The Branding Power of Stickers

Anyone who knows about Shepard Fairey’s accidental success stemming from his 1989 “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker campaign knows that stickers aren’t just for elementary school success. Stickers can be integral to a successful cross marketing campaign.

To get you started, here are 5 good reasons to consider stickers for your next round of printed material giveaways:

Branding- How to resonate:

Branding is the part of your marketing efforts that stick with your consumer or organization members. Additionally, stickers are relatively inexpensive giveaways, which makes them a great way to brand your organization or product.

For example, with Shepard Fairey’s branding, despite his having little to do with the current OBEY clothing line, it is still recognized as his brand. He is the OBEY sticker guy. He has been since 1989.

Shareable- It isn’t just for social media:

Stickers are shareable! Not only should you give them to members and potential members, but you should give them in triplicate! The more stickers you give someone, the more they have to stick to their belongings and to give to their family and friends.

Just giving a sheet of stickers to your members can increase your organization’s exposure by a great deal. For example, there are OBEY stickers on street corners and signs across the U.S., and perhaps the world. While Shepard Fairey is responsible for a great deal of them, it is also fair to say that his following have been tagging on his behalf as well. The ability to just give some away and watch where they pop-up is phenomenal, the possibilities endless.

Community- Create one with stickers:

When looking at the success of Shepard Fairey specifically, it was the sense of community that teens and young adults felt when they saw the stickers that really enabled the brand to stick around and develop a following that encompasses two generations (so far).

For example, when contemplating the first time he saw an OBEY sticker, Kelton Reid of CopyBlogger talked about how the stickers made him feel “part of something” and that he knew “the secret handshake.”

By giving stickers to your members, you are giving them a sense of community and camaraderie through the shared perspectives and causes represented by your brand.

Recognition- Necessary for a sustainable brand:

A good brand is one that is easily recognizable. If you were to pay attention to the folks wearing OBEY apparel now in 2014; most of them are millennials, who are a generation removed from Fairey’s original intent. Regardless, through repetition and sticking power, the brand was able to reach them.

Portable and Cheap- Easy to add on:

It doesn’t hurt that in addition to the above mentioned advantages of stickers that they are portable and cheap! Stickers are lightweight and easy to carry. This makes them shareable but also inexpensive and easy for you to distribute to members either in corporate identity packets, as giveaways at annual conferences, or just on the street to interested passersby.

As I mentioned above, stickers are inexpensive but do have lasting power. For very little investment you can print a few hundred stickers, and see how popular they become with your customers or members. It’s a fun way to enhance your branding, and further the grassroots reach of your organization. If you have any questions about stickers, just feel free to ask us by emailing [email protected]; we’re here to help.