OnFulfillment Blog | Event Marketing Materials

All successful events—not just trade shows, conferences, and seminars but also product launches, sales meetings, and partner appreciation gatherings, to name just a few—depend on dozens of moving parts all working in harmony. Even small oversights related to branded signage, promotional giveaways, shipping logistics, or post-event reporting can result in insurmountable delays, massive overspending, or missed opportunities that could have a seriously negative impact on future revenue.

Surprisingly, many companies choose to manage these critical tasks internally or through a patchwork of unconnected vendors—an ill-advised strategy that leads to logistical inefficiencies and introduces unwelcome levels of stress. By partnering with an experienced full-service marketing fulfillment organization that offers the necessary expertise, technology, and logistical support, businesses can streamline their event planning operation, making it more cost-effective and impactful.

The 2026 version of the PPAI Expo, which traditionally attracts the country’s largest and most prominent promotional product providers and distributors, recently wrapped up in Las Vegas. As usual, the event showcased emerging trends and hinted at which branded promotional products might be popular for the coming year.

This year, the themes seemed to revolve around simplification: ways to declutter your life, reduce stress, and generally promote wellness—for people as well as the planet—through more convenient and “mellow” products.

Branded promotional materials help you build visibility for your company, solidify customer loyalty, and support sales. From trade show giveaways to corporate apparel and other gifts, items that sport your corporate logo establish a memorable connection between your brand and target audience.

However, producing promotional materials at scale comes with its own set of challenges. The latest round of tariffs threatens to impose additional costs. Inconsistent branding is always an issue. Fragmented vendor relationships and logistical headaches are a constant risk. Without a coordinated program to help with production, the creation of branded promotional items can become a drain on both time and budget.

Autumn is upon us. That means tradeshow season—and all the work that entails—can’t be far behind.

Every year, preparing for upcoming events raises a number of questions and concerns. Some of these are new and unique to the current season, but most are recurring issues or themes that are critical to effective planning but are also easy to forget. Learning from the past can help you prepare for the future, but it’s hard to remember all those details when you’re busy with all your other important projects.

As you well know, there are lots of factors you need to think about ahead of any new trade show season. You want to be as prepared as possible to avoid the normal chaos that surrounds every event. Effective planning means not having to scramble at the last minute to get materials produced, or resort to expensive expedited shipping methods to get those materials to your booth on time.

Over the past several weeks, to help customers navigate the evolving tariff landscape (and avoid the related costs), we’ve produced a series of blogs covering various branded promotional items made in the U.S.A.  

The first chapter in this story covered promotional giveaways under $5. The second offered insights into branded items priced between $5 and $10, while the third covered items priced between $20 and $50—nice corporate gifts typically given to customers, partners or employees. The most recent entry focused on higher-end executive gifts priced $50 and up—the types of items that celebrate a specific accomplishment or milestone.