Have you been tasked with planning and executing a New Year’s event for your company’s clients, customers or employees? Looking for a good way to throw a fun, tasteful party while keeping your brand and business’s efforts front and center?
At Integra, we’ve been helping companies and events planners just like you answer questions like these for nearly two decades. It can be a challenging thing, inserting your brand into an event in a sophisticated way. Do too much, and you risk seeming overzealous or even pushy. Too little, and the best event on the planet won’t earn you much traction in the business world.
Fortunately, there is a happy medium that will allow you to get the balance just right no matter how many people you expect to show up and what kind of tone you want the event to set.
The goal of this post is to give you a number of options for promotional scene setting at a New Year’s event. You should find yourself with some fresh ideas in each category that you can mix and match according to your goals. Categories include:
- Party favors and promotional gifts by type
- Venue ambiance with a brand tie-in
- Engaging activities for partygoers
Because the ideas are so extensive and can feel overwhelming, we’ll start here with party favors. If you don’t feel you’ll need to provide party favors and want to move on to the space and activities you plan to provide, skip straight to part two for ideas on décor and entertainment.
Party Favors and Promotional Gifts for Your New Year’s Party Guests
Corporate events to celebrate the New Year often imply spoils for the taking. After all, it’s the end of the year, the budget is resetting, and if the company did well, employees may be hoping for a little something something for being a part of the progress. And party favors are good practice at pretty much any event, which makes your bash the perfect opportunity to give away merchandise representative of the occasion.
Party favors are by no means required, but it’s a nice touch that will show how much care and attention you put into the event. A lot of times, these presents can fill two roles at once, like fun logo-bearing t-shirts for people to wear at the photo booth, or branded cups they can drink from at the event but then take home with them.
Let’s check out some specific categories to give you an idea of your options in promotional gifts. But first, remember that a little bit goes a long way in the party favor realm — if your event is fun and well-planned, most people will be happy just to be there!
Glass Drinkware for Promotional New Year’s Party Favors
First things first, people are usually looking for a drink to kick off the New Year’s Eve festivities. Whether or not it’s alcoholic is not the point — the point is for it to look fancy, to feel elegant, to give an air of sophistication to a celebration of new beginnings.
That can be done with champagne, wine, water, juice, club soda — it’s all about the glass the drink comes from. New Year’s is not a red solo cup endeavor. Instead, consider having your brand, logo or both etched into gleaming glassware that you can either keep after the party and reuse next year, or gift to attendees as a type of promotional party favor.
Some of the most popular promotional glassware includes:
- Champagne flutes: Picture your guests ushering in the New Year with a toast, holding beautifully crafted champagne flutes etched with your logo.
- Wine glasses: Offer guests a selection of alcoholic and/or nonalcoholic wines served in custom-branded glasses that reflect both the quality of your brand and the spirit of the occasion.
- Beer mugs or pint glasses: For a more casual or diverse drink selection, branded beer mugs or pint glasses can add a fun, relaxed vibe to your event while still jiving with the New Year’s party spirit.
Now, how will we know we’re on the same team without matching jerseys? Or top hats…or capes…or robes…or…
Wearable Party Favors to Ring in the New Year in Style
Anyone who has watched the ball drop in New York City or seen footage from the most popular New Year’s events knows how decked out the attendees like to be. T-shirts, funny glasses, silly hats, frilly scarves — all worn with pride and usually repping brands of all kinds.
The two top categories of branded apparel for this occasion include branded apparel and party accessories.
1. Apparel
With branded wearables, you can lean into the celebration or go with something more neutral, but nice. Something winter-ready might be a great pick, but things like baseball caps are always a good choice with lots of options for keeping price in line.
You might also consider:
- T-shirts
- Winter hats
- Scarves
- Jackets
- Half zips
- Quarter zips
- Socks
- Mufflers
- Gloves
- Hoodies
- Cardigans
You can put your company’s name on the apparel, use your brand colors or even add a fun little saying. We recommend avoiding the specific date for this one. While it can be tempting, putting the date on a pricier item can make it less appealing for people to wear down the line, which is why we list it as one of our promotional product faux pas.
2. Party Accessories
Now this one can get a lot more specific to the event, and you can let your silliest ideas run wild. Consider your company culture before busting out the googly eyes, but if your team can run with a goofy joke, you’re free to go all in. Brand and date some:
- Crazy- or springy-eyed glasses
- Tall top hats
- Pins with bells
- Funny headpieces
- Sparkly party hats
You probably won’t catch your team wearing these goodies around after the party, but they’ll have a blast with them at the celebration! Plus they typically don’t cost a lot, and they can be tucked away as fun memorabilia from the night or simply tossed at the end of an awesome shebang.
Not loving these options? How about party favors for the home or office?
Skip the Wearables for Some Branded Goods
Think about brandable gifts people can take home with them after the festivities or bring to the office to enhance their work life. What speaks to the New Year spirit without becoming a one-off gift?
Some options we’ve found highly popular throughout the years include:
- Eco-friendly tote bags and lunch boxes: Combine utility and sustainability with branded tote bags. Maybe your guest’s resolutions have to do with becoming more eco-friendly, and some nice bags will show that you’re joining them in the commitment.
- Custom tech gadgets: We all love a new tech toy. Impress attendees with branded gadgets like wireless earbuds, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers or fitness trackers, showcasing your brand's commitment to innovation and a better-connected new year.
- Luxury wellness kits: Curate branded wellness kits with high-quality items such as organic hand creams, aromatic candles and artisanal soaps, reflecting your brand’s vested interest in pampering that keeps every involved party happy, healthy and invigorated.
- First aid kits: In the same vein as wellness kits, first aid kits will show everyone that you care about their safety, and it will prepare them for the adventures ahead. Who knows what they might get up to in the new year? Hopefully they won’t need first aid, but every journeyer knows that avoiding trouble is the best remedy.
If you want to lean into your industry and make a gift set that reflects what you offer customers, we’re sure you can come up with dozens more ideas.
Run a dental office? How about a branded bag with dental care products that keep everyone’s teeth squeaky clean.
Operating a fruit stand? No one says no to a fruit basket!
We think you probably get the idea.
Which Party Favors and Promotional Gifts Will Make Your New Year’s Merriment Even More Epic?
That is the question, and you, my friend, are the only one with the answer.
We know the list is long and the options may feel overwhelming, but remember, you’re planning a fun event, and you shouldn’t be trying to get everything on the list. Pick what you think people will appreciate the most, and try not to stress too much. It’s almost time to boogie down!
Now that you have the gifts decided on, let’s make sure the environment matches your party favor energy — check out part two of our New Year’s party planning series for ideas on the atmosphere of your event.
If you’re coming from that post or already know what you want the space to look and feel like, you might be itching to get started on your party setup. If you’d like to work with Integra on the promotional materials, we’d be happy to help whether you’ve chosen each tiny detail or still have the bulk of your planning to do.
Click below to get started on your project with us. And whether you work with us or not — save us some champagne, comrades!
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