How marketers can create their own celeb-worthy goodie bags and giveaways.

There is a certain expectation level that comes with being a star like Brad Pitt. An A-List celebrity must look good, act appropriately and always entertain. All of these principals are not only applicable to their careers, but also to any of the events in which they are involved. ❉ Lavish affairs for movie launches, product tie-ins and charity banquets are as much a part of the celebrity game as appearing on the right talk show. So what can marketers learn from celebrities like Pitt and their high-profile events? Well, plenty.

For starters, products should align with a theme. For example, Pitt and Angelina Jolie are all about charity and goodwill. When selecting items to send out with invitations and give as party favors, marketers need to be equally as thoughtful as this humanitarian couple is to people in need. The invitation, for example, should reflect the gravity of the event, says Nick Leighton, gift bag expert for Plum TV. “You want people to be aware that you are contributing something.”

Case in point: Pitt and Jolie have held numerous fundraisers for “Make It Right,” a charity effort Pitt launched to benefit residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans who are still struggling after Hurricane Katrina. Since Pitt is helping to rebuild sustainable “green” homes in these neighborhoods, all of the charity events the couple has held to date have centered around a green theme, with recycled invitations and environmentally-friendly goodie bag products.

Alan Philips, president of the Sky Group, a full-service marketing and consulting firm specializing in nightlife and hospitality, says that Jolie and Pitt are savvy event marketers. “Integrate your concepts,” he says. “Things have to make sense.” In the end it pays off because “it’s the amount of attention to detail that makes the guests excited.”

Such cohesiveness is expected from any celebrity engagement because their actions are always in the spotlight. Read on for five other pieces of expert advice that marketers can use to make their attendees feel like stars.
 
Think outside the bag.
Like Pitt and Jolie, rap mogul Russell Simmons is big on giving back. In November, he held the “Diamonds Give 2008: Benefit Event at Greenhouse” for the Diamond Empowerment Fund. The proceeds from the event went to the Community and Individual Development Association in South Africa which helps students gain financial aid for college (only 3% of South African high school graduates currently attend college). The event was held at the new, environmentally-conscious club Greenhouse in Soho. Among the attendees were LL Cool J, David Blaine and South African supermodel Nicola Breytenbach. After the drinks and flowed and the pictures were snapped, each of the attendees received a live gift – a potted plant to remember the evening. “It was eco-chic,” says Jamie Torres of JLM PR, which helped promote the event. “You can give gift bags with products ‘xyz’, but giving them a plant made more sense. It was more fulfilling than giving them a sample of the latest lotion.”

Have A sense of humor.
Not every star-studded event has to be about a cause. Sometimes it’s just about having a little fun and getting together with influential people. The cast of Grey’s Anatomy, socialite Kim Kardashian and Matthew Perry witnessed this first hand in July. To celebrate the birthdays of Mike Feinstein and Kerri McGuiness of Feinstein/McGuiness PR in Los Angeles, the stars were treated to a kids’ carnival-themed event. Cotton candy and clowns abounded as the A-List crowd celebrated. When it was time to depart they received a gift bag replete with yo-yos, crayons and an unusual T-shirt. Word has it that Patrick Dempsey (a.k.a. “Dr. McDreamy”) liked the gift bags so much that he replicated them for all three of his children’s recent birthday parties.

The party planner created shirts that showed Feinstein and McGuiness’ faces from when they were children within caricature drawings. “It was really fun to play off of the theme of kids’ type stuff,” says Elizabeth Knott, a member of the public relations firm that helped create the event. “We put Mike and Kerri’s faces as kids on the birthday shirt and everyone got one. We have it displayed in our showroom here.”

She says the key is that the gift always has to match the purpose of the event. Recently she helped promote Reebok by giving event attendees, including the cast of the movie Twilight, logoed armbands for their iPods for when they hit the gym. A photo booth was also on the premises. Each photo snapped included the Reebok logo.

