Q:
- Please pass along ticket packaging ideas that have "wowed" clients.
- If you have samples, photos or company recommendations, please pass along.
- If you have budgetary recommendations, please pass along.
A:
We have done a really wide variety of packaging for our premium tickets at the Calgary Stampede since we opened our suites in 1997. We have always felt that the investment level of our clients warrants a "vessel" that is both a treasured gift and a container that replaces a cardboard box or an envelope.
In the early days when we only had 25 suites, we went quite elaborate and had custom pine furniture made for contracted suite owners. These were fashioned after historically significant "western" items such as a rifle chest (sized to hold CDs), an explorer's map chest (sized to hold letter-size files) and a wine rack. These were made locally by a furniture manufacturer and averaged around $500 per piece.
As we opened our club and private restaurant venues in the early and mid-2000s and increased our client count to almost 500, we moved to a variety of vessels that were “boxesâ€: a custom-made slate box, a wooden box with room for tickets and two wine glasses, and wood boxes with room for tickets and bottle of wine.
Most recently we have done a variety of leather items in which the tickets were placed: leather briefcases, leather travel toiletry kits and a simple leather folder. Our budget is usually in the $50-$80 range per item, but we have blown the budget a few times too!
This year we are using three different items from Barrington -- fantastic leather items, and they will customize these at very low numbers (as often the minimum quantities for custom items are just too high to be feasible). I did see an ad for Barrington in a recent SEAT Magazine, but we sourced these through a local rep. We are doing the Locker Caddy, Traveler's Organizer and Captain's Bag.
A:
We have boxes created by Colad to put our Suite tickets in each year. The boxes are pretty simple, but provide a really nice presentation and we've received numerous compliments from our clients. We aim to personally give them to clients at our Kickoff Luncheon each year, but for those that can't attend, the boxes fit perfectly in a large FedEx box.
There are a couple of pictures attached. I work directly with Lorraine Marshall from Colad who is fantastic. Once she sends me the specs, I turn over to our Creative Director who completes the design and submits to Colad.
We have a total of around 175 boxes made for around $9,000. I've quoted out other companies, including our exclusive promotional provider and no one has come close.