It came from the company that manages my email and related services (Cumulus Global), and included a handwritten thank you note from the company owner.

It was significant: an Anker 521 Power Bank. I know, I had no idea what that is either.

But when I looked it up (it’s a thing that charges many devices at once and/or when you are away from a power source), I discovered that it retails for $50.

What did I do to deserve this? Apparently, I left them a 5-star google review earlier this year (I had completely forgotten).

I don’t know how many of these they send (it was branded with the company name) and for the same $50 they could have sent (for example) 10, five-dollar Starbucks gift cards.

The thing is, while both are nice gestures, only one moves the Wow needle.

And moving the Wow needle is what marketing is all about.