The Major Problem with Giving an Apple Corporate Gift

If you are searching for corporate gifts, chances are that you are already gifting. So, how do you get the biggest bang for your buck?

Corporate gifts are an excellent way to establish long-lasting client relationships. But how do you make sure that your gifts are doing just that?

Studies show that when giving a gift, companies focus more on the moment of exchanging the gift, whereas the recipients think about how useful the gift will be to them throughout their lifetime. This discrepancy in perceptions can often lead to companies spending thousands on expensive corporate gifts like Apple corporate gifts yet failing to yield the desired results.

So, how do you give your clients and employees gifts that they will genuinely value and derive 10 times ROI from gifting? Strategic corporate gifting is the answer.

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

What Strategic Corporate Gifting Can Do for Your Company

Strategic corporate gifting allows you to build loyalty in your customers and employees. And why is that important? Loyal people will always go the extra mile for your business. Your employees will work their level best to try to achieve the goals you envisaged for your company.

Your clients will put in a word for you to prospects you might not have otherwise reached. And when you try to upsell or cross-sell products, your clients will actually listen to you and trust your recommendations.

Loyal clients and employees will be available for you when you need them. You will get more deals signed by such clients. When they promise something, they are more likely to keep their word because they value the relationship you share with them.

It is difficult to put a price tag on something as invaluable as loyalty, but the increased ROI from well-planned corporate gifting will surely help your business achieve the long-term profit figures you want.

Is Your Apple Corporate Gift Personalized?

Sure, you can engrave text on iPads or iPod touches for gifting to your clients. You could add their first name or their family name or add a heartfelt message from your brand and rest assured that the gift is personalized enough.

However, think about it- how many people go around with messages from brands engraved onto their devices? Most people do not have their names engraved on the electronic devices they use daily either. Hence, they might not like to use ones you might give to them as corporate gifts.

Moreover, Apple devices are sensitive. You cannot be sure that having your Apple corporate gifts engraved will not result in them getting broken. Even if just one device breaks, that is hundreds of dollars down the drain.

You can also have your company logo added to your Apple corporate gifts. But we would discourage it for the same reason- clients would not like to use such a device regularly.

Also, putting the company logo on corporate gifts has become an unfashionable trend. It just ruins things that would otherwise have served as good gifts. When you give a gift to someone you value, you give them something they would personally appreciate- a gift that is all about them and their preferences. Slapping on a logo just reminds the client of blatant self-promotion and makes it all about you instead.

Is Your Apple Corporate Gift the Best-in-Class?

Best-in-class items have immaculate quality. They last for years after years- virtually the definition of durability.

Now, it is understandable why you would presume that Apple products are the best-in-class. After all, they have been here since 1976. The brand has become almost synonymous with exclusivity and is used as a prime example of innovation across the globe.

But before gifting your precious customers brand new iPod touches and prepaid iTunes Gift Cards, it is worth investigating how the customers feel about their products over time and how the brand treats its customers at present. If the clients you are gifting Apple products to are not satisfied with the gift after using it for some time, there would be no point in giving the gift.

For this, have a look at the myriad of reviews by real users of Apple products floating around on review sites. This may come as a shock to many, but at the time this article was written, Apple products had an overall rating of only 1.6 out of 5 on Trustpilot.

And this isn’t even all.

It seems like Apple’s customer service isn’t winning any hearts either.

Apple and Obsolescence

Best-in-class products are nothing if not durable. They last for years and do not become obsolete fast. You want to give your clients heirloom products, something that the family can pass down generations for use. Giving heirloom products as corporate gifts is a good way to instill brand loyalty in your client and their entire family.

However, Apple products do not seem to possess the virtue of durability either, as we can infer from these user reviews. And user complaints about the forced obsolescence are not just limited to iPhones either. Below is a user review on iPod Touch, Apple’s iOS-based handheld device primarily used for storing and listening to music.

Most Apple products become obsolete after some months. Just consider the case of the iPhone, where new models are announced literally every year.

So, no matter how much thought and effort you put into it, your Apple corporate gift will never turn into a family heirloom. It is probably not even going to serve your client for more than a year.

Moreover, the high value and excitement associated with a new model of an Apple device quickly fade within a few months as Apple releases the next, improved model. So, even if your client loves Apple products, they are not likely to be excited about any device you gift for more than a few months.

Thus, Apple corporate gifts really cannot be called the best-in-class, and your clients deserve nothing but the best.

Gifting Electronics- a Major Faux Pas

Electronic products have become a major part of our lives. While this reason may seem like a good reason to provide electronics as corporate gifts, it actually is the opposite. Because electronics have now become part and parcel of our daily lives, most people have certain tastes and preferences when it comes to devices they would regularly use. It is very difficult to get it right as these factors are very personal. Electronics such as smartphones and similar devices quickly become obsolete as newer, improved models are produced to the problem.

What Does a Great Strategic Corporate Gift Look Like?

Apart from being the best-in-class and personalized, your corporate gift should have other traits as well in order to give you the ROI you want.

• Practical: The gift should be one that your clients and employees can use at least 3 to 5 times a week. The aim is not to be one of a kind or cute. The gift has to be able to integrate into their lives and pleasantly remind them about you every time they use the gift.
• Luxurious: Corporate gifting is not the right place to be cheap. You need to gift your clients luxurious items that they would not buy for themselves but would be thrilled to own.
• Part of a continuity theme: If you want the emotional impact of your gifts to snowball and grow with each gift, consider setting a theme for your gifts. Themed gifts mean that every gift would be related to each other and would make sense as a series. Continued gifts mean multiple touchpoints and so multiple impressions.
• Involves the inner circle: If you can convince your prospects or VIP clients’ kids, partner, or even assistant to become your fan, your client will become a fan of you. Strategic corporate gifting involves gifts that your VIP clients’ families can use. If your prospect’s wife tells him how much the kids love the ice cream bowl you gave them bearing the family name, it will mean a lot more to him than a thousand referrals.
• Has a personalized handwritten note: Adding a personalized handwritten note is a small gesture that goes a long way. It makes the client feel close to you, like an old friend. It makes them feel special. The result? All those good feelings become associated with your brand.

What Can We Do for You?

At Gift·ology, we help you in your journey to become and maintain a leadership position in your industry through strategic gift marketing. Good gift marketing can get you good referrals, great clients and will help you build amazing goodwill.

Unlike other forms of marketing, gift marketing with Gift·ology is a gift that never stops giving. Your clients will never stop appreciating the time and effort you put into getting them the gifts they will use and appreciate.

Connect with us to upgrade your gift marketing game. Let us help you take your brand to unimaginable heights!