Archive for category: Corporate Gifts

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With two back to back gifting season in Singapore, corporate gifts buyers have been wondering if it is worth it to order personalized gifts for certain clients, or even, if it makes a difference at all. Today we would like to share some thoughts on this particular matter.

Let’s talk about what gifts mean to people

Gifts, in general, are considered a token for appreciation, although everyone enjoys being appreciated, there is without a doubt some different level of appreciation you can express through a gift. It has been long established that, when it comes to personal gifts, a personalized gift is better than a non-personalized gift. Not only does it create a uniqueness that is generally greatly appreciated, it also represents a more in depth relationship between the two, given at least some level of familiarization is required for one to even come up with a personal gift for another person.

What do corporate gifts mean to people, then?

Now, what about corporate gifts? Some might think that personalized corporate gifts are perhaps just one step too far and that that level of intimacy is perhaps only appropriate for friends and family. In fact, that is not the case at all. A personalized corporate gift tells your client that not only do you value the relationship you have together, you are also keen to have a closer relationship, and that they are special to you. It’s a nice gesture that invites a closer relationship, something people generally don’t hate in the world of business with almost no downside and impossible to backfire. So relax, this is not like sending your ex-girlfriend a diamond necklace with her initials carved into it, which could easily backfire and I suggest you really, really think things through before you commit.

Related (A list of useful corporate gifts for Gen Y)

Personalized corporate gift’s main advantage

Another strong reason to go with personalized corporate gifts is also perhaps the main reason most people do it- To stand out.

By now we know corporate gift giving is so common that almost everyone and their mother does it. This also means that people receive a lot, and I mean, a lot of corporate gifts during the holiday seasons as well as other common local occasions. Naturally, when there is a lot of something, inevitably, one or two of those things would probably go unnoticed. And because the marketing nature of corporate gift, the last thing you want is have your corporate gift buried deep under other gifts and never even see the light of day.

Now, I’m not saying that personalized gifts guarantee eyeballs, attention and appreciation from the recipient. There are still a handful of things that can go wrong when it comes to personalized corporate gifts. But at least it’s a good start to differentiate your gift from all the others. After all, in the world of business as well as professional relationships, there is no such thing as “It’s the thought that counts”.

Personalized gifts can especially be more effective at attention catching when your intended recipient is a big corporation, the more business relationships they have, the more likely that they receive a good amount of corporate gifts when it comes the season. The fact that the gift is personalized, it almost always guarantees at least a couple more seconds of time that the recipient will spend on the gift. And that is a couple more seconds of time for you to work your marketing magic with the gift. The end goal is always to ensure your client enjoy your corporate gift, not just giving out corporate gifts for the sake of it.

Now, we have shared two main reasons why we think personalized gifts are better for both personal and business purposes. There are, of course, other factors to take into consideration, such as budgets, designs, and the items you’re choosing and the level of personalization that can be incorporated to the gift. However, those vary case by case and we recommend a detailed discussion with your corporate gifts vendor to determine the best way to proceed. Last but not least, always double check with the compliance and regulation to ensure that you’re not stepping any line with your gifts and getting anyone in any trouble.

And if you had any other question, give us a ring and have a little chat, we would love to help!

With Chinese new year right around the corner, this also means one thing in Singapore: It’s corporate gifts season!

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Corporate gift is not a new thing; in fact, it is so common that everyone and their mailman has either given or been given corporate gifts, and that is both a blessing and a curse. The delightful part is, giving always brings in a good feeling, that is, if you know for sure that you do a good job giving the gift. On the other hand, exactly because corporate gift is so common, a lot of them are considered very boring, some gifts, and this might seem cruel, have never even been opened! And that, would be the cursing. Nobody wants to give out a gift that never gets opened. Not even for corporate gifts, and especially not corporate gifts!

So the question is, how do you avoid being boring with your corporate gifts for the business clients? And keep in mind that the chance is that your business clients receive, or at least have seen a lot of corporate gifts.

There are more than a couple answers and approach to this question, but making them customized gifts is always a good approach and first step to that. By doing this, you let them know that they are special to you, and that you have them in mind when you are doing your holiday or seasonal greetings planning.

How do you customize gifts for your business clients?

