How we built a live patch bar for Justworks in under two weeks, then watched it pull double the expected crowd at TechCrunch Disrupt.
TechCrunch Disrupt is wall to wall founders, investors and startup teams, which makes it exactly the room Justworks wants to be in, and one of the hardest rooms to stand out in. Every booth has a logo and a giveaway. Justworks wanted a reason for people to stop, stay a few minutes, and walk away with the brand on something they would actually use.
The catch: the show was less than two weeks out.
A live patch bar. Attendees picked from six custom Justworks patch designs and had them pressed onto a tote bag right at the booth, so every visitor left with a one-of-one piece they styled themselves.
The crowd showed up at twice that. We pressed 200 totes a day, even with limited hours, and demand was so high we had to close early each day to stretch supply across all three days of the show.
By the end of Day 1, the Justworks team was posting about it on LinkedIn, inviting people to come grab a custom tote on Day 2 and noting the bags were flying with only a limited amount left. That is the kind of buzz a booth can't buy: the client promoting the activation for us, in real time.
People don't line up for swag. They line up for an experience. Letting attendees make something their own turned a giveaway into a reason to visit the booth, and a tote they'll keep carrying long after Disrupt.
Stop by the Justworks booth day 2 to get a custom tote bag. These things were flying and we only have a limited amount left so be sure to snag one before they're all gone!
