Article - Get Corporate Gifts with Care
13 Dec 2021
Choosing Corporate Gifts with Care
There is seldom a time when it is inappropriate to give gifts – corporate or otherwise. Presents and tokens of esteem, appreciation, thanks, recognition, award or reward and general goodwill are always appreciated, particularly if unexpected and/or sincerely given in the true, free spirit of giving, which seeks no favour or anything in return.
Before acquiring corporate and other types of gifts for people, it’s important to give the matter some serious thought because buying a gift merely for the sake of giving someone something is an absolute no-no. Much the same applies when you’re simply dying to get this task off your hands, done and dusted, or as South Africans may say in local slang terms – finished and klaar.
The recipient will probably recognise very quickly that his or her present is just so – acquired without any consideration of who they are, what their interests may be or whether the item is one that they’d at least find novel, interesting, useful or handy.
Sincere Spirit of Giving
In human interactions, insincerity invariably comes across one way or another. People have an instinct for recognising insincerity and a “couldn’t care less” frame of mind. If the donor couldn’t care less, why on earth would the recipient take the operation, its brand, products or services and representatives seriously?
Size and Value
Additionally, it’s not really the size or the value of the corporate gift that matters very much. Sure, no one appreciates a token that’s cheap and nasty, like a rubbish-type gimmick, but it’s not actually about the cost of the item. It is, however, a matter of giving consideration to the nature of the present, vis a vis whether it’s appropriate for the recipient/s.
While there are usually several exceptions, such as rewarding very senior persons or when one wishes to thank a particular person for a deed, service, favour or level of support that’s out of the ordinary and beyond the norm, corporate gifts may be selected on an individual basis. Others are usually acquired en masse.
In the minority of exceptional cases, tokens of appreciation are frequently more substantial and somewhat more expensive. Invariably, corporate branding would be done separately, on the individual item. This does incur an additional cost, one-off branding being more costly - per item - than when done in bulk.
Bulk Buying and Branding
Many, if not most corporate gifts are acquired in bulk for multiple recipients. Giveaways, promotional merchandise or corporate gifts are typically bought and branded in bulk. Branding refers to the precise and accurate marking of the goods with your choice of customised corporate insignia, typically consisting of the donor’s company logo, brand name, tag line and/or brief contact information.
We, at XCO Group, emphasize to our customers that buying and branding corporate goods in bulk is virtually always considerably more cost-effective – per unit and in total, than doing likewise on an individual basis, in ones and twos or small numbers.
Our popular corporate gift items don’t date rapidly either, so unless they’re all given away in quick succession, a bulk supply from XCO is likely to remain current, in style, and appreciated for several seasons.
Customisation and branding may be done in print, utilising a variety of special long-lasting or permanent print techniques. At XCO, we have our own in-house custom-branding studio, established in 1994, expertly managed by our conscientious, experienced branding team, who focus on print and embroidery techniques.
Engraving is a separate (non-XCO) speciality, usually performed by jewellers, who use digitised engraving equipment nowadays for enhanced accuracy and convenience.
Embroidery is the preferred method with which to custom brand corporate gifts such as garments, headwear, accessories, bags and the like - items that are made of fabrics and similar softer, flexible materials, especially those that are washable and/or prone to show signs of friction, wear and tear. Embroidery with colour-fast yarns tends to outlast printed branding on such give-away merchandise.
Moreover, the size, shape, surface and position where the selected branding insignia are to be placed, as well as the material or fabric from which the item has been manufactured, will determine or influence the most appropriate branding technique for each product.
First-Class Assistance
Our teams are on hand and eager to guide and assist our XCO customers throughout the process of acquiring and customising the greatest corporate gifts; those that make up our comprehensive XCO collections, meeting or beating your expectations – and those of the lucky recipients of your quality promotional tokens of esteem – your corporate gifts.
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