14 DAY TRIAL // This time of the year is made for giving and most companies don't miss out on the opportunity to show just how much they care for their customers. This is true for web companies also and Facebook, which has had quite a good year, is trying to impress in 2009. It's not as much the value of the gifts which stand out, but the work that went into them. The social network has sent its most valued advertising clients a 19-by-19-inch, embossed and foiled poster along with a wooden token for DonorsChoose all stylishly packaged.
It actually took Facebook two months to create the gifts and only 4,000 posters were printed aimed at the biggest clients. The posters themselves are incredibly detailed and emphasize Facebook's main focus "Connect" and "Share." Besides the posters, the advertisers also got a $75 token for either the DonorsChoose organization, which enables donors to select the charity they want to make their contribution to, or one for Kiva for international customers.
The entire creation process is documented on the Facebook page the social network set up for the campaign from the initial sketches of the design to the manufacturing process. Of course, with the company expected to bring in $500 million in revenue this year, and the gifts only going out to the biggest clients, it's safe to assume that it's not exactly operating at a loss here.
It's not the only company rewarding its best customers, though, Google has also had a tradition of sending out various, sometimes expensive, gifts to its most prized customers. This year, it skipped the process entirely and instead is giving the money it would have used for the campaign, $20 million, to charity. Facebook's costs for the gifts are well below that, though likely above $1 million, but then again, Facebook isn't bringing in tens of billions from advertising each year, like Google does.
