Western Europe: The Business of Giving

WESTERN EUROPE

Though the practice of Christmas gift giving has reached its dizzy apex in the U.S., Europe is not far behind. Last week executives cleared their offices and sat back expectantly for the deluge of gifts that this year will break every record in Europe. As in the U.S., better times mean bigger gifts and more ingenuity in selecting them. To provide both, a flourishing industry has grown up in Britain and on the Continent.

British businessmen will give out about $12 million worth of Christmas gifts this season, and some 30 firms now specialize in servicing British corporations’ gift lists. In France, where the corporate-gift retailers number about 100, the total may reach $25 million. This year German industry will lay out close to $105 million in gifts; Germany has close to 1,000 gift makers and distributors. The practice of giving business gifts at Christmas is growing 10% a year in Finland; in Stockholm, a dozen firms now specialize in gifts for Swedish businessmen.

American Influence. Gift-giving practices vary—and so do the taboos. The trend in Britain, unlike the rest of Europe, is toward less expensive gifts because of new, more stringent tax laws on gift giving. In Finland, any gift exceeding $30 is considered a straight bribe, and in Sweden it is considered bad form to give liquor—the most popular gift in the rest of Europe. The Germans prefer gifts that can be used over and over, do not like conspicuous firm names or advertising messages. Very few firms in Europe forbid their employees to accept gifts.

In Spain, most corporations now give the traditional ccsta, a hamper of food, wines and liquors, some of which cost up to several hundred dollars and require several men to transport. The British are big on food hampers, desk equipment, pen and pencil sets and cocktail accessories, have stepped up their overseas giving as part of their export drive. Germany’s most common gift is the calendar, followed by leather goods, such metal goods as pocket knives and scissors and desk equipment. Everybody seems to be fond of giving such gadgets as a blinking alarm clock or a pocket vacuum cleaner.

Police Cleanup. Germany’s DEMAG steel company this year is sending out lithographs, some up to 150 years old, that depict 19th century ironmaking, and Bertelsmann, the Westphalian publishing house, will give hampers filled with Westphalian ham, pumpernickel and Steinhagen, a German gin. France’s Banque Dupont will send a classic Eversharp desk set with two pens. Dujar-din, the cognac maker, is distributing an auto distress kit complete with blinking light. NK, Sweden’s leading department store, sends out an LP record called “Music from Creative Sweden,” while the Skandinaviska Bank distributes great straw plant baskets containing a miniature garden of Sweden’s favorite Christmas indoor plants.

The Italians have taken to business gift giving with a frenzy, heavily favor French champagne or Italian spumante, Scotch and cognac. Martini & Rossi, Cinzano and Carpano all send out packages or cases of their best vermouth. ENI, the government-owned petroleum combine, gives champagne in decorative holders; IRI, the industrial combine, sends cases of high-quality Maccarese wine. No one cleans up in Italy like the Italian police. Companies have taken up the custom, long observed by the populace, of giving them presents at Epiphany. One result is that on Jan. 6 it is often difficult to spot a traffic cop behind his mountain of gifts.