Promotional Gifts – Perception Matters
With the global recession in full swing, marketing spends have drastically been cut and everybody is having a tough time reallocating resources for their branding campaigns. The approach now is more on selective and focused marketing rather than a broad based random advertising campaign. So the more expensive promotional campaigns are now being given the pass in favour of low budget, low profile advertising and promotional gifts are making their presence felt in helping a brand really stand out.
Some very good products like desk sets and other attractive corporate gifts are at hand to ensure that even your low budget campaign, when directed at the right people can pay you very good dividends. Moreover, the perceived value of some of the products available permits them to automatically qualify as top end gifts and this is of great benefit in times like these, when the economy is slow and every penny counts. It means that you get more for less and as far as the customer is concerned, he is also happy to receive them thanks to his enhanced perception of such items.
This perceived value of a promotional gift gets a big fillip if you can match it with the utility requirement of the recipient, meaning the customer would have anyways purchased the item if it were not gifted to him by you. You can imagine the gratitude and recollection for your brand in such a situation and this becomes a classic case of making the best use of your available resources to come out with a win-win for everybody.
Other promotional gifts include business bags and luggage and these are again perceived to be of high value, especially the branded ones. For a corporate professional, they are always welcome and are worth pursuing. Some other luxurious items are Waterman pens and watches and these have always been well received. They have high price tags and can be given to only your premium customers. In terms of perceived value, another item that comes to mind is branded golf luggage, though this is not something that is often distributed due to its specific function. Silver plated gifts also make for excellent corporate givaways as they have an exclusive feel about them.
It is thus clear that it is not always necessary to only go for big bang advertising blasts and splurge a lot of money in the process. Knowing the customer’s preference and adapting your purchase of promotional gifts can possibly give even better results than the traditional form of advertising. A freeze or cut on ad spend is not therefore a bad thing after all. It forces you to come out with out of the box ideas and use your resources in the best manner possible and if at the end of it you are successful, then you would have done your job as a responsible company employee.
Tags: Business Gifts, Corporate Gifts, printed gifts, Promotional Gifts