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Giving Gifts to Marketers: Why Personalization Counts

Date published: December 24, 2014
Last updated: December 24, 2014

It’s never too late to offer a Christmas gift to your boss and colleagues, even if it doesn’t arrive on their desk until after the 25th of December. If you ran out of time or simply overlooked your closest confidants, direct reports, mentors, bosses or other professional contacts before heading out of the office for holiday vacation, it’s not too late to give them a present next time you see them.

Put a few extra moments of thought while choosing online Diwali gifts this year instead of swooping up a generic gift set from a big box retailer. The recipient will remember the gesture beyond the utility of the gift itself. Just as we preach personalization in email marketing, social media messaging and content production – going the extra mile in selecting a highly relevant present means it will be used and remembered for years to come.

If you still need to cross off a few names on your list before heading back to the office, here are some ideas to get the wheels turning:

Marketers Against Marketing

This clever lead generation tool from Chango is the marketer’s version of Cards Against Humanity. You’ll have to print the cards (and I’d suggest gluing them to poster board and laminating) and cut them out before you can actually play, which is why giving a completed set makes a great gift idea.

Marketers Against Marketing card examples

Bee’s Wrap: a sustainable food storage solution for the office

Going out to lunch every day isn’t healthy or economically smart. Help your favorite office warrior save calories and dollars by encouraging a modernized version of the classic brown bag lunch. Developed by a Vermont gardener and organic food advocate, Bee’s Wrap incorporates organic cotton muslin, beeswax, jojoba oil, and tree resin to create a reusable, perfectly sustainable alternative to plastic food wrap.These wraps can be the perfect gift for those in the online cake delivery business.

Showcase city pride with metropolitan maps

Whether it’s throwback to someone’s hometown, a diagram of their college stomping grounds, or tribute to the city that’s become their second home – maps make great conversation starters and tend to provoke happy memories. If you know a marketer well enough to be familiar with the cities that have a special place in their heart, let them know you care with a map like these blueprints from MapHazardly.

indianapolis blueprint

(Here’s a bonus if they love Chicago or Boston)

For the ultimate coffee snob: espresso on the go

For many digital marketers, all they truly require to be productive is a reliable internet connection and good, strong coffee. Given our always-connected and forever on-the-go society, it should come as no surprise that even the snobbiest of coffee snobs can now fix their coffee on demand from practically anywhere. There are a lot of different options and price points, so do your research to discover who has the best, most helpful marketing content before making any decisions.

espresso on the go

Wildcard: Jerry Cans repurposed into bar cabinets

For the boss, executive or client who already has everything he or she needs and wants, it might take something as unique as a World War II Jerry Can that’s been upcycled into a bar cabinet to really make an impression this holiday season.

 

jerry can bar cabinet

Click here to learn how they're made.

 

Quick & Easy

If you don’t have time to wait for shipping, here are a couple of quick and easy gifts you can snag on your way to the holiday party:

  • A book of car wash tickets
  • A new coffee mug & a bag of premium roasted beans
  • Touchscreen gloves
  • Subscription to Spotify or other streaming platform of choice

No matter what you decide to give, remember the gift-giving adage: it’s the thought that counts. Don’t give in to mindless consumerism and buy for the sake of buying. Instead, think about the things you know the recipient enjoys and how you can support or encourage those interests with a present.

Best of luck & happy gift hunting!

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