Showing your appreciation to customers, employees, suppliers, etc. is a good idea. Your business depends on them. Letting them know that you understand that and are grateful for everything they do for you goes a long way to building a strong relationship and keeping it going. What is the difference between a gift and a promotional item? In some cases it is a fine line. In some poor choices the difference is blatent.
Corporate gifts are always identifiable. Whether it is a card or a logo tastefully placed on an item. That’s where the line gets blurred. How much can you identify yourself before you are giving a commercial instead of a gift. If you identify yourself on a card, whether it is simply your name or your logo and slogan, putting it on a card keeps things as a gift. It allows the recipient to enjoy the item with or without the reminder of who it is from.
Once you plaster your logo and/or slogan on a item, it is not necessarily a gift. One example is a law firm who gave one of their employees a gift on the birth of their child. While the most of the items were clearly meant as gift, printing their logo across the blanket makes it look like a tasteless promotion.
Gifts should be gifts, not promotions. Be careful that your show of appreciation doesn’t look like a shameless plug.
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