3 Golden Rules for Premiums and Giveaways

After working in Advertising for the better part of two decades in a dozen markets all over the world, I like to challenge myself by making three golden rules for most everything in the industry. It’s as much a cathartic mental exercise as it is a practical guideline, however its always good to remember that in advertising there are no rules, just effectiveness.

My three golden rules for Premiums and Giveways.

Its that time of year again when brands and their agencies leaf through lengthy catalogues of items from all over the world to brand and give away to customers and prospects. A throw back to a pre-digital age that frankly a disproportionate amount of time and money goes into every year. There are desk calendars, mousepads (I know! Who uses mousepads anymore?), paperweights, key chains and various other things that never get used and at best function as an ice breaker for a sales call or a reminder of your stall at a trade show.

Nevertheless, business owners feel compelled to give something physical away and hopefully instill a sense of guilt that may initiate some future enquiry or even a purchase, or at the very least act as free advertising that the recipient carries or places on his desk or in his car.

That’s not to say premiums and giveaways can’t be a powerful marketing tool, as they can also double up as incentives for customers and even sales staff, so long as you follow my three golden rules. So put that 600 page catalogue of generic bumpf away and consider these rules:

1-    Novelty: There has to be a sense that this is something one cannot get for love or money. Its value is in the fact that it is unique and cannot be found anywhere. This is where catalogues are a waste of time and one has to think of commissioning something unique, which any number of Chinese companies would be more than happy to make for you. Another successful approach is to commission art or individually crafted items that doubles up as corporate social responsibility by supporting artists, and/or cottage industries and handicrafts. Its an opportunity to be creative and ideally reinforce the brand personality and messages, but don’t get carried away with overt branding on the item as this tends to put people off unless you are in fact a cool brand like Ferrari or Harley Davidson.  

2-    Functionality: If it does something then it is more likely to be used (exposed) and appreciated (resonate). And unless it has a function, it’ll probably just end up collecting dust on a shelf, chucked in a drawer or the bin, so steer clear of paperweights and ornamental plaques.

  

3-    Relevance: If you’re a financial services provider, give something that falls neatly within your service, like a credit card carrier case, or a subscription to the Economist. Don’t send car sun shades or beer cooler sleeves, it just comes across as shameless advertising. Giveaways ideally enhance the experience of using your product or service, like Amazon vouchers from an ISP, or even a cool shoehorn from a shoe brand. Giveaways are far too often a lost opportunity to elevate the brand experience.  

The best corporate “give-away” I’ve ever received is a lazer pen with a USB flash drive that also has buttons to remotely navigate between your powerpoint slides. The company was AFS, who offer back end IT for banks. It was useful, relevant (corporate) and frankly I’d never seen one before (novel). I still use it occasionally after over 5 years and here I am writing about it. That was an effective premium back in 2007, but try to avoid the USB flash drive in 2013 as I actually have a massive pile of them in my drawer, as most people probably do by now. Some of the best giveaways that I’ve personally worked on was the fun and perverted material that we developed for g+ ginseng, the drink brand, which included spank paddles, leather whips, erotic beach towels, handcuffs and various other items that went a long way to reinforce the brand personality, but as far as their utility is concerned, I can only imagine. 

(First appeared in Venture Magazine Jordan March 2013)