The Holy Grail of Swag
Crystal posted this on March 30, 2008
Capella University dishes out fabulous freebies. When I look over the swag (free promotional stuff) they’ve shipped, it seems they’re tuned in to the needs of their learners.
But a keen understanding of their demographic doesn’t equate to knowing diddly squat about me. So while their freebies score 100% on the IttyBiz Test of Great Swag, they’re at 25% with Crystal. Read on for what Capella sent, which item was head and shoulders above, and what this means for your business promotions.
And it’s not even my birthday
Capella sent only tuition bills while I worked through a four-course Instructional Design certificate. But when I returned for my I.T. degree last year, posh-packaged university-branded goodies started appearing in my mailbox: a travel mug, a car window sticker, a laptop mouse, and an academic planner.
Reviewing the IttyBiz guidelines, all the gifts are: relevant to and appropriate for the lifestyle of an adult learner, attractive in our school colors, inherently useful, match each other, suit my home office’s would-be decor, and they aren’t “shit”.
As student swag, they rock. For me personally? Not so much. Here’s the useful stuff I have no use for:
- Travel mug
Since I work from home, my coffee journeys 17 feet from stovetop to desk (yes, I measured). I already have plenty of mugs AND a USB mug warmer to keep drinks steaming. - Car window sticker
I own a car, but I don’t put identifying stickers on it. Anonymity is bad for business growth, but good for personal safety. - Laptop mouse
I have a laptop, but prefer to use the touchpad.
But here’s the gem of the bunch. It rates max fabulous with me and I use it every day:
- Academic planner
This isn’t just any ol’ weekly planner, it is completely customized for Capella learners: a pep talk page, a list of dates when their offices are closed, a divider at each of our oddly scheduled semesters, and address book pages titled “Key Capella Contacts”. Gold star stuff!
A second gold star goes to what came with the planner: stickers (see photo up top). Yup, the clever folks at Capella included a sheet of shiny stickers to mark my personal deadlines.
There are stickers typical to all college students: Pay Tuition, Register for Classes, Order Books, Assignment Due; but also stickers particular to online learning: Discussion Question Due and Responses Due.
And guess what? They send a new sheet of stickers at the start of each quarter, along with a pep talk letter gently urging me to persist.
Finding the Holy Grail
When I first saw the box, I was tickled they had popped something more in the mail. And when I opened the package and found the planner+stickers, I was stunned by how simply they made it uniquely theirs, while offering a useful way to make it uniquely mine-all-mine.
It took Capella four tries, but they accomplished what everyone hopes for when giving presents: a unique, emotional, memorable, and lasting connection between the gifter and the gifted. This is what we should expect from every piece of swag.
When I used my planner for the first time, I sensed their intimate understanding of the challenges involved in taking on college—again. I feel no one else would have found this ideal solution, and that they are cool people for handing it to me at no charge. I grin at the planner every morning because they got it so very very right. I tell everyone about their cleverness, and now I’ve blogged about it.
Your customers can—and should—feel that level of delight when they see and use the swag you’ve sent…but what are the odds of that? For Capella, it was 1 in 4…with me, anyway.
Pleasing some of the people, some of the time
Really, Capella did a stellar job selecting swag. Unfortunately, the gifts’ relevance, appropriateness, and the rest, is 100% subjective. Capella sent the right stuff, but I was the wrong person for 75% of it. However, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts the swag that was crap to me was the delight of other learners.
Somewhere out there are dedicated Outlook and PDA users that chucked my beloved planner with haste. Somewhere out there are coffee-drinking commuters who embraced their Capella travel mug and car sticker, and mobile laptop users that would cage match over their wee Capella mouse. One student’s Grail is another student’s Dixie cup.
But you and I have neither time nor money to send the right thing to the wrong person, let alone the wrong thing to the right person. Bummer is, it doesn’t look like the odds are in our favor. Still, we’re not helpless. We can carefully select the gift and the recipient, and also learn from other folks’ swag stories.
What this means for you
Using the story of my Capella swag as a guide, the best gifts come from:
- Uncovering the needs and problems of your customers
- Finding or inventing a variety of solutions
- Customizing with your brand
- Ensuring your customers can personalize their gift
- Packaging and shipping with obvious care
- Building in reasons to send something regularly
Every gift won’t hit the mark with every person, but it’s worth the extra time—and maybe a bit more money—to deliver something singularly delightful.
Et tu? Have you received excellent gifts from vendors, or even clients? Did you give away something that customers loved? Lemme know down below!
Tagged with: free · gifts · power of free · promotion · promotional items · swag
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15 Responses to “The Holy Grail of Swag”
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I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.
Tina Russell
No way, you have a USB-powered mug warmer? Forgive me for ignoring all the other great info in this post to comment solely on the awesomeness of that statement…
Interestingly enough, the best swag I ever got was a t-shirt. But it wasn’t just an ordinary t-shirt… [pause, to allow readers to take a moment to get ready for the hugeness of the statement to come]
… it was a women’st-shirt. In my size. It was also a ringer tee in the style that was particularly popular at the time. I actually wore it. Out in public.
I was reading on a blog somewhere — something to do with computer dudes — where the writers were complaining that all the swag tees around were men’s large. These guys were the stereotypical small-to-medium tech geeks who subsisted on coffee and couscous. Wearing a large made them look like they’d raided their dad’s wardrobe.
