Many times, a business will collaborate with another entity with the understanding that for the financial support the former supplies, the latter will promote their brand in some way, typically called a sponsorship. The Melbourne Renegades cricket team had such an arrangement with Mars chocolate, and commissioned inflatable Mars hands to use at their games all around Australia.
Inflatable Anything loves a good sponsorship, and always jumps at the chance to inject a bit of extra fun into exciting occasions such as live sporting events!
Training Has Paid Off
The 100 centimetre high by 44 centimetre wide sealed off unit was to be equally promotional for both The Renegades and the confectionery label, so we really had to get the branding for the 2 just right! To advertise this sponsorship, the plan was simple: every time the cricket team took out their opponent’s wicket, staff would run up and down the aisles wearing the Mars inflatable hands to celebrate the accomplishment and rile up the crowd.
Though the concept was fairly straightforward, special considerations must be taken in the line of marketing. The client had a very specific idea about how these inflatable Mars hands should look, shape wise. With a bit more added clarity on top of the sketch they initially provided us with, all that was really left to take care of was nailing down the colours to represent these 2 businesses, especially the red of the Mars label.
Psych Yourself Out
Since the design of these inflatable Mars hands was basically combining 2 different logos, we knew we definitely had to pull out all of our best tricks for this project. When it came to ensuring a quality image, we knew exactly what steps we had to take to adequately meet the needs for this project, starting with ink selection. Whereas using CMYK or four colour matching can achieve a broad range of different shades, the Pantone matching system expands on the method and provides better accuracy.
A full surface print is when an image is completely printed all at once onto a material, uninterrupted by things like seams. This method is very popular anyway, but the clarity it results in is especially called for when dealing with the branding for an internationally known and well respected foodservice company. With the artwork finalised, and the methods and mechanics decided, now we had to choose how best to construct the inflatable Mars hands!
Pre Gaming
In choosing between the 2 top quality materials we offer for our units, very often a few simple questions regarding the functionality and the conditions it will be in can point us in a definitive direction. In the case of these inflatable Mars hands, the fact that they had to be carried by hand up and down the aisles of the cricket stadiums led us straight to polyvinyl chloride.
Though both polymers do a similar job at keeping our structures upright, 1 can be manipulated using heat in a way that renders it much more convenient, while the other is highly flammable. By welding the seams of PVC panels together, inflatables can simply be pumped up with air, sealed off with a valve, and left for hours on end without having to worry about topping them off.
Some other qualities that make this polymer a great choice for inflatable units is that it has great mechanical strength, is resistant to most chemicals, weatherproof, and is versatile. However, the secondary feature that really sold us is the print quality. PVC inherently has a quite smooth surface anyway, so printing on it tends to leave behind a very vivid image.
The Main Event
We had a fairly tight deadline for these inflatable Mars hands to begin with, and after all the back and forth with the client to make sure we got the details just right, we had to really get on the ball to get these sealed off units to them in time. With our nearly 2 decades of experience, this wasn’t even a blip on our radar. The client received the shipment on schedule, and the crowds responded so well to them that they plan on using them again and again each summer season.
Here at Inflatable Anything, we take so much pride in being able to provide products that not only help out fellow businesses, but also bring a bit of added joy to the Aussies who get to interact with them. What are you waiting for? Contact our team today to see how we can best serve you!
