Personally, my own first memory with stickers involves one of those childrenâs storybooks with blank silhouettes and a sheet of corresponding characters you were supposed to stick onto the pages, but stickers should not be just limited to the childrenâs section of the stationery store, or to simply be used in aesthetically-pleasing journals that seem to be all over TikTok and Instagram (even if they are absolutely amazing to look at).
Theyâre actually a versatile marketing tool that you could utilize in all sorts of ways to give your brand a voice that you never expected to have!
3 Ways Stickers Level Up Your Brand
A Little Something Extra
Have you ever bought something, and they give you a little freebie sticker as part of the purchase? Maybe even two? And even if you have that annoying sticker anxiety where you donât know where to stick them, and it ends up in a little drawer with all your other stickers, itâs still a pretty nice surprise to get them in the box when normally all you expect is boring paperwork and literature. Apple has been doing this for years, packaging a single sticker of their iconic logo in with most of their products, likely in the hopes that their legions of fans will want to stick it on any number of things. Weâre sure youâve seen Apple stickers on the backs of cars, on laptops (even if theyâre not a Macbook), or on any number of items. Maybe someone you know has a drawer full of them, and maybe that someone is you.
Theyâve since updated their approach for these stickers in their latest line of Macs, featuring stickers that match the color of the machines in the box. This means instead of the standard white stickers most people are used to, their customers would get them in yellow, blue, green, and so on. This small touch has been largely well-received, and many influencers and creators appeared to be delighted when filming their unboxing videos.
This practice has since trickled down to smaller businesses, with sellers online seen emulating this when packaging orders from their customers, most commonly with artists and other craftsmen who are able to design their own special stickers. With purchases from Etsy shops and Shopee artists, you may find yourself surprised with little packs of stickers featuring their art for customers as a way of saying âthank youâ. This builds goodwill and serves as a sort of constant marketing for their audience, especially if these stickers have been stuck on display in a promiment location.
But of course, this isnât (and shouldnât be) limited to online sellers. Itâs literally so easy to have a cstom sticker of your own design, die cut to your exact specifications.
Security Seal
Did you know that seals have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years for security reasons? Sure, this started out most prevalent in letters being sent by royalty and aristocrats, whether it be official correspondence for diplomatic reasons, or for their own personal mail, and maybe they were using fancy wax seals instead of stickers, but the idea is just about the same: to make sure whatever was sealed inside hadnât been tampered with.
These days, stickers make for a much more affordable and convenient tamper-prevention method, and come in a wide variety of finishes and materials for all sorts of purposes. They can be stuck over specific screws on electronics to show if something has been opened up by another (unauthorized) party, or even in the food industry to let consumers know if the food theyâre getting is safe to consume and hasnât been accessed by nefarious individuals. This practice offers protection to many people on all sorts of levels, and we can all rest easy knowing no one has gotten their dirty little hands into something they were not supposed to. So long as the sticker appears intact and undamaged, itâs likely whatever is inside is a-okay for our own consumption, and peace of mind is priceless in a world thatâs been through a whole pandemic.
Even you can start off small and customize your own envelope sticker seal, creating a more whimsical experience for anyone youâre sending your mail to. From personal correspondence to super confidential business stuff, stickers may just be what you need to make boring old snail mail that much more fun. We find the Mirror Kote option ideal for this purpose, and if you want to keep safe, you canât go wrong with a standard round template.
Guerilla Marketing
While we donât condone pasting stickers on every surface possible (as this is highly irresponsible and not to mention illegal), stickers themselves can be used in all sorts of guerilla marketing tactics that will cause quite a stir. With the right design, any sticker can become a talking point that gets conversations started on your business and/or brand, which is of course the goal of any branding exercise.
Placed at strategic locations that are relevant to their needs (with the proper approval of course), any business can begin a viral guerilla sticker campaign that might stay in the minds of the public for years to come. Details can be added onto bathroom signs for different holidays, augment elements that are already there, or add interesting graphics onto doors to send a compelling message through the magic of graphic design.
Human brains are so attuned to everyday patterns that the slightest changes can catch their attention in an instant. And when you add (or subtract) from certain elements that theyâve come to expect, anything can become thought-provoking or striking. We recommend using stickers of the non-permanent variety for this purpose, like the Removable Transparent OPP variant, which can be easily taken off at the end of the campaign without any sticky residue.
And now that you have a basic idea of how stickers can help your brand grow.
and finishes to see what best serves you in this constantly evolving market.