When it comes to corporate gifting, most reach for the old standbys: a pen, a key chain or a tote bag. This boring repetition makes the playing field ripe with opportunity for those looking to stand out from the crowd. Custom cookies provide the recipient with a memory that taps into all the senses: smell, sight, sound (crunch!), feeling and of course, taste.

A pen just can’t compete. The idea behind giving a pen with a logo is that people will look at it more often. But you know what our brain does to old information? It literally screens it out. We don’t “see” things we already know exist- we remember them as we first saw them.

Personalized cookies, on the other hand, tap into all the sensory centers in the brain. Have you ever been going about your day when you smelled something special – fresh laundry hanging in the wind, a certain coffee blend- and it brought you right back to where you were the first time you smelled it? Research shows that smell actually makes your memories stronger and more vivid. Olfactory memories are powerful reminders, and that’s just one of the senses the deliciousness of our custom cookies activates.

It’s common sense, and it’s also part of an exciting new field called neuromarketing. Neuromarketing focuses on how the brain makes choices. By using neuromarketing principles, you can be at the cutting-edge of corporate gifting and scientific research.

What Science Tells Us About Business Gifts

In studies done with Coca Cola and Pepsi in a blind taste test, half the subjects chose Pepsi. But when subjects were told they were drinking Coca Cola, 75% of them said that they thought Coca Cola tasted better than Pepsi (though they were actually drinking Pepsi at the time and couldn’t even tell it wasn’t Coke!).

Why do people assume Coca Cola tastes better than Pepsi? Brain scans showed that thinking about Coca Cola activated parts of the brain associated with memory: the hippocampus. Pepsi did not. Pepsi is a newer brand; no nostalgia factor. Not like Coca Cola, with the whole soda fountain, glass bottle and bottle opener phase.

Why Custom Cookies Work

Memory. Memory is what makes a difference, especially when linked to emotion. A pen doesn’t make an impression because people don’t engage their senses around a pen. They don’t make memories.

But a customized cookie is branded to you – and it’s still a cookie. A custom cookie is an effective piece of neuromarketing, because cookies evoke nostalgia. Just like Coca Cola, a cookie reminds us of better days. Childhood. Licking the spoon. Eating loose chocolate chips.

A gift that can tap into that memory is powerful. That’s why people choose branded cookies.