Branded gifts

If you really want to send a branded gift to clients or prospects, put their logo on the mug instead of yours.

Betcha I know what thought that triggered: Something about bulk orders.

“Nerr Danny… who orders one mug with one logo on it, when 1,000 mugs with one logo is way cheaper!?”.

At the risk of sounding like a craggly old dude shouting at everyone, I’m just not a big fan of merch. At the receiving end, it’s usually junk with some company’s name on it.

If you ever send gifts to your clients or prospects, seriously consider what you’re sending, where it’s sourced, and if you even really need to. Is there another option?

I’ve seen this done well; done terribly; and many stops in between:

Done terribly:

• About 7 years ago, a client of mine gifted his 100 staff a cheaply sourced watch with his logo on the face. Being frank, this was no Tag + Porsche collab – it was catastrophically unsexy. He was SO proud.

Done well:

• As a customer of a SaaS tool, I received a gift box that contained a reusable coffee mug made from recycled coffee husk, ethically made socks, and a tote. I didn’t need any of those things, but I appreciated the thoughtfulness (oh – and none of it was branded).

Think about who you’re really doing this for, because seeing your logo on shiny new merch… honestly, the person who’ll be most excited about that is probably you.