The ‘complex’ theory of corporate tat says that if you send me a poloshirt, baseball cap, laser pen, memory stick, calculator, document holder, rucksack, business card holder or indeed any other vaguely useful item that I will use the gift and be reminded of your client’s firm the next time I see their name and then I might write about them.
Chances are though, that as soon as I’m out of your sight (sometime not even then) I will throw it all in the bin. I would give it away to a tramp, but even vagabonds and junkies would rather not wear your branded t-shirts.
Another slightly less popular strategy with the freebie is to go a bit over the top and hope this curries favour. In all honesty it works better than the one outlined above though it carries a few risks, not least the expense.
The corporate gift is dodgy territory. It’s Operation Backhander. We know the score. It’s bribery. In some cultures it is a serious no-no, in others it is positively expected. But some ‘gifts’ aren’t worth the price of the overly expensive branded, never-to-be-used-more-than-once, bags that they come in.
I was once sent a cigarette lighter with a fiver wrapped around it, enclosed in the envelope was a note, the PR had written, “is your money going up in smoke?”
The firm, hilariously enough, was a disaster recovery company that went out of business.
Can’t think why.
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