Stickers have long been a form of personal expression. Think car bumper stickers and political campaign stickers. This is nothing new. However, stickers have been finding their way onto a growing number of items.

Students at Northwestern College in Iowa have taken note of this growing trend. In an article titled “Stick ‘em up, NW” in the student newspaper, author Emily Wallace writes:

As students shuffle through the cold, through VPH, across the green to the Learning Commons and search for a cozy spot to study, there is a prevailing sight to be held: stickers.

As college students strive to express themselves, a new fad on campus is adorning students’ water bottles and laptops with decorative stickers.

If you think this is just a fad among college students, think again. In an effort to “go green” many consumers today are moving towards re-usable items including, but not limited to, water bottles. It’s not a coincidence that water bottles have become a go-to promotional item for many companies. If you’re going to be using something day in and day out, like your water bottle, travel coffee mug, laptop, etc. why not personalize it and “make it yours”?

Personalizing items with stickers not only adds some color and excitement to what may otherwise be a dull everyday product, but it’s also a way to quickly identify which one is yours. For the college students, this means that a laptop can easily be picked out in a sea of similar laptops at the library. For non-college students it also means picking out the product that belongs to you when there are plenty of others just like it at the office, at the gym, and while out and about.

Adding stickers to products shows others who you are and what you are interested in. You never know what kind of opportunities this may lead to. Displaying a sticker of your favorite band may encourage someone who also likes that band to strike up a conversation with you. Who knows where that conversation could lead? It could lead to a new friendship, a new relationship, or a new business deal. It’s essentially a way to tell others that you’d be open to having a conversation about the sticker and what it represents. This could be a great tactic for someone that’s shy, but interested in meeting new people.

This growing trend is something that businesses should take note of. Provide your happy customers and clients with branded stickers. Sure, they might not all proudly display them on their personal items, but it’s likely that some of them will. Not only does this form a strong connection to that individual, it’s also a way to increase brand exposure among like-minded people at a very low cost!