Reusing old advertising banners: 20 product ideas
Emily Wuschko · Product Development und Supply Chain Management · 7 min ·
After the campaign, advertising banners end up in the warehouse and eventually in a skip. Yet the material is built to survive years outdoors. Here are twenty products that can be made from banners, tarpaulins, flags and roll-ups, each with the yield per square metre.
Bags for everyday use
Bags use the most material per unit, so the yield is lowest here. The rucksack is the most material-intensive of all, at one per square metre; the chest pouch is the most productive, at about six. The calculation of what comes out of 100 square metres of banner fabric shows how that works out for a real stock.
| Product | Per square metre | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Tote bag | about two | The most frequently requested product. Hard-wearing, foldable, in constant use in everyday life. |
| Drawstring bag | about two | Works particularly well in flag fabric, because that is lighter and can be pulled closed. |
| Belt bag | about five | In demand at events and in the fan shop, because it is small and still stands out. |
| Moonbag | about three | The larger version, worn across the chest. |
| Chest pouch | about six | Practical for festivals and trade fairs, where ticket and phone have to be to hand. |
| Rucksack | one | The highest-quality product made from banner material, and correspondingly material-intensive. |
| Messenger Bag | one | The classic shoulder bag, works best in lorry tarpaulin and heavy banner. |
| Dufflebag | one | A sports bag, in demand at clubs and for kitting out teams. |
Smaller products for high volumes
The smaller the product, the higher the yield, and the more likely a modest stock is to be enough for a whole workforce or a complete year group. The most productive product of all is the keyring at thirty to fifty per square metre, followed by the Cardholder, the key pouch and the coaster.
| Product | Per square metre | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Toiletry bag | four to eight | Popular as a gift for staff, because it actually gets used. |
| Clutch | four to eight | A small bag with no handle, good for evening events. |
| Laptop sleeve | two to three | Sensible for companies that issue devices anyway. |
| Pencil case | fifteen to twenty | A little material makes a lot of units, good for universities and graduate programmes. |
| Packing bag | ten to fifteen | A small pouch for travel and sport. |
| Glasses case | ten to fifteen | Needs hardly any material, suits use as an extra. |
| Cardholder | about twenty-five | A card case, one of the cheapest products per unit. |
| Keyring | thirty to fifty | The most productive product of all. |
| Key pouch | about twenty-five | Slightly larger than the keyring, with a compartment for several keys. |
Products hardly anyone thinks of
Three products are rarely asked for unprompted, although they suit the material well. Coasters are made from remnant areas that are too small for other products, reflective strips from Mesh and coated material, and seat cushions are an obvious step for stadiums and venues.
| Product | Per square metre | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Seat cushion | two to three | An obvious step for stadiums and venues, rarely asked for. |
| Coaster | about twenty-five | From remnant areas that are too small for other products. |
| Reflective strip | about twenty-five | From Mesh and coated material, sensible for anything to do with safety. |
If none of these fit
The list is a starting point, not a limit. Product ideas of your own are costed individually. The only condition is that the product can be made from the material available and in the quantity you want.
After a trade fair appearance everything is usually mixed together in the warehouse — what makes sense then is set out in disposing of or upcycling trade fair banners. Which product fits in the end depends on the input material: heavy tarpaulins and thin roll-ups behave differently from lighter flag fabric. With shirts and jerseys the count is not in square metres anyway, but in garments.
Materials and products