Business gifts can be anything. Literally anything. Their value in the recipient’s mind has little to do with cost, which may be anything from a few pounds to a few hundred, but far more to do with innovation and practicality. In a national survey carried out by business gift company Source-e in April, 82 per cent of recipients kept an item they were given as a business gift, while 52 per cent purchased from a company whose branded gift was visible on their desk. The real power of business giving is the thought behind the gift, the consideration and creativeness of the giver and the way gifts are used within a business’s overall marketing strategy.
Business gifts can be used to create awareness; communicate a specific business message; increase or strengthen brand recognition; thank customers, partners and staff; tempt customers to use products or services; recognise ongoing business; remind staff and customers of a company’s qualities and long-term ideals, and welcome customers,staff and support sales, in particular resellers and distributors.
Because of their versatility business gifts are used not only by marketers but also by a wide variety of executive staff including HR departments, general managers, despatch managers and executive PAs.
Business gifts gain the immediate attention of the recipient that other more ephemeral measures cannot match in the short term. However, it is essential that the gift isn’t seen as a way of papering over problems. Sensitivity towards the preferences and possible religious beliefs of the recipients is also very important. Clare Rutherford, business incentives manager at House of Fraser, says, Business gifts should not cause embarrassment to the recipient so the size of the gift should reflect the amount of business you do with the firm. They should also be presented in a way which conveys the message that reciprocation is not necessarily expected.
There are two aspects to the ethics of business gifts; firstly whether such gifts can be seen in the nature of bribery and secondly whether they are sourced through eco-friendly and fair trade channels. With regard to whether business gifts exert undue influence on staff, most companies have no problems with relatively low-value gifts, although there are some organisations particularly government departments where gifts of any kind are not permitted.
There is also the issue of how much to spend. Ian Kirk, marketing manager at Baskind Promotional Products quotes £6 as being the upper limit allowable for a gift in the pharmaceutical sector, for example. Manoj Jadeja, account manager for corporate gifts at John Lewis Solutions for Business, adds, A common mistake is to ‘buy too high’ when it’s not essential to spend a fortune to say all the right things.
Problems with business gifts occur as the monetary value rises and if gifts are offered during negotiations for a tender or contract. Melanie Osborne, sales director at Special EFX, says that although business gifts are generally accepted by the recipients, major branded consumer products are increasingly being frowned upon and either refused as part of company policy or accepted and shared out among all the members of staff.
The origin of the business gift can pose a separate ethical problem. Many promotional gifts come from China and there have recently been doubts raised about Chinese exploitation of natural resources and child labour, not to say the quality of products, given recent toy recalls. The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) is making strides towards ensuring that suppliers are vetted, but there are still loopholes. Mark Glanville, MD at Pod Packaging, says, We are seeing more and more businesses focusing on the need to reflect corporate social responsibility. Many clients have found that our range of 100 per cent recyclable products say all the right things about them as a company.
The top ten items kept on desks are: pens, calendars, mousemats, post-it notes, mugs, pencils, desk pads, calculators, diaries and notebooks, and according to the Source-e survey 89 per cent of recipients keep a gift primarily because it is useful.
Business gifts usually fall into two types: traditional, such as consumables, vouchers and desk items, and the more unusual. Harrods, for example, has gifts ranging from a luxury Christmas pudding and brandy butter for £12.95 to the Chairman’s Choice hamper for £5000. It also offers an urban retreat with 27 restaurants, a spa and an enormous number of quality brands all under one roof. Tracy Finn, manager at Harrods Corporate Service, says, We have definitely seen a trend towards the personal with business gifts being designed for the individual and involving their family. For example, a selection from a range of designer handbags being offered to female staff as business gifts.
Vouchers are frequently perceived as a versatile and reliable option when considering business gifts, lend themselves well to branding and encompass every price point. As Jadeja says, Diversity is key. You should be able to hand pick the most appropriate reward at the most appropriate budget level for any given situation and recipient.
In recent years design has become much more important for business gifts and they have become much more stylish as a result. High-tech multi-function devices are highly sought after; accessories which enable users to get far more from their computers are particularly popular. Kirk says, Recent innovation has seen a big growth in the use of USB products, both in terms of external drives and also products powered by the USB port such as fans, scanners, can coolers and lights.
Such gadgets must be more than a gimmick however. Each must fulfil all the tasks expected of it. One recipient of a branded pen with an integral laser pointer kept it far beyond the exhaustion of the pen’s ink supply simply because it had a very useful second purpose.
Whether to brand or not is a perennial question for business gift senders. Some gifts may already carry the brand of the maker so marketers need to ensure that the values of the manufacturer dovetails with the message they are trying to convey. Simon Baskind, MD at Baskind Promotional Products, says that branding is essential, otherwise you are relying on the recipient remembering who gave them the gift. This may be a reasonable assumption if they are a long and valued customer or employee, but if the gift is aimed at raising awareness, not branding it is a waste of marketing budget as your company will never be remembered.
Osborne agrees, although adds it must be a subtle message. He says, In general, branding has become much more subtle in recent years with blatant promotional messages often replaced by just the company name and website details. Such an approach relies for its impact even more on the quality, originality and innovative nature of the gift itself.
She continues, Business gifts are as much influenced by fashion as any other lifestyle accessory with steel effects brushed, matt or polished or simple black proving the most popular of our products at the moment as they fit in with most office décor schemes. Fashion trends will continue to influence the business gift market and marketers should be very aware of these and of the advances in technology that are now transforming even the simplest of devices. For those companies willing to spend larger amounts on important clients, experiences are also growing in popularity as corporate gifts. In addition, any gift that helps busy clients with a better work/life balance is often acceptable as people struggle to find time to devote to themselves.
A good, well thought out gift plays a valuable role both in the initial and long-term promotion of a brand, cementing relations with established and new clients, adds Osborne. She adds, A poorly-chosen, badly-branded gift can have the opposite effect, creating a negative impression of even the most worthwhile product or service and damaging the reputation of the business supplying it. Valued corporate gifts are those that can be used in the office and at home, which combine novelty with quality and which the recipient would not normally purchase themselves. As Gordon Glenister, director general of the BPMA says, With business gifts, anything is possible.