PPB October 2021

MARKET SHARE Is Gift Management Something I Should Be Offering? Is there room in the promo world for gifting- as-a service—and should I be considering it for my business? What the promotional products industry is most known for is providing tangible, customized items that recipients can experience taciturnly, and sometimes with all five senses. With coronavirus and related precautions having thwarted event schedules like trade shows and conferences last year, and resulting in widespread office closures, companies that would normally hand-distribute gifts in these environments were temporarily unable to do so. With subsequent pivots made to send recipients’ gifts directly to their homes, permitting wider opportunities to experiment with personalized products, gifting-as- a-service has emerged as a new option that allows recipients to choose the gift they’d like to receive prior to its arrival. Also referred to as “pick your own swag,” gift management services propose a benefit that’s two-fold. First, the service allows recipients to choose a gift they’d like to receive, which is more likely to be something they want and thus will use, yielding greater brand exposure. Next, it also works to reduce waste associated with unused products. The difference between this service and standard gifting lies in the ability for recipients to select between a pre-chosen gift, or to peruse additional offerings from a selection of other available items, if they wish. Here’s an example: a particular concert hall typically sends a gift with purchase to high-price ticketholders. A gift management program would allow these recipients to be asked in advance, via email or the web, about the gift they’d like to receive, giving them the ability to choose between a standard, upgraded concert swag bag and, for instance, a pair of branded earbuds or sunglasses. In identifying if and where gifting-as-a- service fits into the promotional products industry, PPB spoke with a few industry professionals to gather their insights. Charity Gibson, national accounts coordinator with Newark, New Jersey, supplier Peerless Umbrella, says that she believes gift management and branded gifting both have a place in the industry, but there’s a right way to do it. “I’ve experienced both the branded gift and the choose-your-own gift options,” she says. “When people put their logo as big as possible on a nice product and call it a gift, I believe it diminishes the perceived value and reduces the usability of said product. As promotional products professionals, we sometimes 64 | OCTOBER 2021 | THINK