In most cases, the right sizing thing would be totally unreasonable to expect — you have to please the largest number of people, and most people can at least wear a men’s large, even if they look ugly in it. I wonder how much money is being spent on t-shirts that the recipients would more than happily wear if only it fit.
@Tina — Hey there! Many thanks for the kudos, your comment, and coming back
@Kyle — Yes way! Can my hubby pick the perfect gift, or what?
I laughed out loud when I opened the box, then got misty-eyed. Family support for a back-to-school adventure comes in all kinds of packages…
p.s. He says to tell you it’s also a hub, so it’s practical x 2
@Naomi — I can only imagine a gift shirt that’s stylish AND fits. Were they distributed at an event so you got to choose your size? Or was it a lucky guess that got mailed to you?
I had given up on the idea of clothing swag, but clearly it just needs a rethink…many thanks!
Something customers and employees love? Yes!
gThankYou.com sells turkey gift certificates that companies give to employees, customers and friends.
We just completed our holiday season marketing research wrap-up. Customers averaged 9.5/10 when asked “how likely are you to give turkey gift certificates next year?”
That’s a huge vote of confidence, everyone loves turkey.
@Rick–Thanks for your comment!
This looks like a notable exception to my “don’t give food if you’re not a restaurant” position. As an incentive or promotion during the holiday season, an option/certificate to buy a turkey would be a memorable gesture, even if the turkey doesn’t last beyond next-day sandwiches
Mmm. Turkey. While there is very little that would encourage me to work outside the home, free turkeys at major gift giving occasions would be a tremendous incentive.
Naomi Dunford’s last blog post..When They Don’t Get The Joke
Oooh, and re: the t-shirt. My Mom was at a conference and she got to pick her size. Knowing she would look totally ridiculous in a ringer tee, she picked my size instead. It was like shopping, but free.
Naomi Dunford’s last blog post..When They Don’t Get The Joke
Crystal,
I get so much stuff it’s unbearable, and sadly, 95% wrong. Mugs and travel mugs galore for a picky chick who wants things to look right with the decor (and who almost never makes coffee); golf stuff (eek); various magnets, posters, etc. So much chocolate (which I do love, but ???) that I’d look like Augutus Gloop if I ate it all. I toss most.
People, I design for a living. Ugly stuff that’s all about you is wrong, wrong, wrong. Chocolate when everybody’s giving the same thing (holidays) is NOT memorable. Now maybe I’m hard to “buy” for. Fine, don’t. One year someone made a donation in my name to a charity. That was cool, and no stuff to pitch or garage-sale later. [Chocolate in May, I'd remember. If you want to do something tired, do it when nobody else is doing anything.]
Wine, on the other hand, is always welcome. Not that I’ll remember you, but I’ll have fun while I’m not remembering. That, sadly, would make it not good from your business standpoint.
My daughter’s elementary school, believe it or not, gives each student customized planners a lot like yours. (Spillproof, too, how clever of them to know kids so well.) That blew me away and made me love them forever, because I am a planner addict and now my little lady can grow up even more exactly in my image.
Your posts always get me thinking!
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Inspiration Points: Ideas
@Naomi–Ahhh, okay. Free shipping via Mom makes far more sense than the Right Size Guessing algorithm I thought the vendor had in the back room.
@Kelly–Another great idea from the Queen: “Chocolate in May, I’d remember. If you want to do something tired, do it when nobody else is doing anything.“
Crystal,
LOL “Right Size Guessing algorithm.”
I want one. Then the next time I think of sending annoying golf shirts to people who don’t golf with my BrainStorm logo on them… Oh, wait. I’m not gonna do that.
For great ideas on how to treat prospects and customers like individual people, not like faceless potential wads of cash, read Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. This is the swag I always give and hear raves about later, no kidding. It’s the first book I’ve bought in huge multiples to give away since Generation X, which was back in the Dark Ages. (I didn’t give that to clients.)
Fifteen years ago, the 7 Habits blew me away and changed me as a human and as a productive professional; last year, Never Eat Alone left me thinking and re-working what it means to be a true professional once again. If you let it be, it’s absolutely transformative. Love, love, love Keith Ferrazzi’s work-life philosophies. It’s thought-provoking, and you can put it to use instantly, too. What’s better than that?
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..Road Trip: Guest Post at Big Bright Bulb
@Kelly–Books as swag!? I love it!
And is if your recommendation for Never Eat Alone wasn’t enough (and it was), I can’t even hope to BookMooch it—it’s on the wishlists of 78 other people, so I’m wayyy down the line.
It says a lot about a book, when dozens of people want it and no one is giving up their copy in trade…
Many thanks!
Crystal,
I think it’s right around $20 at amazon. You’ll never want to give it back, so definitely buy it. He’s so brilliant, you’ll be bookmarking every page. He has a blog http://nevereatalone.typepad.com/blog/ too. I read it regularly, but it’s not as brilliant as the book.
Oh, plus he’s cute. I don’t say that when giving the book to male clients, but female clients notice. Hehehe.
Regards,
Kelly
Kelly’s last blog post..2008 Interview Series
Kelly—Ahhh, so many blogs, so little time
I have NEA as my nearly next read, I need to finish E-Myth first…which would entail actually starting it, and then 7 Habits. So it may be a bit before I get to read it, but I am definitely looking forward to it. ~CW
ps He IS cute, in a rugged-and-clever-Daniel-Craig kind of way…
[...] I wrote about Capella University’s wondrous freebies in the Holy Grail of Swag, I truly believed their customized and personalizable academic planner couldn’t be topped. I [...]