Offer a hot item.
Nelly has an image to maintain, so when it came time to promote the launch of his Bare Knuckles CD, he hosted a top-of-the-line private dinner at Robert Verdi’s Luxe Laboratory. The menu was catered by Melba’s in Harlem and the guests included Ashanti, record exec Sylvia Rhone and US Weekly’s Ian Drew. “The vibe was excellent,” says Leonardo Q. Garcia, account manager with the Now and Zen Group. “The icing on the cake was that all attending got to go home with an iH9, an iPod-compatible alarm clock.”

Whether it is Nelly or any other celebrity, “you want to have one or two big-ticket items,” says Leighton. “Either everyone gets an iPhone or some other highly desirable item. It needs to be less swaggy and more of a keepsake type thing.”

Patrick T. Cooper, who is a public relations expert for the fashion and entertainment industry, says when it comes to high-profile events, “the idea of a cheap logoed hat or inexpensive T-shirt in a gift bag is trite and will make you the laughing stock of your peers,” he says. “I think it was last year that my dear friend Sean Combs gave away iPods at a holiday party. In order to make a lasting impression with clients and coworkers, the boss should place careful thought into the art of gifting.”
 
Embrace the cliché about first impressions.
We all know the saying about never getting a second chance to make a first impression. This is especially true when it comes to event invitations. “The invitation should definitely stand alone and stand out,” says Cooper. “The invitation should definitely have a wow factor.”

P. Diddy has the most lavish invites, says Leighton. “Things wrapped in expensive scarves with words printed on the silk … They are definitely memorable. You need something that gives people pause.”
Marketers have an opportunity to be far more creative about invites than just sending a postcard, says Sarah Doheny of Your Unfinished Business PR. “The world is your oyster. Use the event as a guideline to create invites. It will transcend the entire event and people do save invites, truly.” Doheny has sent out dog leashes, beach balls, film canisters, even mini-wedding cakes. “The only thing I have not logoed to date is fruit,” she says.
 
Know The recipient.
The Sundance Film Festival is annually one of the most influential events in Hollywood. Up-and-coming filmmakers get discovered, independent films get picked up for distribution and smart brands get into the hands of all the right people. The power of this celebrity-studded event wasn’t lost on Lexus. To promote its hybrid line, it produced Hybrid Living, a book-store quality 7x7 hardcover book showcasing eco-friendly lifestyle brands and destinations. “What’s the value of a book in a goodie bag? No one throws out a hard cover book,” says Audrey Shedivy of Henry Grey PR, which works with a company called Blurb which created the book. “Not to mention a book elevates the content, in this case Lexus’ support of eco-friendly businesses it contains.” The book was such a hit that Lexus ordered it for all of its showrooms.

To promote the films themselves, studios will often tie in with the locale where it was shot. If it was shot in South Philadelphia, “then we can do an all Philly bag,” says Doheny, “pretzels, Mummers Parade items, Betsy Ross flags, Liberty Bell products, Taylor pork rolls … all of the good things that represent our fair city.” Similarly, event planners can include flavors of the destination where the party is being held in their invites, favors and goodie bags.

No matter what the giveaway, marketers must “always allow enough lead time,” says Philips. “The biggest problem is that most people don’t have enough time to do what they want. And if they can get it done, the rush is prohibitively expensive.”

One event that came off after careful planning was the launch of ZwinkyCuties.com in September at Times Square. The online teen community Zwinky brought in pop singer Jordan Pruitt to perform for 125 VIPs. The performance was also broadcast on the Jumbotron for more than 1 million pedestrians. While they didn’t give out an expensive book like Lexus, they did offer USB bracelets, magnets, T-shirts and a copy of Pruitt’s latest release, Permission to Fly.

For any event, many aspects must be considered, says Leighton, including who is the client, who is their target audience and “what is the brand narrative?”. What story is the brand trying to tell the recipient? If all of these questions are answered, attendees will notice. “The most successful initiatives and gift bags are the ones that are thoughtful. Just like a dessert is the last thing you’ll remember about an amazing meal, the gift bag is the final taste of a great event.”

Kenneth Hein is a contributing writer based in New York.