ARE you always thinking and running out of ideas on what gifts you can give to your friends in the media?
As public-relations (PR) practitioners, it is important for us to build or sustain our relationship with the media, whom we must consider and respect as partners in our practice. This is because without their help, our publicity campaigns would not be successful.
Delightful chore
HAVING been in the PR business for more than three decades, gift-giving has become a delightful “chore” for me. It’s something that I truly enjoy doing, just like I enjoy shopping for myself and for my family.
What I have learned over the years of giving gifts and tokens is one should always think of what the recipient would like and what would be appropriate and convenient for them. It is definitely helpful if you yourself like the gift because then it means you are really giving something of yourself—since it is your personal choice and something you would use yourself.
Be extra-sensitive to their needs
THE first thing to remember about the media is that they, too, can appreciate anything, from the simplest gifts to those they can experience and remember in a good way. You just have to be extra sensitive to their needs and what is practical for them to use.
Some helpful tips
HERE are some common ideas, which, I think, always work:
- Books—In my experience, books make the most ideal gifts for journalists, editors and the media. I have never met anyone who refused or returned a book to the giver. The choice of books can range from bestsellers, travel, fashion and cookbooks to history or biography, depending on the interest of the person you’re giving it to. If you know the person’s hobbies, give them something related to their passion. If they’re a sports buff, give them a sports book. If they are a techie, give them the latest stories about gadgets and phones. As the saying goes: “A book is a present that you can open again and again.”
- Food—Homemade food or specialties you buy from popular restaurants or from secret, unknown sources are always welcome gifts, especially if you deliver them to media offices at a time when they expect to be working late hours. This works well for print media, whose working hours are from afternoon to late evening. For magazine offices, it is best to call ahead to make sure your intended recipients will be there as their work hours are often irregular and they spend a lot of time outside. So your special food might just end up being enjoyed by the office-bound staff, which, on the other hand, is not necessarily bad because food is meant to be enjoyed by more people.
- Services that they can avail themselves of in their free time or with their families—These may include overnight “staycation” in hotels or relaxing spas and massage services they can avail themselves of during their off days or on weekends or holidays. Since you cannot dictate when they should use these services, it is recommended that you give them clearly stated terms and open-dated gift certificates (GCs) so they know exactly what you are offering them.
Just please make sure these GCs will be honored by the establishments because the worst that can happen is when media present the GCs, they will receive the “cold shoulder” treatment. Or sometimes, they might even be questioned on where and how they got the GCs. This can be most embarrassing for the recipients. I know some media people who just simply walk away and choose to forget about that establishment— and the PR person who gave the GC.
So keep this in mind: When giving GCs, make sure they will be honored without question, and that they do not expire.
- Personalized gifts—Gifts that have their names on them—like pens, stationery and travel bags—are generally welcome and appreciated. But just make sure you spell their names correctly, or else you will offend the recipient, instead of pleasing them.
What not to give
IN the same manner that there are well-received gifts, there are also examples of gifts we should avoid or not choose to give because they might give the recipients more problems than joy. Here are some:
- Gift certificates that have expiration dates or that can only be used by the recipients themselves.
The Department of Trade and Industry has now ruled that GCs should not have any expiration dates so do make sure when you give these as gifts, they will, indeed, still be useful a year or more later when your recipients suddenly discover that they had hidden them somewhere.
- Food that will spoil within the next 24 hours, or will not taste good a day after, or if it needs to be refrigerated.
While it is quite touching to receive specially cooked food, like bibingka or desserts, always bear in mind that if you are not delivering these to the homes of the media, food may spoil in their offices if they are not eaten right away. So if you’re giving food, you must give the recipients prior notice that you will be delivering it at a certain day and time.
- Heavy baskets or bags of products you are promoting.
During news conferences or meetings with the media, while it is impressive and generous to give them huge baskets or boxes of food or products that you are promoting, make sure it doesn’t become their problem on how to bring them out of the venue. For example, if you are promoting drinks in cans or special wine in bottles that may be difficult to lug, you should arrange for these gifts to be delivered to their homes or offices at the very least.
Also, if you have invited beat reporters to cover your news conference, sometimes they don’t have rides or they might still need to cover another appointment. So it would be thoughtful of you to arrange their transportation to bring them to a convenient place. They surely appreciate little things like this.
So, while giving gifts to media may help you gain their goodwill and help you achieve maximum publicity for your clients, make sure you do it right—or else your gift-giving will have the opposite, unwanted effect.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the President and CEO of Buensalido & Associates Public Relations.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.