Don’t let your giveaway become a throwaway – Choose the right Events Marketing Products

Discarded leaflets in litter bins and all around the floor near those bins. Discarded leaflets on coffee tables alongside empty cardboard cups and plastic cutlery. Discarded leaflets in the toilets on the counter top by the sinks. Discarded leaflets on seats which were occupied earlier by people listening to a guest speaker. Discarded leaflets on the walk to the car park. Where are we? Well, we could be in any major exhibition hall in the world as exhibitors the world over seem to think that handing out thousands of A5 and A4 leaflets is a good way of publicizing their wares. It is actually a good way of creating litter.

This strikes me as not a good idea, a waste of money, a waste of time, a waste of resources, a waste of paper, ink and so on. The only companies who benefit from this seem to be the printer and maybe the contract cleaners at the exhibition centre. So what is the answer? Quite simply, it is pocket media.

There are several pocket media products which would be ideal for exhibitions and trade shows. They come in all shapes and sizes but one style in particular stands out for me. It is based on a simple concertina fold and it is perforated rather than creased. There are several variations on the market, some that are open ended and others with locking devices to keep them closed and safe from incidental damage. Those with the locking device are known as a foldilocks card - simply because they fold and they have a lock.

This particular style of product is ideal as a trade show giveaway or exhibition handout. It really is true that exhibition hall aisles are often littered with discarded flyers and easy-to-ignore handouts. You see them in the waste bins, littering the food halls, thrown away on the loo floors - all over the place. What a waste of money, resources and time! Hand someone a foldilocks card and it goes in a pocket, purse, handbag or carrier bag. And it's such a neat and chunky little product that it has a great tactile quality which virtually guarantees that it will be looked at and kept which is exactly what you want from your exhibition handout. It is also an ideal way to hand out special offer vouchers as each card is perforated.

The card is quite versatile and has other uses in events and exhibitions publicity. You see, it is a great product for printing lists which makes it ideal as a conference agenda; a list of speakers with profiles; dates for sporting events with details of those events or dates and venues of a promotional tour or road show. The product is only the size of a credit card so it fits neatly into a purse or pocket which tends to give it a long "life". This makes it perfect as a product that needs to stay live to cover a series of events, such as an egenda or a calendar of events.

The folding card is a durable product, usually being made in 350gsm silk art board which gives it a decent weight and it feels substantial in your hand The neat locking device gives it added strength which protects it from getting damaged and dog-eared in your pocket or handbag. This is not a product that is going to seen littering the floors of exhibition halls, that's for sure!