There aren’t many swag bags swaggier than the Grammys, and this year, Utah-based company Minky Couture’s luxury blankets went home with hundreds of music legends, including Justin Bieber, Post Malone and many more.
On site, the Minky Couture team spoke with a handful of notable artists as they passed through the gifting lounge, including Lola Young, who won Best Pop Solo Performance, and Olivia Dean, who won Best New Artist.
The company Distinctive Assets, a Los Angeles-based niche marketing firm specializing in celebrity gifting that partners with many of the celebrity award shows, discovered Minky Couture on Good Morning America. They reached out to Brighton Williams, Minky’s events and sponsorships manager, to invite the brand to participate in the Grammys gifting lounge.
It was a cost to participate, Williams says, but making the trip and donating about 300 blankets was worth it to be in front of well-known organizations and eyes. On the heels of participating in the Grammys, Minky was also invited to participate in the Emmys this September.
While Williams says it’s hard to track the ROI after participating in an event like this, it was hopeful to hear artists’ comments about wanting to buy dozens more.
“90 percent [of the artists] have never even heard of us,” Williams says. “There were a few who had seen our social ads or seen us with an influencer, but for the most part, no one knew about us at all.”
About 15 other vendors were set up in the Grammys gifting lounge, sharing a variety of products. The lounge was located in a bar right next to the Crypto.com Arena, where the Grammys take place. Artists would pop in throughout the Grammys’ dress rehearsal days, January 29-31, to learn more about the brands behind the gifts.
“It was really cool to talk about,” Williams says. “I mean, how Minky started and what Sandi still does to give back. That was a big part of the emotion created around the blanket. … Telling them how it was created and how much we give back made them love it even more.”
Watching the celebs interact with the Minky Couture blankets was Williams’ favorite part of hosting their cozy-chic, living-room-esque pop-up. Reba McIntire, members of the group KATSEYE and The Hooligans, Bruno Mars’ band, had visible reactions to the product, which the Minky Couture team caught on camera.
While gifting celebrities at the Grammys is an investment, it seems to be paying off in awareness alone.
“All of these people now know about our product; … they had so much media coverage there,” Williams says. “We want to grow, and we are growing. … Attaching ourselves to well-known people is the idea.”