When it comes to customized gifts for business clients, almost everyone’s first instinct is to incorporate their logo to your gifts. While this is a very sweet thought, it almost always creates some copy right issues. Remember, logos are generally protected by trademark and are intellectual property. Unauthorized use of someone else’s logo should be avoided. Even if and when you mean well. Another thing is that it might trigger some compliance issue, especially if your client is a big or even multi-national company. Should any of the gifts end up at the hand of a third party, the logo on it would be generally interpreted as the source of the item, which would be associated with responsibility. Should things go south, it could go wrong real fast, and bad.

Related (Corporate Gift Ideas for the Holidays)

That is not to say you shouldn’t put any logo on your gifts at all. In fact, you should definitely put your own logo, not only will that remind them where the gift came from somewhere down the road, it will also prevent the “out of sight, out of mind” situation when your interaction with each other is less frequent.

No their logo, just my logo, what else can I do to make my gift for my business client more “customized”?

Generally, a gift that comes with your own business logo is already considered “customized”, but, it never hurts to take it to the next level. For example, things like calendars have a lot of space of customization. If you are producing a large number of corporate gifts for one business clients and have a long history of working together with the client, considering creating designs or images that tells the story of your working history or a showcase of the products or projects that you’ve worked together on. Yes, calendars are very common and could often be boring, but this touch of customization will certainly make your calendar stands out while sending the message of “We care about you and we value your business and our working relationship!”.

If you don’t have a long list of products or projects that you’ve worked on together, don’t get frustrated just yet. If your client’s office is in an iconic building, a nice, little model of the building as an accessory is always a cute way to say thank you and this is a special gift for you.

After all, the art of gift giving, regardless corporate gifts or personal gifts, is revolve around bringing joy to the recipient. Making them feel special is a great way to do it. Whatever you’re choosing to give to your client as a highly customized, corporate gift, don’t be afraid to make it personal. It could be an item that means something to them, it could be something that triggers the memory of working together, or even something that would make anyone think of them.

To sums it up, the general directions you want to go for a very customized corporate gift for your client are:

1. Make it all about them (But do not use their logo)
2. Make it all about your long history of working together

And remember, don’t limit yourself with designs, graphics or prints to demonstrate the above, a clever little item that does either of that would work just fine!

Don’t let the name “Corporate gifts” fool you, corporate gifts have been, in fact, used as a marketing tool all over the world. And in major business hubs like Singapore, unique corporate gifts are often one of the best marketing tools of businesses.

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How so?

Corporate gifts, unlike traditional marketing tools like advertisements, banners, or posters, are a lot more mobile, and a lot more “up close” when it comes to their exposure to your customers and potential customers.

For example, let’s say you run an herbal tea business, and you decided to make 1,000 mugs as corporate gifts. The very common practice is, a logo of your business will be on every mug. Regardless the style of the design; the logo can be very centered, or very subtly placed at the corner, but there is a logo.

And now, your recipient happens to be in need of a mug and starts using your mug around the office or at home, that means that mug with your logo on it will be seen by a number of people – the recipient’s colleagues, family members and friends. All those people now at the very least recognize your logo. And just like that, your brand recognition is now improved.

Although brand recognition is a pretty important part of any marketing strategy in just about any industry, but the marketing power of corporate gifts does not have to stop here.

Beyond Brand Recognition

Getting people to know the name of your brand is already a success as far as corporate gifts go, to take it to the next level, you would need to intrigue the potential customers and even make them get to know you.

Can you do all these through giving out corporate gifts?

The answer is yes.

Remember, anything with your logo on it is a representation of your business. That mug you made as corporate gifts? It says more than just “happy holidays!”. The quality and design of the mug represents who you are as a business. Are you going for an elegantly designed mug or a very unique or edgy mug? Are you putting a great deal of colors and graphics on the mug or are you keeping it simple? What messages are you putting on the mug?

All of the above can affect how people think of your brand. If you find this hard to believe, just think about how most people are being judged by the way they dressed in both personal and professional life. Yes, we all know we should not judge a book by its cover, but the reality is, we all do. In today’s society, fashion style has become a personal statement; how people express themselves and a telltale of who they are. And this is exactly why the design and style of your corporate gifts matter. Corporate gifts are more than gifts, they are a statement, a representation of your business.

Okay, but how do I get customers to want to get to know my business more just by seeing my corporate gifts?

Have you ever seen an advertisement, be it print advertisement or TV commercials, and you thought to yourself: “Whoa, I don’t know what this brand does but this is a very cool ad and now I have to google this brand to find out what the business is about.” ?

