BRIEF FOR PROMOTIONAL ITEMS: UPDATED GUIDE 2026
Article updated in 2026. The original version was published in May 2014.
We wrote the first version of this article in May 2014. It was a simple guide, based on the EPPA (European Promotional Products Association) structure, intended to help clients understand what a promotional item brief is and why it matters.
It’s been 12 years. The industry has changed, clients have changed, and – more importantly – we have changed. We’ve worked with hundreds of clients, seen great briefs and briefs that unnecessarily delayed the process, and learned exactly where a promotional project most often gets stuck. After thousands of products delivered and hundreds of successfully completed projects, we can help you build your future promotional campaigns as easily as possible.
The original framework remains valid. What we’ve added now is the experience in the field and the concrete way we work at Lexonn – because a brief guide only makes sense if you also know what happens after you send it.
Why the brief matters more than the chosen product
Any successful promotional item campaign starts with a well-crafted brief. Not because suppliers ask for it, but because without it, no one can offer you something truly suitable for your brand, budget, and goals.
A complete brief reduces back-and-forth questions, shortens the production cycle by 3-5 days, and eliminates surprises upon delivery. From our experience over the past 12 years, 85% of bidding and production errors start in one place: an incomplete or missing brief.
A good brief doesn’t have to be long. It has to be clear and cover the 9 points below. How do you order promotional items? Check the steps below and contact us.
The 9 points of a professional brief.
What should a brief for promotional items contain?
1. Introduction — the context behind the order
Why are you starting this project now? What triggered the need for promotional items – an event, a campaign, a season, a strategic decision?
Have similar campaigns been run before? What worked, what didn’t? Has the competition done anything similar recently?
These questions seem optional, but they aren’t. Context radically changes the proposals we make. We know how to be more useful when we understand where the project is coming from, not just where it’s going.
2. The objective – what do you want to achieve?
What is the specific objective of the campaign? Brand awareness, lead generation, customer retention, employee motivation, product launch?
The objective dictates the product! An object distributed at a public fair aims for maximum visibility at a low cost per piece. For example, an onboarding kit for new employees aims for quality, durability and emotion, and a gift for premium customers aims for something completely different.
When we know the objective, we don’t guess the product, we recommend it.
Read here the details on how to choose promotional items for a campaign or event.
3. Purpose – the role of the product in your campaign
A promotional item can play very different roles: it can be the only element of the campaign or it can support a broader marketing action. It can be distributed simultaneously or it can open a sales conversation.
The more clearly you understand the role that the product plays in your campaign, the more precise and effective our proposals will be for you.
4. Your target – who receives the products?
This is one of the most underrated points in a brief.
Your audience profile changes everything: age, industry, context (B2B or B2C), and especially their relationship with your brand – customer, employee, prospect or partner.
A product that is right for an IT employee is completely different from one that is right for an FMCG trade show attendee.
5. Quantity and delivery time
How many products do you need and by when? Not the date you want production to start, but the date you need the products at their destination, ready to be distributed.
As a practical guide: UV pens are produced in a minimum of 3-4 working days from approval of the personalization sample. Embroidery requires a minimum of 4-5 days (depending on the required print run and complexity).
If delivery is done in installments, mention that as well – stock and production planning is done differently.
If the deadline is tight, tell us from the beginning. We find solutions, but we need to know in advance, not two days before the event.
6. The message – what are you transmitting through the object?
What do you want to communicate to your audience through these objects? A short message on the product (maximum 5-7 words), a campaign slogan, or maybe just the logo — each option has its own logic.
If you don’t have a defined message yet, it’s not a problem. We propose new options based on the objective and audience profile. But the more we know about what you want to convey, the closer the personalization simulation will be to what you need.
Here you can learn more about the methods of personalizing promotional objects and how to align them with the values and objectives of your project.
7. Budget – the element that most people avoid
This is by far the most common missing element in a brief.
