Branded Client Gifts: What Gets Used and What Ends Up in a Drawer

A branded client gift stays in use when it's something they need every day: a laptop backpack, a business bag for meetings or a leather wallet. What ends up in a drawer is usually a gimmick with a big logo on it. The rule of thumb: choose the object first, then decide how much logo it can carry.

Why most client gifts don't survive the month

Every business knows the drill: at the end of the year, or before a holiday, dozens of gifts land in the office. A pen, a mug, a keychain, a box of chocolates. The chocolates get eaten, and everything else goes into a drawer, logo facing down. The problem isn't the budget. It's that the gift doesn't solve anything in the life of the person who gets it.

A gift your client takes to the next meeting does the opposite. They see it every morning, the people around them see it, and it reminds them who gave it without anyone having to say a word.

What actually gets used

• A laptop backpack: the safest gift for a client who works on a laptop and moves between the office, home and meetings. Look for a padded compartment that fits 15.6 to 16 inch laptops, the most common size today, and a neutral color like black or gray. Laptop backpacks for 15.6 to 16 inch laptops.
• A business bag or laptop briefcase: for clients who show up to meetings in a suit, not with a backpack. A professional look, a laptop compartment, and room for documents and a charger. How to choose a business bag.
• A leather wallet: a smaller, more personal gift that gets used several times a day. Some of our wallets come in a Camel Mountain gift box, as noted on the product page. All wallets.

What fits clients less well: products that depend on size or strong personal taste, and products that need explaining.

Where to put the logo so the gift doesn't look like an ad

A client won't walk into a meeting wearing a billboard. A small, clean logo in a discreet spot turns a bag into something people enjoy carrying. A huge logo in loud colors turns it into promotional merchandise that stays in the closet.

Before any printing, make sure the bag is suitable for it, agree on exactly where the logo sits, and approve a proof first. And remember you need the right to use the logo you send.

There's also a second option: no logo at all. For your closest clients, an unbranded gift with a personal card often feels like a gesture rather than a campaign.

Big client, small client: the same gift?

Not necessarily. Many businesses split their clients into two or three groups:

• Key clients: a bigger gift, such as an expandable business bag or a laptop backpack with a USB port.
• Regular clients: a simpler backpack in the same color with the same print, so all the gifts look like one series.
• Your many contacts: a wallet or a small accessory that shows you remembered them.

The card that comes with the gift

The gift does half the work, the card does the other half. Two handwritten lines, with the client's name and one thing that happened between you this year (the project you closed, the meeting that started the relationship), are worth more than any logo. If you have many clients, you can print most of the text and handwrite only the name and signature. And whoever hands the gift over in person, at a meeting, usually gets a good conversation out of it too.

What about the tax side?

The rules for deducting client gifts as a business expense vary and come with limits, so check that part with your accountant before you set a budget.

A gift with service behind it

A client gift is also a business card. If a zipper breaks after two months, that's what the client will remember. All our bags and backpacks come with a 12-month warranty on all components, unless the product page says otherwise.

More ideas in our guides to conference and trade show gifts and backpacks with your company logo.