Open Enrollment Themes: 7 Fun Ideas to Boost Employee Engagement in 2025
Open enrollment season is one of the most important times of the year for HR teams, but it’s also one of the toughest to keep employees engaged. Between comparing benefits, meeting deadlines and navigating portals, it’s easy for participation to dip and important decisions to get delayed.
That’s why many companies are turning to creative open enrollment themes to make benefits season more engaging, memorable and even fun. A themed campaign can capture attention, simplify communication and boost enrollment rates while reducing the stress that typically comes with benefits decisions. In this article, explore seven of the best open enrollment themes for 2025, plus giveaway ideas from Pinnacle Promotions that help employees get excited about their benefits.
Why Use a Theme for Open Enrollment?
A strong theme helps your HR team create a cohesive message, build excitement and encourage timely participation. When employees can connect open enrollment to something fun like sports, vacations or wellness, they’re more likely to read emails, attend events and complete their selections early.
Benefits include:
- Higher participation and completion rates
- Improved employee understanding of benefits options
- A more positive, stress-free open enrollment experience
- Opportunities to build culture and community
- Easy tie-ins for HR giveaways and employee incentives
7 Creative Open Enrollment Theme Ideas
Choosing the right theme sets the tone for your entire benefits campaign. Here are seven proven open enrollment theme ideas that resonate with employees and make benefits season more engaging.
1. Sports Theme: Ready, Set, Enroll!
Kick off open enrollment season by choosing one sport or several to theme your campaign around. Football is a natural choice since the season will be well underway by the time open enrollment rolls around. However, basketball, baseball, soccer and tennis are also popular options that appeal to a wide range of employees. Consider incorporating tailgate giveaway ideas for a game day feel that builds team spirit. Sports-themed giveaway ideas include:
- Sports stress balls in football, basketball or soccer designs
- Branded baseball caps or visors with your company logo
- Personalized can coolers, perfect for game day celebrations
2. Music Theme: Rock Your Benefits
Rock and roll your way through open enrollment with a music theme. Choose a genre like rock or pop, or pun off classic bands that are sure to appeal to your employee demographics. Take your open enrollment on tour to each department and encourage HR employees to dress like their favorite rock star or folk musician to add a little fun to festival season. Music-themed giveaways include:
- Promotional earbuds for on-the-go listening
- Custom Bluetooth speakers for desk or home use
- Koozie® Chillin’ Bluetooth® Speaker Cooler, combining music and refreshment
3. Outdoor Adventure Theme: Choose Your Path
Getting outside is associated with being healthy, making this open enrollment theme a natural fit. This is a particularly good theme if you live in an area with a lot of natural parks or work at a very outdoorsy office. Encourage employees to choose their destination (benefit plan) and to assemble their equipment (paperwork) before embarking on the journey of open enrollment. HR recaps can serve as trail guides, coaching employees through the OE process. To keep your team adventure-ready, explore our best jacket brands for customizable outerwear that fits any outdoor-themed campaign. Outdoor-themed giveaways include:
- Camping chairs for outdoor events and relaxation
- Branded water bottles for staying hydrated on the trail
- Custom outerwear for all-weather adventures
5. Movies & TV Theme: The Benefits Blockbuster
Has a particular movie or TV show dominated the office water cooler chatter lately? Let that be the inspiration for your next open enrollment. Try to choose a popular option, like a recent blockbuster or trending series, so that even people who haven’t seen it will still understand what’s going on. Bonus points for any puns you come up with based on the title. Obviously, appropriate giveaways will vary based on what you pick, but some options include:
- Food gift sets like movie snack boxes
- Promotional cups for themed watch parties
- Personalized two-gallon popcorn tins for team movie nights
6. Game Theme: Win at Benefits Season
Can you win the game of Life or open enrollment? Choose a popular board game or card game and update it to fit your open enrollment plan. Game shows such as Jeopardy! or Family Feud are also great choices and provide an excellent chance to educate employees about their benefits options through the game itself. It’s also a great way to include remote team members — check out our gifts for remote employees for prizes and participation ideas that keep everyone involved. Giveaway ideas include:
- Custom desktop toys with your company branding
- Promotional puzzles featuring your benefits message
- Branded playing cards for team-building activities
7. Health & Wellness Theme: Focus on You
If none of these other open enrollment themes resonate with you, you can’t go wrong with a simple health and wellness theme. Health and wellness ties directly into OE season and gives you a great opportunity to encourage healthy choices among your employees. In fact, many companies offer a benefit credit for healthy behavior, such as not smoking. Health and wellness-themed giveaway ideas include:
- Performance shirts, like branded Dri-Fit apparel
- Custom yoga mats or resistance bands for fitness programs
- Branded wellness kits with stress balls, water bottles and healthy snack containers
Make Your Open Enrollment Campaign Unforgettable
A thoughtful theme paired with the right open enrollment giveaways can transform how employees engage with their benefits. From wellness gear to travel-ready swag, Pinnacle Promotions helps HR teams bring their campaigns to life with custom products employees actually want to keep.
Pinnacle Knows Promo, and that’s why we’re here to help you create meaningful connections during benefits season. With over 30 years of experience, Free 24 Hour Rush service and our Pinnacle Platinum Guarantee™, we make it easy to elevate your open enrollment campaign with quality branded products that fit your budget and timeline.
Ready to plan your 2025 open enrollment campaign? Contact Pinnacle Promotions to create a custom program that drives participation and builds excitement across your team.