than receiving a branded item delivered directly to one’s doorstep. How important are product selection and design in both end user experiences, and are there are particular details that should be considered? Silver I think when it comes to delivering a branded product to a recipient’s doorstep, your main objective is to surprise and delight to create an emotional brand connection. In our socially-distanced world, this at-home brand connection is more important than ever. For an in-person gifting experience, I still think that packaging can really transform a giveaway into a gift if you invest in thoughtful packaging. Both the sizzle and the steak matter. PPB Can you share more with us about “the four things” (quantity, cost, target audience and goal)? Silver My job is to help our clients select a product that best tells their brand story and is memorable, functional (and stealable … thank you, Mandi Rudd [founder and owner of Brand Energy Marketing]). The more I know about a client’s project, the better my product recommendations will be. It is much better to distribute 100 $5 items that fit a brand and are valued by the recipient than 500 $1 items that will end up as “brandfill” (thank you, Danny Rosin [president and co-owner of Brand Fuel, Inc.]). PPB Can you share with us another example of an experience you’ve had with a real standout promotional product and the aspects of product selection and design that really played into the success of this effort? Silver We created an award-winning self-promo campaign. We wanted to show our clients what a fun and useful home-delivered “Experience in a Box” could look like for an event. We created a fake conference to show the concept … and what could be more fun than a Dad Jokes Conference? It was important to make the items in the box interactive, useful and appeal to all the senses. Here’s what we created: • The light-activated box “sound” chip played dad jokes upon opening the box. • The spinning cap on the bottle let the recipient choose their mood and appealed to “touch.” • The vanity light helped recipients to “look” better in online meetings. • The chocolate and small-batch-sourced food gifts activated “taste” buds. • The journal was embedded with an NFC chip that redirected to the web conference page when scanned with a smartphone. Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB. PPAI: 111248 | ASI: 35375 | SAGE: 50327 | UPIC: ACCENTS | DC:101273 www.americanaccents.com 888.287.7883 PERFECT FOR... Plastic options in white or black ѭ (TKKJJ XMTUX ѭ 4KKNHJX ѭ 'FWX ѭ 7JXYFZWFSYX ѭ FSI RTWJ Drink Stirrers & Food Piks Made & printed in the USA Full color digital imprint Made from plastic or wood material No extra charge for full bleed imprint 50 piece minimums! | JANUARY 2022 | 63 THINK
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