At Inflatable Design Group, designing custom brand inflatables is not just about scaling up a logo and filling it with air. Every piece we build starts with a conversation about what a brand actually needs it to do, whether that is stopping foot traffic at a trade show, surviving a season of festivals, or giving people something worth photographing.
Over the years we have worked with brands, sports teams, and entertainment companies who all came to us looking for something that would make their brand stand out. Here is what we learned along the way about what makes custom brand inflatables actually work.
1. Build Your Custom Brand Inflatables Around What People Already Recognize
Start with whatever your audience already connects to your brand, whether that is a mascot, a product shape, or a specific color combination.
A great example of this is when we built two 20-foot inflatable dogs for The Honest Kitchen during the week of the Westminster Dog Show in New York City. These inflatable replicas were instantly recognizable and tied to the brand’s message about celebrating real dogs over pedigree perfection.
The same goes for our giant inflatable Chester Cheetah, which floated along the coast during the week leading up to the major football championship week for a Cheetos activation. People did not need a sign to know what brand the activation was for, making it a successful custom brand inflatable.
2. Thinking About Where It Is Going to Be Displayed
An inflatable designed for a wide-open festival field needs a different approach than one going inside a crowded convention hall or on a barge in the water.
For the annual Robin Hood Gala at the Javits Center in New York, we work with the event production company to create event inflatables that are rigged or grounded to fill the room, bringing that year’s theme to life without taking over the entire space.
An outdoor piece has more room to be sculptural and does not need to worry about ceiling height, but it does need to hold up to wind and weather. It is important to know the space and environment before the design space so IDG’s team can design your inflatable to fit the desired display space.
3. Design for the Long Haul, Not Just One Event
A lot of brands treat an inflatable like a one-time expense, but a well-built custom inflatable is meant to travel with you and last for years. With proper care and cleaning, our inflatables can hold up for eight or more years, which means the same piece can show up at a trade show this year and a sponsorship activation next year. Or use it at your annual events in different places year after year!
That kind of reuse only works if the materials and construction are handled right from the start, and how the piece will be stored, cleaned, and repaired down the road is also very important. IDG uses the highest quality materials available in the industry and offers cleaning and repairs for our clients. Ask your sales representative for more details!
4. Don’t Be Afraid To GO Big with Custom Brand Inflatables!
Scale is one of the biggest advantages an inflatable has over other forms of brand marketing. A banner or a tabletop display can get lost in a crowd, but a towering inflatable becomes a landmark people use to navigate an event. Disney+ leaned into this with a pop up activation that places custom brand inflatables in cities across the US, Europe, and South America for Disney+ Day. This created a branded moment large enough to anchor an entire event space. The size does not need to be overwhelming for the sake of it, but it should be big enough to do its job from a distance.
5. Leave Room for People to Interact With Your Custom Brand Inflatables
The inflatables that get shared the most online are usually the ones people can actually engage with, not just look at. Our giant Oreo slide for the brand’s “What’s Your Stuf” campaign let people race down lanes representing different stuf levels, which turned a snack into a physical experience.
ALDO’s Pillow Walk activation did something similar, bringing the brand’s “walk on clouds” concept to life with a soft, branded setup that doubled as a photo opportunity.
When you build in a reason for someone to stop, touch, climb, or play, the inflatable becomes the reason people remember your brand and event.
Custom brand inflatables work best when they are planned with intention from the start, not added on as an afterthought. If you are thinking through a design and want a team that has built everything from giant food replicas to floating activations to full stage sets, we would love to help you figure out what makes sense for your brand and your event. Email us at info@inflatabledesigngroup.com to get started!