The Ultimate Marketer’s Guide to Kitting & Brand Experience

Kitting is more than just packaging items—it’s a powerful way to create experiences, reinforce brand identity, and build lasting relationships with clients or employees. Whether you’re sending a welcome kit, gift box, subscription bundle, or tradeshow giveaway, each touchpoint matters. Here’s everything you need to plan, design, and deliver kits that delight.

What Is a Branded Kit & Why It Matters

A kit is a curated collection of items (physical and sometimes digital) presented together in a well-designed package. When done right, kitting:

• Enhances perceived value: the packaging, design, and thoughtful selection increase how recipients feel about your brand.

• Drives brand loyalty: unboxing experiences tend to be memorable.

• Encourages word-of-mouth & social shares: people love showing off beautifully made kits.

• Supports multiple objectives: employee onboarding, client appreciation, marketing, product trials, rewards, etc.

Step 1: Define Your Purpose & Audience

Before you pick items or design your box, it's important to have a clear direction on:

• Your goal: What is the primary objective? (e.g. new-hire onboarding, product launch, branding, retention, sales lead conversion)

• Your audience: Who is receiving the kit? Employees, VIP clients, all customers, influencers, new partners?

• What's the tone & message: What feeling do you want to evoke—exciting, premium, fun, playful, professional, eco-friendly?

• What is your budget & scale: How many kits will you send over what timeline? This affects sourcing, production, and shipping decisions.

Step 2: Curate the Contents Thoughtfully

The items inside the kit are often what people remember, but they must align with purpose, brand identity, and practicality.

Tips for choosing items:

• Relevance: Each item should support the purpose. For example, a wellness-oriented kit might include self-care items; an eco/zero-waste themed kit might avoid plastics, etc.

• Quality over quantity: It’s better to have 3 excellent pieces than 8 mediocre ones.

• Brand alignment: Colors, materials, style, logos and messaging should align with your overall brand or campaign aesthetic.

• Practicality & transportability: Items should survive shipping; also think size & weight to control shipping cost.

Examples of items:

• Useful desk items (notebooks, pens, wireless chargers, insulated mugs)

• Apparel (T-shirts, hoodies, socks) if appropriate

• Digital add-ons (QR codes, promo codes to your swag store)

• Personalized touches (name tags, engraving, custom messages)

• Cozy holiday gifts like a hot chocolate set paired with insulted mug, beanie and scarf set, a coffee inspired bundle, etc.

  
  

Step 3: Packaging Design

How your kit looks and feels is key. It's the visual, tactile, opening experience that gives off a hit or miss first impression. Design and materials shape the unboxing moment.

Design & branding:

• Use high-resolution graphics, consistent brand colors, typography.

• Think beyond the exterior: utilize the whole box, inside and out, to showcase your branding and message!

• Include messages: welcome letters, gratitude notes, instructions or stories about the items.

• Make it social-share friendly: consider how it looks in photos/videos.

• Work with NorthPoint's Design Team to make your dream box design come to life!

Choose the right container: Depending on your products, you can kit into a fully branded custom box for a premium unboxing experience or a custom poly mailer for a sleek, lightweight, and budget-friendly option. Learn more about custom packaging options!

Step 4: Logistics, Fulfillment & Timing

Even the most beautiful kit won’t matter if it arrives late or damaged.

• Plan ahead: Factor in the time needed for design, sampling, proofs, and production. Your NorthPoint account executive will help you create a solid timeline so everything is ready for your in-hands date. **It’s always better to get started sooner than later!

• Storage: Will you need to hold inventory of finished kits? Whether you're sending them to a single location, storing them to fulfill through your swag store, or drop-shipping them all at once, NorthPoint can manage each scenario for you.

• Assembly & packaging: NorthPoint’s fulfillment services handle the full process, from producing your kit items to assembling, storing, and shipping them, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.

• Shipping strategy: Optimize for weight/size to reduce cost. If you’re shipping internationally, work with a provider that can manage customs, duties, and global logistics smoothly. (Hint: NorthPoint’s got you covered 😉)

• Delivery timing: Coordinate so that kits arrive when they have the biggest impact (e.g. first week of onboarding, before a special event, at the start of holiday season, etc.).

Step 5: Work Your Marketing Magic!

Your kit is also content and marketing collateral. Make it work for you beyond just the moment of unboxing.

• Pre-launch buzz: Tease the kit, sneak peeks of packaging or contents, user-generated content, influencer unboxings.

• Social media strategy: Encourage recipients to share (via a hashtag, “tag us”, create “shareable moments”).

• Follow-up: Send thank-you notes, survey feedback — how did they like the kit, what could be better?

Take It A Step Further

To make your unboxing experience even more memorable, consider experimenting with a few newer directions:

• Gamification Elements: Include scratch-off cards, mini challenges, or QR codes that unlock hidden rewards, exclusive content, or contests.

• VIP-Only Access: Unlock exclusive events, early access to launches, or bonus perks through codes or hidden links in the kit.

Putting together a kit is a creative process, but also one that rewards planning. Every detail from the weight & texture of the card inside, to the way the box opens contributes to an emotional experience. When you invest in that, you don’t just send products—you send meaning!

Curious to learn more about how NorthPoint can support your kitting project? Let's chat!