Although Olivia Rodrigo will surely be racking up all the gold (sorry, Taylor) at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards this Sunday, her fellow performers – as well as the ceremony’s presenters – won’t be going home empty handed.

As is tradition, the biggest stars in music and entertainment will receive gift bags filled with the hottest products on the market, selected by Rachael Honowitz Cosgrove, founder of Los Angeles-based Gift Bags By Rachael. 

After 12 years of handling event marketing for People magazine, including being hands-on with the publication’s promotional products and gifting, the Pennsylvania native launched her own company, leveraging her contacts to produce gift bags for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Super Bowl and other major events.

PPAI Media caught up with Cosgrove this week to learn more about the curation process (which began six months before the Grammys), the most popular products and the importance of branding. Note: The following conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

PPAI Media: Why do you think gift bags have become such an important part of the Grammys and other award shows?

Rachael Honowitz Cosgrove: “It’s viewed as an advertising opportunity for these brands. It’s a different way to market your product and get it in the hands of influential people. From working at People magazine for 12 years, I know the power of celebrity. It’s kind of like the Oprah effect, or let’s use Jennifer Aniston as an example. If she was ever featured in the magazine wearing something, it would sell out the next day. People want what celebrities have.”

PPAI Media: Are you constantly looking at catalogs and company websites for product ideas?

Cosgrove: “It’s funny you say looking at catalogs. Back in the day, I would ‘tear sheet’ all the time, looking at magazines and pulling out pages featuring the companies I like. People don’t really do that anymore. Now, you’re looking on social, in stores and online.

Since I’ve been doing this for so long, I have relationships with a lot of brands who I work with year after year and who know and trust me. I’m sure brands get hundreds of emails a day asking for product donations for various events and charities. They definitely don’t get back to everybody – they just can’t. But at this point, when they see an email coming from me, they usually will answer because when I reach out to them it’s for a legit opportunity, like the Grammys, that they’ll want to be a part of. I reach out to them for events that would make sense for them.

In addition to the brand clients, you have relationships with the various PR firms who work with multiple brands. You can reach out to your PR contact and say, ‘I have this event coming up. Do you think X client will be interested?’ They’ll say, ‘No, but we have Y client who might be interested.’”


PPAI Media: Why would a brand turn down this opportunity?

Cosgrove: “They may not want to reach a certain audience. For example, maybe they’re not targeting musicians. Maybe they’re launching a product this summer, and February during red carpet season doesn’t make sense for them. You always want to reach out to the client to see what their goals and objectives are to see what you have that may align with them.

Also, depending on the event, there are fees and costs associated with being a part of gift bags. Press is never guaranteed, but after so many years, we know that the Grammys gift bag gets so much press. Also, it’s a lot of work. Not only are we [a team of 10] receiving thousands of boxes, unpacking them and stuffing [about 175] bags, we’re handing them out, coordinating all the deliveries, etc. Brands might not have the budget for these fees.”

PPAI Media: Do you have final say on which products go into the gift bag?

Cosgrove: “Every event is different. The Grammys has final approval of everything that goes into the bag. We’ll be in conversation with various brands who are interested, and they’ll have to submit their product, website, retail price and ways in which they give back to their community. We send all of that to the Grammys and they have final approval. Sometimes, the Grammys might have a sponsor conflict. A certain category might be off limits because they have a beauty brand running commercials during the telecast. They’d get category exclusivity over the brand we submit.”


PPAI Media: What are some of your favorite products in the Grammys gift bag this year?

Cosgrove: “The hero item is the Dyson Zone noise-cancelling headphones. You put the headphones on and then there’s an extra piece, which is an air filter, which goes across your nose. Let’s say you’re flying and you’re listening to something on the headphones, this will also filter air for you on the plane. It’s very cool.

There’s a lot of fun beauty and skincare products from Garnier, Kérastase, KISS. I also put a few books in. One is coming out next week: IF YOU SEE THEM: Young, Unhoused and Alone in America by Vicki Sokolik. The author works with homeless youth and the book is about her story of advocacy through the voices of the youth themselves as she helps them get back up on their feet. In LA, there’s a lot of homeless, and my heart goes out to them.”

PPAI Media: If suppliers in the promotional products industry wanted to get their items in the bag, what advice would you give them?

Cosgrove: “I’m always looking for new brands to put in my bag and help shine a light on what they do. I especially like female-owned and minority-owned businesses. Brands can always reach out to me on my website and Instagram. I have events all year long and am always looking for new and interesting brands to work with.

Business, like anything, is about relationships. I’ve done a good job building up my relationships over the last 20 years, but there’s so much more out there that I don’t know. Often, it’s me reaching out to them. It’s great when brands reach out to me and say, ‘We see what you’re doing with the Grammys gift bags. We’d love to get involved.’ I’d be open to working with a lot more of these companies if I got to know them.”