Many clients avoid giving a figure, either because they don’t have an approved budget or because they’re afraid that a specific number will limit their options.
The reality is exactly the opposite: without a budget, any offer is a guessing game. With a budget, we can propose the best possible product in that range — not the cheapest and not the most expensive, but the most suitable.
It doesn’t have to be an exact number. “Total budget 5,000 lei for 500 pieces” is enough to receive a relevant offer within 24 hours.
We encourage quality over quantity. Many times, 300 premium products do more for your brand than 1,000 mediocre products. But this conversation only begins after we know what budget we’re working with.
8. Planning – distribution and logistics
How do the products reach the recipients? Distributed directly at the event, delivered by courier to each employee, available at the reception, handed over to a team of promoters?
If you need delivery in installments, promoters or training of the sales team — as happens in B2B or FMCG campaigns — the earlier we know, the better we can plan.
At Lexonn, deadlines are respected. When something unexpected arises in production or logistics, we don’t wait for you to ask, we find the solution and come up with options.
Delivery is our responsibility, not yours.
9. Procedure and additional details
What do you expect from your supplier? When do you need a quote? How do you want to receive proposals – email, presentation, meeting?
Do you want to see samples before ordering? We always recommend checking samples or visuals before placing orders.
Do you want simulations with your customization to approve the BT? This is how we work with each client – we do not send an order into production without you having visually approved how the object with your brand looks on it.
If you have additions or think we need to know certain things specific to your project: a previous bad experience with another supplier, a key customer who receives a separate kit, a brand restriction, tell us from the beginning.
These details are often decisive and save precious time in the middle of the project.
How we at Lexonn work with your brief
Our process starts from a simple principle: we don’t wait for the perfect brief. We build it together with you.
If your brief is incomplete (and it often happens, especially with the budget and vector logo) we contact you directly. We don’t send an automated questionnaire with 20 questions. We identify what’s missing, we propose the variants, and we continue the process.
The offer you receive within 24 hours is not a price list. It’s a complete document: detailed description of each proposed product, stock updated in real time, recommended customization technique with all available color variants, and where it makes sense, a visual simulation with your brand included directly in the offer.
You know exactly what you’re ordering before you approve anything. No surprises upon delivery.
Brief template
copy and send at office@lexonn.ro
Fill in what you can, leave blank what you don’t know. We’ll take care of the rest.
1. Project context
Why are you starting this campaign? Have there been similar campaigns before? What worked / what didn’t?
2. Objective
What results do you want to achieve? (awareness, lead generation, retention, internal event, employee motivation, others)
3. The role of the product in the campaign
Is it the only element of the campaign or does it support a broader action?
4. Target audience
Profile: age, industry, B2B / B2C, relationship with the brand (customer / employee / prospect)
Quantity required:
5. Delivery time
Final delivery date (not production start date):
Delivery in installments? Yes / No
6. Message on the object
Slogan, tagline or short message (max 5-7 words) – optional.
7. The budget
Total budget for products: (ex: 4,000 lei for 300 pieces)
8. Distribution and logistics
How do you distribute the products? (event, courier, reception, sales team, other)
Delivery address(es) and distribution if you already know it.
9. Procedure and additional details
When do you need a quote?
Do you want physical samples or customization simulations?
Vector logo attached? (AI / EPS / PDF)
Pantone codes or brandbook available?
Other details we need to know:
The main rule remains the same as in 2014
Be short and to the point. The brief should contain relevant information depending on your objectives and the audience the campaign is aimed at.
You can also mention many preferences during the bidding process – the important thing is to start, to contact us.
If you don’t know where to start, write us just three things: the objective, the budget, and the quantity. We will build the rest together for the perfect order of promotional items.
A complete brief is not difficult to build, we start with the base of the concept and build the entire structure together so that we achieve maximum results.
office@lexonn.ro
Complete offer + simulations in 24 hours max.
