Hollywood Gifting Suites and SWAG… Good branding or a total waste of money, time and resources?
On Saturday, March 6, I had the privilege of attending one of the many Hollywood gifting suites set up for the Academy Awards. For those of you who are not familiar with this type of event the best way to describe it is a group of vendors in a room, suite or some sort of event space giving away free products, coupons or services to celebrities, publicists, press and other members of said peoples entourages. Some of these gifting suites are the hottest tickets in town and if you go to the right one you can walk away with tens of thousands of dollars worth of Swag (short for "Stuff We All Get", or "Souvenirs, Wearabes, and Gifts”). The event I was attending, “The Aesthetic Everything Celebrity Gifting Suite and pre-party” was far from the top of the line SWAG but not without its merit.
The gifting suite was held in empty floor of a brand new luxury apartment complex called “Sunset Vine Tower.” With my invitation in hand and dressed in upscale casual (as the initiation has requested… after all, there were going to be photographers!) I entered the 18th floor, not knowing what to expect but giddy with excitement.
I knew right away that I was not in one of the fabled gifting suites with X-Box’s, free safaris and diamond rings but looking around I knew that there were some goodies to be had. I was very quickly approached and asked “Talent or Press?” Well, both I responded and I handed the person asking my card (I am a professional magician in addition to my many other interests and jobs). From a nobody to a somebody in 2 minutes, I was quickly given a bag for my swag, a glass of champagne and a hardy welcome. I was now allowed to explore, enjoy and become part of the gifting suite process.
Looking around at the products being given out I couldn’t help but wonder… is it really worth it? Sure, having a big star wear your clothing might bring in some more business and for some of the venders, the massage parlor giving free massages or the caterer giving out free food, might get a new client or two, but for the most part looking back, I have no idea who gave me what or what they gave me… I just took, took, took. I am the proud new owner of premium hand cream made with snake venom, a water bottle with some sort of magical water that will make me healthy and a book written by someone I don’t know and will never read (she did write a lovely inscription in it though!). As I joined the throngs of C,D and E list celebrities, models and others (myself included in the others category) I couldn’t help by wonder- why are you giving away your product, time and money to people who no one knows and no one cares about.
Building a brand image is important and getting a celebrity endorsements can actually help increase sales enormously but these gifting suites, in my opinion do nothing more than deplete cash flow and use up inventory. At a trade show you are showing potential buyers your goods and at stores you are selling to the general public but at a gifting suite you are giving away valuable product to anyone and everyone hoping that someone famous will first show up and than second wear it or use it in public. It all seems a bit crazy to me. But crazy it is, and companies still support this industry. Just check out Whats in the Swag Bag. An Online Magazine Celebrating Hollywood Swag Lounges, where Bradley Garfinkel writes about the gifting suite industry.
I totally understand giving Tom Cruise a free vacation worth ten thousand dollars, because if he takes it and gets photographed enjoying the pool, your resort now has a reputation of being a celebrity hangout, and that “gift” will repay itself tenfold, but giving me a bottle of hand cream will never, ever result in anything more than my hands being very soft!
I had a lovely time at the gifting suite and really hope I get to go to another one, after all, who doesn’t like free stuff, but I hope the next time I go the companies do a better job at selling me the things they are giving me. If I don’t remember who gave me what I will not buy it, support it or even right now write about it. Yes, I got lots of business cards but those mean nothing because I don’t remember anything about who gave them to me, yes, I got lots of cool products that will sit on my shelf unused and yes, I had a great time at this event (kudos to the event producer who actually did put together a great event) but what I didn’t get was why all this was happening.
The problem with the gifting suites can best be explained with the story of one of this years Academy Award nominees. Every event this person was invited to she would respond saying she would only go if she was paid and when she did show up she would bring an entire entourage of friends, workers, assistants and family and as expected, all of these people would enjoy the benefits of the event. Now, I don’t think the entire entourage was given free trips and diamond rings but I do know that they walked away with lots of swag… and that trip that was given to Tom Cruise… It was probably given to Tom’s assistant because let’s face it- if Tom wants to go on a vacation he can afford it.
Long story short- work on creating a brand image with people who will actually buy your product- don’t give it away for free because if it doesn’t cost something it isn’t worth something!