure your packaging stands out? Thanks to ever evolving digital print technology — it’s easier and more accessible than ever before to personalize packaging for short-run jobs.
“Today, the packaging is often just as important as what’s inside,” says Sean Doherty, GM, Box Genie. “Brands are using custom graphics, messaging, colors, and even material (matte, semi-gloss) choices to reinforce who they are and what they stand for. Every layer of the unboxing experience becomes an opportunity to tell a story and create an emotional connection.”
Carlos Lara, director of workflow and integration, Duplo, is noticing raised foil and raised spot UV become popular across packaging decoration.
“Foil has been around for a very long time,” Lara says. “But it’s always been a very, we’ll say, not manual, but sort of an expensive process because of tooling. So, with our technology, people are able to apply similar finishes and not have to charge for tooling and not have high minimums when ordering.”
He’s also noticed belly bands become increasingly popular because even if the box itself doesn’t have embellishments, they can be added to the belly band, and it won’t cost you a fortune.
“It’s a lot more cost-effective than having the box manufactured with the personalization on it,” Lara says.
And to take embellishing a step further, Lara echoes Doherty’s sentiment about matte and semi-gloss materials, noting the utilization of tactile embellishments.
“They’re doing it to add to something that was traditionally flat and instead now it’s glossy to grab your attention,” Lara says. “People are adding tactile embellishments to create even more engagement.”
As for the final personal touches that can make your kit go from good to great, Doherty is all about the hand-written message.
“Whether it’s a handwritten note or a customized printed card, that personal touch immediately changes how the package is received,” Doherty says. “It makes the experience feel intentional and authentic, which is something recipients remember long after they’ve opened the box.”
For Andy Griffin, managing partner, Keepsake Products USA, he says it’s video sound cards and scented boxes.
“The sound cards probably have their most bang for the buck, and I think that’s trending right now and seeing most growth,” Griffin says.
Creating Experiences and Making Connections
If you ask Doherty, he’ll tell you that the key to a great kit centers on creating an experience and forging a connection.
“Employee onboarding kits, customer appreciation campaigns, influencer mailers, and event follow-up kits are all strong because they’re designed to make people feel valued, not just receive a product. Brands are investing in experiences that build relationships,” Doherty says.
Griffin echoes this sentiment — saying packaging should help keep the unboxing process going as opposed to it meeting a swift end with the opening of the box. That’s why employing things like pillow pods, customized tissue paper, or a belly band is key.
“The key is packaging prolonging that experience,” Griffin says. “There’s some science behind it, but it basically is more impactful the longer we can keep that. So, if I’m having them open a pillow pod that has a key chain in it instead of just throwing a key chain there, it gives me another opportunity to brand something. It’s sort of like Christmas morning, right? The more gifts you got, the happier you were. So, inside a box, if you can give them another gift to open up, it makes a better experience.”
Influencers Have Entered the Packaging Chat
You may love them or hate them, but Griffin says he’s seeing a rise in influencers merging with the promotional products space, which has driven major trends in packaging.
“Influencer and product launches is probably the biggest thing that we’re seeing in packaging today,” Griffin says.” And it’s hitting the promotional products industry, which is fantastic. Typical client or VIP gifting would probably fall second to that, but the biggest thing is influencer packaging for sure. Everybody’s realizing the power of packaging, and the promo world is picking up on it, so that’s great.”
So, if you’re a promotional products suppliers or distributor, how can you tap into the influencer market? Griffin explains that in order to do that, they need to understand where influencers came from. Griffin breaks it down like this: Influencers are so big because they’re cheap.
He says it’s cheaper for a company to pay somebody $10,000 to go on and promote merchandise as opposed to the amount of money they would spend on Google AdWords to pull people to their website. So actually, $10,000 for an influencer to push people to your website seems pretty reasonable.
“[The industry] needs to understand where influencers came from,” Griffin says. “Influencers are only made popular by the marketing dollars that companies want to spend to make them who they are. So, when a distributor [or supplier] has that knowledge, they can kind of understand what the influencer market is and why a customer wants to spend money not only on that influencer, but the package that they’re doing has to be so special because an influencer wants to wow their folks that are viewing.”
He continues “And so does the company that’s selling the product. So, packaging does that. Again, you can’t send an influencer your beautiful product, whatever it may be, and you put it in a brown box and send it to them, right? It just doesn’t work. So, distributors [and suppliers] have to grasp that notion, and even probably bigger than that is distributors [and suppliers] understanding what they can do with packaging in the promotional products world.”
Creating an Experience Worth Sharing
Overall, in branded kits, it’s no longer enough for what’s inside to impress — the packaging needs to perform, too. By combining personalization, embellishments, thoughtful details, and layers of discovery, promotional products providers can transform a simple box into an experience worth sharing. After all, when packaging tells the brand’s story before the recipient even reaches the product, thinking outside the box starts with the box itself.
“Brands want premium presentation, personalized experiences, in the same package,” Doherty says. “The winners are finding creative ways to deliver a high-end unboxing experience using thoughtful packaging design, and personalized messaging that feels genuine rather than mass-produced.”
