How many dailies does a person need? What should a non-smoker do with an ashtray? If you have never asked such questions when choosing gifts for your colleagues or business partners, then you should pay more attention to business souvenirs. After all, it is not just a duty gift, but an advertising carrier, a part of the company’s image and an indicator of its corporate culture.
Today gifts for “business” are completely rehabilitated and out of the shadows. Giving gifts to coworkers, partners and competitors with or without cause has become a good tone. But it turned out that this is not so easy since there is a whole culture of business gifts and a real industry of business souvenirs. After all, you can’t always make a pleasant surprise if you decide to buy a Delta AirLines gift card.
A sign of disposition
The promotional gift industry originated in the United States in 1845. That’s when a salesman attached a pocket calendar to his business card. By 1900, horse blankets, caravan awnings, and wooden shields for measuring gasoline levels were used as advertising souvenirs. A number of souvenirs from that period are still used today – rulers, pencils, notebooks, folders. By the way, today in the U.S. they spend more than $ 11 billion a year on business gifts.
In general, any gifts, household items, office and business accessories bearing a company logo or other advertising information can be referred to as business souvenirs. Conventionally they can be divided into three groups.
- The first group is printing products: wall, desk and pocket calendars, notepads, planners, posters, diaries, notebooks, etc. These are products for exchanging pleasantries at negotiations or meetings. Depending on the cost, they can serve for distribution at an exhibition or presentation, be part of a gift set for a holiday along with other presentations.
- The second one is products with overprints. These are usually inexpensive little things – pens, lighters, mugs, openers, key chains, toys with the logo or other information about the company. Such things are usually given at presentations, exhibitions and promotional events. They can be presented to business partners or their middle and lower level employees.
- And finally, business gifts and presents for VIP-persons. This group includes perhaps the most interesting, sometimes even unusual, items. Leather folders and briefcases, expensive desk accessories, which are used at work or just serve as a decoration of the office, watches, cigar-cases and paintings. This range can be continued depending on your imagination. The only condition is that the goods must be one piece. Sometimes such gifts are ordered in a single copy and for a particular person. The sphere of their application is strictly limited, because they are expensive and presented only on special occasions.
Although sometimes it makes sense to give a less formal gift to your colleagues at work or even the boss. For example, you can choose a Bonefish gift card, or look for another similar gift card. Such a gift can end up being a great solution, because it carries not only the gift itself, but also the attention to the person. So, it makes sense to look at the different gift cards and try to choose among them a suitable solution.