675k+
Items produced
248k
posters distributed
99%
poster uptake rate
The Challenge
The Avalon International Airshow is the largest public engagement opportunity on the Australian Defence Force calendar. The 2025 edition drew more than 200,000 attendees and delegates from 50 countries over seven days in Victoria, Australia.
The Royal Australian Air Force needed a branding program that could speak to all of them at once – high school students exploring career paths, the Governor-General and Deputy Prime Minister, military personnel from allied nations, and families spending a day at the show. Every product had to serve a defined purpose while meeting strict defense security protocols and accounting responsibly for public funds.
The air airshow’s merch agency took on the full scope: design, manufacturing, international consolidation, shipping, warehousing, quality control and distribution to 40 site locations.
The Solution
The merch agency curated 22 product lines totaling more than 675,000 items. Each one targeted a specific audience or filled a specific operational need.
Recruitment posters showcased 37 different career paths across 74 artwork designs. A “collect and explore” system paired 50,000 A5 aircraft cards with 12 matching lapel pin designs, giving schoolchildren and families a reason to move through the RAAF grounds. Challenge coins went to senior dignitaries individually. Custom PVC patches replaced unit identification patches for defense personnel, covering a security requirement while giving each person a keepsake.
The agency consolidated production across 17 manufacturers through its Shenzhen office and shipped everything as a single consignment to Australia. The team ran a second quality check in Melbourne, sorted stock into 24 inventoried pallets labelled by site and delivered under defense-approved protocols. The full program came in at $250,000 (AUD), with $1,200 left unspent.
Audience Segmentation
Six lanyard designs across 110,000 units identified international military personnel, dignitaries, staff and the public. Two cap styles separated defense personnel from general attendees. Each item had a logistical job.
Original Creative
When no artwork existed – as with the PC-21 stress aircraft and Roulettes lapel pins – the merch agency created original technical drawings from scratch, matching the markings and lines of the actual aircraft.
Holiday Execution
The Air Force Events team ordered 250,000 recruitment posters on the last day before Christmas. The merch agency managed artwork approvals over the break and coordinated production around Chinese New Year to deliver on time.
Results
The airshow’s merch agency partner delivered all 675,000-plus items across 22 product lines to 40 site locations on time, under strict security protocols, with $1,200 of the budget unspent.
The poster program stood out. Of the 250,000 recruitment posters produced, attendees took 248,000 – a 99% uptake rate. Those posters now sit in homes, schools and workplaces across Australia, each one showcasing a different RAAF career path.
The “collect and explore” system engaged tens of thousands of families and generated post-event requests for additional pins. Challenge coins ran out despite sufficient initial stock, and the RAAF placed an immediate reorder. Through the public-day stamp collection activity alone, attendees redeemed 25,000 promotional items over two and a half days
Items
675,000+
Branded items produced across 22 product lines from 17 manufacturers.
POSTERS
248,000
Recruitment posters distributed with a 99% uptake rate across the event.
Budget
$250,000
Full program delivered with $1,200 (AUD) underspent.
“We achieved excellent engagement during AIA25 and received positive feedback from international and domestic guests, industry and the public.”
Cassy Geishofer, Director of Air Force Events, Air Force Headquarters