The calendar you give away every year is cliche, that monthly newsletter of yours bores people, and if you still think sending a generic Christmas card in the mail every December keeps you “top of mind”, you’re completely off kilter. Its time to get smarter about what you’re giving away on behalf of your company. Remember; “there is no such thing as a neutral brand interaction, you either increase or decrease the perception people have of the value of your brand, every time they come in contact with it.”
That’s correct, every time you put your logo on something that doesn’t scream, “your brand” you’re decreasing our perception of you. Below are some ideas of how to improve your corporate swag.
1. Make it something worth talking about – Floprint gives away magnets with their logo and tag line on it “Fast & Good”. It’s kind of funny and I can use it. Win-win!
2. Make is something lucky – what if you gave away $1 scratch-and-win tickets as your company swag? You could print your website or e-mail address on the back. You will never give someone a scratch-and-win ticket and have them forget about you anytime in the near future.
3. Make it something really thoughtful – what if you printed out a favorite/meaningful/interesting/fascinating Tweet of theirs and frame it in a nice picture frame? Don’t be afraid to put some effort into it.
4. Make sure its a quality product – a client of mine, KSP Technology gave me a coffee mug that is better than anything I’ve ever bought. Want to make sure I use product with your logo on it? Put your logo on a really good product. That’s pretty simple.
5. Make it something cute – in a gift pack, I once received a pair of FCC branded mitts. Who can’t resist a big ol’ pair of comfy mitts? Great corporate gift.
6. Make it something everyone needs – what if you put your logo on packs of “screen wipes”? You know, the ones you use to clean your laptop, desktop and cellphone screen? Who couldn’t use more of those?
7. Make it “one of a kind” – host a BBQ in the summer for a client of yours. Better yet, host a BBQ for your client in the Winter time. Talk about a remarkable Christmas gift.
8. Make it inspirational – what if you printed sticky-notes with little inspirational quotes on the bottoms of them? Then give them away by the truck load. We all need more inspiration…..and sticky-notes.
9. Make a better business card – make all your company business cards useful, doubling as an ice scrapper or origami (with instructions on your website) or a throwing star.
10. Make it something useful – your logo on a small bottle of sun tan lotion, mosquito Spray, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, lip chap, tooth paste…….what a minute, tooth paste? Imagine your logo on a small tube of tooth paste. Weird, right? People talk about the things that a weird.
11. Make it delicious – one day make a huge batch of your Grandmas famous cinnamon buns and hand deliver them yourself to your best customers.
12. Make it timely – in November give away branded mustache combs. That’s funny, useful AND for a good cause. win-win-win.
13. Make it weird – start giving away those little dinosaurs that when you put into water they expand to 20 times their size. If you can, instead of dinosaurs, get your logo made into these fascinating bathtub toys.
14. Make it smart – why not give your favorite book to every important business contact you make? Rarely you give someone a book without them being very thankful and appreciative. On the plus side, if they read it, they’ll always remember that you made them a little smarter.
15. Make it local – why not be the company that always gives away tickets to local events? The Regina Symphony, Globe Theatre, The Pats, Roller Derby’s, you name it. Be the most supportive local business in Regina.
Please, whatever you do, just be different.
I look forward to hearing the best corporate give-a-way you’ve come across in the comments below. Now I’m going to see if I can get little expanding sponges made with “JephMaystruck.com” on them. Thanks for reading.
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