Corporate gifts have the potential to do just that, too!

With proper design and strategic planning, your corporate gifts can attract both eyeballs and the curiosity behind those eyeballs. This could be achieved by either a very unique design, or a very unique gift along with the right amount of wits.

Related (What to Look for in A Corporate Gifts Supplier)

For example, if you HAVE TO make calendars your corporate gift for the season, make sure it is a very unique calendar. Maybe featuring your employees in each month, making them Mr. and Ms. September and all the other months? (This might seem corny, but let’s be honest, everyone enjoys looking at people that are easy on the eyes.) Or, maybe a calendar in a shape of something funny or relevant to current pop culture trends?

Remember, no one ever google anything that is ordinary.

Just to see you smile

American country singer Tim McGraw has a hit love song: Just to see you smile. Describing how a guy would do anything to see the smile of the girl he loves. A good strategy in romance, and also a great strategy in corporate gifting.

Incorporate some humor and wits in your corporate gifts, it can be a funny quote, a funny image, a funny anything, as long as it puts a smile on your recipient’s face. Your recipient will likely then, without realizing, associate the joyful feeling with your logo (Don’t forget to put your logo on the corporate gifts, too!), making your brand all more likable!

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With Christmas cheers in the air and festive decorations everywhere, we have officially entered the holiday season, and similarly, corporate gifting season. Almost every business gives out corporate gifts around this time of the year along with holiday greetings.

If you work at an office in a business that has business relationships with other businesses, the chance is you have received one of these before, and, more likely than not, some of them didn’t even make it to your handbag nor office desk before being immediately forgotten in a dark corner somewhere, or even worse, in a trash can. Especially for a major business hub like Singapore, unique gifts are the only ones that really survive the holiday seasons and do its job, which is leaving an impression. However, having an unique gift is not the only thing that will help you reach this goal – Let’s look at a few tips we have for your corporate gift giving this year.

Customise your corporate gift

If your business is ordering hundreds of the same gift for all your customers and business associates, it is difficult to make each gift special or different from another to make the recipient feel special. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Have your sales force and liaison staff hand write a short greeting for each recipient, and only do it for the recipients they interact with throughout the year, let the recipients know that they ARE special and your business is taking time to appreciate the working or business relationship you share.

Either that, or you customise your corporate gift. The main idea is to make each recipient feel special.

Hand deliver it

Instead of sending out boxes of calendars, have your sales force – even yourself visit your clients’ office to hand deliver your corporate gifts. If you’re giving out a large number at one specific company, at least make the effort to see your main contact window at the company and give them a big smile when you hand over those boxes of gifts. Every business can spend money on gifts, but the ones that also spends time on it says a lot more about how you value the relationship between you.

‘Tis the season to smile

No matter how busy someone is, she or he will always have just one second to bare for a smile or even a good laugh. Incorporate something funny in your gift – perhaps a short joke, a funny picture of your own staff, or even a funny picture of yourself. If there is no way you can put that on your gift, make sure your gift comes with a card and aim for a smile when you put something in that card.

Related (The Art of Corporate Gift Giving)

Set the priority straight

While it is important to get your brand or business noticed with the gift, remember that a corporate gift in Singapore is meant to make the life of the recipient easier or make the recipient happy. So before you order a batch of low functionality gifts covered in your enlarged logo, ask yourself if you’d even take a second look at the gift if you were the recipient. And remember, a bad gift can always backfire. Just ask every woman and their boyfriend! (And my high school boyfriend would have a lot to say about that!)

Build anticipation

A business, generally, wants to let its customers and potential customers know that it is here to stay. If you’re tired of spending all your brain juice on coming up with a unique, personalized gifts every year, then sometimes being predictable is the best strategy.

Now, I know being predictable is often associated with boring, but it doesn’t have to. You know what else is predictable? A tradition. Pick something that is useful and stick to it every year – like a calendar, a champion of corporate gift every year around the world, but put a little twist on it.

For example, instead of pictures of random scenery, why not make it fun by coming up with your own corporate hotties calendars? The Mister or Miss September never gets old. Not your style? How about a funny graphic or cartoons about your company for each month? When all else fails, there’s also the good ole “year in review” or “this time last year” you can put on the calendar.

After all, if you give people something to talk about, they will be talking about it. Let your corporate gift be the talk of the town and get people excited about the next edition!