Top 5 reasons to use custom branded lanyards at corporate events or trade shows

Used the world over at corporate events and trade shows, custom branded lanyards simply cannot be beaten. They solve a lot of problems in one go: who’s who, who belongs where, who paid for what, and who helped fund the whole thing. When you get them right, they quietly hold the whole event together.

In this guide, we lay down the case for branded lanyards with five core reasons they still earn their place on event checklists – and what that looks like in practice when you’re planning your next show.

1. Identification of patrons, businesses and exhibitors

When combined with ID card holders, lanyards are perfect for helping identification. Easily identify those who should be at the event and those who shouldn’t. With the extensive range of branding and customisation options such as full‑colour printing or coloured materials, identification can be reduced to a glance. That sounds simple, but on a busy show floor it makes a huge difference.

At a typical trade show you might have:

• Visitors
• Exhibitors
• Speakers
• Sponsors
• Contractors and suppliers
• Organisers and venue staff

If everyone is wearing a plain badge on a clip, your team has to get close enough to read the text every single time. With custom branded lanyards, you can make those distinctions obvious from several metres away just by changing strap colour and wording.

For example:

• Dark blue lanyards for visitors with “Visitor” repeated along the strap.
• Bright orange lanyards for exhibitors, printed with “Exhibitor”.
• Black lanyards for crew and contractors.
• Gold lanyards for VIPs and headline sponsors.

Pair those straps with clearly printed name badges and your registration staff, security team and exhibitors can see who they’re dealing with instantly. That speeds up entry, keeps queues moving and reduces awkward conversations at doors and on stands.

Custom branded lanyards also help with accessibility. Larger type, clear contrast and consistent colour‑coding all make it easier for attendees with visual impairments or neurodivergent guests to navigate the event without constantly asking for help.

Custom branded lanyards are perfect for company promotions

2. Branding for your company, product or campaign

As mentioned earlier, lanyards are easily customised in all manner of ways. Aspects of the actual lanyard that can be branded include the type of material, material colour, single or full colour printing on the material and the length and width of the material.

That is just for starters. Additionally, you can then add a range of attachments and clips to further extend their brandability. For example, you can add a simple dog clip or oval swivel clip and then attach custom branded passes, wallets and ticket holders.

For corporate events and trade shows this matters because branded lanyards are visible all day. Delegates wear them in the registration queue, on stands, in seminars, at coffee points, in the bar afterwards and in half the photos everyone posts to LinkedIn the next morning. They’re one of the few brand touchpoints that genuinely goes everywhere.

VIP lanyards can provide access for important guests

That gives you several opportunities:

• Reinforce your core brand – by matching lanyard colour and typography to your stand, slides and printed collateral.
• Highlight a specific product or campaign – for example, using a custom pattern or strap colour that ties into a product launch.
• Give sponsors proper visibility – by building their logos into the strap design or onto the badge wallet, without it turning into logo soup.

Thoughtful design makes the difference between something people barely notice and something that feels like part of a coherent, well‑designed event. A few simple rules help:

• Keep the strap text short and bold enough to read at a glance.
• Make sure there’s strong contrast between the strap colour and the print.
• Don’t overload the lanyard with every possible logo and strapline; decide what really matters.

If your event has multiple sponsors, branded lanyards can also become part of the sponsorship offer. A headline sponsor might get the primary logo position on the strap, with secondary sponsors positioned on the badge wallet. That way, lanyards become brand assets rather than just a line in the logistics budget.

3. Security access to VIP areas for selected patrons

You can easily streamline your access to all areas with custom branded lanyards. Using a simple colour code such as gold, silver and bronze you can ensure only the highest‑profile guests and patrons can access your prestigious VIP areas and aftershow parties.

Not only that, nothing projects importance more than a personalised VIP lanyard that gives you access to all areas. Event holders can also create special lanyards that are only available to press, managers, coordinators and staff.

Printed lanyards can be very cost effective when ordered in bulk

In practice, most events end up with several access levels:

• General admission – main show floor and public sessions.
• Exhibitors – access to the floor before and after opening hours.
• Press – access to interview areas and press rooms.
• Crew and contractors – back‑of‑house spaces for build and breakdown.
• VIPs – hospitality lounges, backstage areas and invite‑only events.

Trying to manage these groups with paper tickets or QR codes alone is a headache. Custom branded lanyards make the access level visible at a glance. A security guard at a door doesn’t need to scan every badge; they can see the strap colour and badge design and wave the right people through.

For higher‑end events, VIP lanyards also contribute to the experience. A gold or black woven strap, a slightly heavier badge wallet and a personalised insert all signal that the guest is part of a select group. That can be reinforced with specific wording on the strap – “VIP Guest”, “All Areas”, or the name of the hospitality suite.

From a safety perspective, lanyards are also easier to revoke and reissue than wristbands. If someone loses a VIP pass, security can deactivate the badge, print a new insert and issue a replacement lanyard without cutting anything off wrists or re‑banding people.

4. Flexibility and customisation for different roles

One of the biggest advantages of custom branded lanyards at corporate events or trade shows is how flexible they are. A single event might need different passes for exhibitors, visitors, staff, contractors, press and VIPs – and lanyards make that very easy to manage.

You can vary:

• Colour – for instant visual recognition of each group.
• Print – different wording or icons for access levels or job roles.
• Attachments – badge wallets for delegates, smaller clips or keyrings for crew.

This flexibility lets you design a system that works for your event rather than forcing everyone into the same generic badge. You might have landscape badges for exhibitors and portrait badges for visitors, or different wallet sizes for day passes and multi‑day passes. All of them can still hang from lanyards that feel part of the same family.

It also makes last‑minute changes easier to handle. If you need to add a new ticket type, sponsor level or access zone, you can brief a new colour or print variant without redesigning your entire identity system. For multi‑day events, you can even use different strap colours for each day to make it immediately obvious who is in the right place.

Compared with wristbands or paper tickets, lanyards are much easier to adapt, reissue and read at a distance – which is why they remain the default choice for most large‑scale corporate events and trade shows.

The durability of branded lanyards ensures they are kept

5. Durable enough to last long after the event finishes

One USP for custom branded lanyards over wristbands for events is the durability of the product. Most of the time custom wristbands are destroyed when removing them. Consequently they are rarely kept after the event has finished.

With personalised neck lanyards they are very easy to remove. Consequently, they are much more likely to be kept long after the event is over. Furthermore, this ensures your company branding or campaign message is still being transmitted long into the future.

Good‑quality branded lanyards can easily outlive a one‑ or two‑day event. Attendees re‑use them:

• As everyday ID badge lanyards at work.
• As key lanyards for car keys or security passes.
• As memorable keepsakes from a particularly good conference or show.

That gives you long‑term brand exposure for a relatively small initial cost. Instead of disappearing into a bin bag with flyers and leaflets, your logo stays in circulation, showing up around offices, co‑working spaces and other events.

If sustainability is a concern, you also have options. Many organisers are now choosing eco‑friendly branded lanyards made from recycled polyester (rPET), bamboo or other sustainable fibres. These can be collected after the event for re‑use or recycling, or offered to attendees with clear guidance on how to dispose of them responsibly.

Commonly asked questions