Opening event merchandise: welcoming your guests to your new premises

Before choosing a single product, list who will come. An office opening mixes guests who do not expect the same thing:

• Your employees, who will spend their days in these premises and have often carried the move single-handedly;
• Your clients and partners, invited to discover the place and see for themselves that the company is growing;
• The neighbourhood, local councillors and the local press, when the move matters to a district or a business park;
• Potential candidates, if you take the opportunity to show an attractive working environment.

Each audience calls for a different product. A single item for everyone simplifies logistics, but two levels, a welcome product for every visitor and a more refined gift for key guests, give a fairer and better-received result.

An opening almost always follows the same thread: welcome, tour of the premises, speeches, ribbon-cutting, drinks, departure. Each of these moments is an opportunity to hand over a product, provided you do not give everything at once.

• At reception, a name badge on a lanyard in the company’s colours helps your teams identify guests and makes introductions easier during the tour.
• During the tour, a notebook and a pen let people note down a contact or an idea; they are invaluable if the tour includes demonstrations.
• At the drinks, a glass or a cup marked with your logo is used immediately and often leaves with its owner.
• On departure, a bag gathers everything that has been handed out, with the brochure or the access map.

The departure bag is the centrepiece: a custom tote bag is reused for shopping or sport, and your new address thus circulates throughout the town.

Successful opening merchandise speaks about the place, not just the brand. A few ideas for linking the product to the building:

• The engraved glass: the cups and glasses family accepts fine engraving of the logo, or even the outline of the building, for an elegant souvenir of the drinks.
• The plant or seed kit: a symbol of putting down roots, it is perfectly suited to a move. Products from the garden family evoke a project taking root.
• The keyring: an obvious nod to the keys of the new premises, it slips into the departure bag without weighing it down.
• The team mug: for your employees, a mug to christen in the new kitchen marks the start of life together in the place.

For neighbours and local shopkeepers, a simple gesture creates goodwill: a box of confectionery or a marked shopping bag, dropped off with the invitation. It is an elegant way of introducing yourself, thanking them for their patience during the works and making them want to come and discover the place.

For guests of honour, councillors or long-standing clients, a more durable product makes sense: a writing set, a throw or an engraved desk accessory, handed over in person just after the speeches.

An opening is one of the rare events where the marking can carry more than the logo. Three pieces of information deserve to be included:

• the new address or the town, especially if the move changes district or municipality;
• a short message: “Welcome to our place”, “New address, same passion”;
• the name or outline of the building, if the place has a strong architectural identity.

Be careful with the date: a dated product becomes a souvenir, but can no longer be used afterwards. Reserve it for the products given to guests and keep a timeless version for team products, which will be used for a long time. On the textiles given to your employees, screen printing or embroidery are suitable; on glass and metal, engraving; on small curved products, pad printing. The mock-up shows you the result for each area before any production, and you can have it reviewed by the person who managed the move.

The number of guests at an opening is hard to predict: confirmations get lost, neighbours drop by unannounced. Be generous with welcome products, which are light and compact, and precise with the gifts of honour, which are personalised. Undated surplus items will be used at your next trade shows or at an open day.

As for the schedule, the opening generally takes place once the boxes have been unpacked and the offices set up. Place the order as soon as the date is fixed: the lead time for each product is shown on its page and starts when your mock-up is approved. Have the order delivered directly to the new address, and check that the building’s reception can receive parcels, especially if the switchboard is not yet in place.