When we started producing Souvenirs, Gifts and Novelties, all these memories came flooding back to me of places I’ve visited and the souvenirs I picked up along the way. I used to travel extensively to trade shows for work and I’d buy a magnet from every city I visited. It only took a couple of years for one side of my fridge to be almost completely covered with magnets from Las Vegas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Myrtle Beach and many other popular trade show destinations.
Then there was the time I went to Amsterdam for a conference in 2010. As my flight was about to depart at Schiphol Airport, it dawned on me that I didn’t know when and if I would ever return to Amsterdam. I went to the nearest airport gift store and stocked up on as many magnets, ceramic clog figurines, Dutch dolls and anything else that I could fit in my carry-on before my flight.
Going back to my childhood, I even remember the Mickey ears I got on my first trip to Disney World at age four that had my name embroidered on the back. Then there was also the time at age 12 that my mom insisted on bringing a large bunch of dried chili peppers back from Arizona to Pennsylvania with us.
We made quite the scene at Cleveland Hopkins Airport during a torrential downpour. My mother, not wanting to get her prized chili peppers wet, had my older sister give up her bright orange windbreaker to zip around the peppers as we trounced through deep puddles on our way to the car.
You make a lasting impact on your customers. They see items they purchase from you all the time, reminding them of the places they’ve visited. Like me, your customers might not know when they will be back, but you can find ideas in the following pages that will help them keep those memories close by.
