Companies like yours can use custom lapel pins for lots of different purposes, including branding, employee recognition and as powerful promo items. With such a variety of options in design, size, designs and backing types, these items are a great way to increase your brand awareness and show employees you appreciate them. These small (but mighty) and cost-effective items will make a big impact on your marketing and sales goals.
3 Reasons Why Lapel Pins Help You Get Ahead
First, check out why lapel pins pack a big ROI for your business or organization.
1. They promote brand identity and recognition: Lapel pins are part of both formal and casual business wear. Anyone who sees the pin immediately knows your company name and associates it with professionalism and a great reputation. When your employees wear your name and logo on their lapel, uniform or lanyard at a meeting, trade show, seminar or out and about, they effortlessly help your brand gain visibility.
2. They help you recognize employee achievement: When you recognize your employees’ achievements, you instantly boost their morale and loyalty. Award them with personalized or custom lapel pins for specific accomplishments or years of service. You can also use pins as giveaways for employee events or contests. You can even give them to your top vendors or partners to wear with pride!
3. They make great promotional items: Distribute lapel pins as giveaways during events, trade shows, conferences or product launches. They can be used to attract attention, generate interest and create a positive brand association among attendees. You can also create special pins to commemorate business partnerships, collaborations or events for everyone to wear.
4. They help fundraise for a cause: Lapel pins can be sold to raise funds for charitable causes or nonprofit organizations. Supporters can purchase and wear these pins as a symbol of their contribution, spreading awareness and encouraging others to donate. These pins also associate your brand with goodwill and social responsibility.
5. They’re great for customer loyalty programs: Give lapel pins for a reward for loyalty or participation in specific promotions. You might also create a pin that customers can collect or wear to receive unique benefits or discounts when they visit your location or an event.
A Short History of the Lapel Pin
While you may think of lapel pins as a modern accessory, they actually date back thousands of years. Let’s take a quick trip through history.
- Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and inlaying: Some archeologists believe lapel pins could date back to ancient Egypt in 1800 BC, when the inlaying process was invented. Artisans inlaid colorful, ornate enamel materials on a copper base and secured the layers with soldered wire. Greeks also used vibrant colored glass to fill cells made by soldered wire and then fire the pieces to make decorative objects.
- Military accessories: During the Revolutionary War until after World War I, soldiers wore lapel pins as unit markers.
- Political and patriotic use: To this day, politicians and their supporters wear lapel pins of the American Flag or advertising their candidacy during elections.
What Kinds of Pins Do You Offer?
Select Sales provides Made-in-the-USA pins customized to your exact specifications.
1. Get lapel pins in custom shapes and colors. It’s time to get creative when you promote your brand! We can create pins in any custom shapes or your logo or any other shape we can imagine together. You have the design freedom to choose a lapel that represents your brand! We’ll reproduce your artwork in full, vibrant color!
2. Choose different materials. Our lapel pins come in different materials, giving you the flexibility to choose the one that suits your campaign and budget. We can help you select a pin that meets your brand aesthetic and sends the right message to your customers.
Here are some of our most popular options:
- Semi-Cloisonne, also known as polymer enamel, combines the aesthetic appeal of classic cloisonne with Pantone Color Matching for on-point branded pins. The process involves filling recessed color wells with enamel colors, followed by hardening the enamel in an oven, removing excess enamels and polishing the pin to a beautiful shine.
- Die-Struck Soft Enamel pins are similar looking to brass or copper soft enamel pins, but they’re made of iron, giving you the same high quality at a lower price. These pins are an excellent choice if you need to order large quantities of pins on a limited budget. These pins can be coated with clear epoxy for a glossy finish.
- Brass Photo Etched Soft Enamel pins are created by etching brass base metal with a design. The recessed wells are meticulously hand-colored using Pantone-matched soft enamel paints to match your company colors. This technique gives you a pin with a distinctive raised metal border outlining your design and colorful areas. To achieve a glossy appearance, these pins can be finished with a clear spray coating.
- Printing on Cloisonne pins can be achieved in two ways. Offset printing applies the four primary colors—cyan, magenta, yellow and black—through a screen directly on a metal base, one color at a time. Offset is a better option for reproducing true-to-life photography or designs with color blends or gradients. While sublimation printing allows for permanent, non-fading detailed artwork for your pins. Along with a wide variety of customization options and a smooth finish.
3. Get different backing options. Lapel pins commonly use different types of pin attachments. Butterfly clutches have metal prongs that you squeeze to fasten or release a pin, rubber clutches are easily pushed into a pin’s needlepoint, and jewelry clutches have a secure metal locking mechanism. Deluxe clutches, similar to jewelry clutches, also provide a secure hold and are ideal for outerwear or rough surfaces. Each attachment offers different advantages depending on the intended use of the pin.
We recommend also looking at lapel pins with a magnetic backing. This backing type is best suited for thinner apparel materials and uses a magnet as the “backing” for metal lapel pins. They don’t pierce the fabric to hold together.
How Should I Present My Lapel Pins?
Almost as important as your lapel pin is how you package it and include special messaging. These are some options we offer:
Backer cards: You can order these messaging cards in bulk, and they can help you tell a compelling story through design, copy and printing.
Velvet boxes: These premium packages give the pin a more precious meaning and intention as a gift. They also keep it safe when the recipient isn’t wearing the item.
Plastic boxes: When you choose this option, the clear box top allows the pin to be visible in the box, perfect for B2B presentations, such as lapel awards.
Can I Parlay Lapel Designs Into Other Items?
One advantage of our custom lapel shapes is that you can use them as more than pins. Check out these non-traditional ways to use lapel pins:
- Charms: We can add a loop or ring to the pin so people can wear them on bracelets or necklaces, or attach them to keychains, for customizable jewelry options.
- Money clips: If we attach a clip to the back of a lapel pin, recipients can use it as a unique money clip.
- Earrings: As a conversation-starter, lapel pins turned into eye-catching earrings are a great way to increase awareness of your brand.
- Cufflinks: Lapel pins can also be turned into stylish cufflinks to incorporate into formal business attire for special occasions.
Get Started Today!
Select Sales offers USA-made custom lapel pins to many organizations for brand promotions and employee recognition. We provide our clients with our design prowess, unwavering dedication to excellence, and a customer-focused mindset, establishing ourselves as a dependable partner for businesses seeking enduring, premium promotional products.
Challenge us! We're on your team! If you’d like to use custom lapel pins to grow your brand awareness and recognize employees, call the Select Sales team at 610-974-8080 or visit www.SelectPromotionalProducts.com.