Corporate Gifting and Its Vitality in Business: A Beginners Guide

What is Corporate Gifting, and Why and How Should You Giveaway Gifts to Your Employees, Clients, and Partners?

The broad scope of corporate gifting meaning has made it a widespread practice in the business world. They are usually the most valuable items that are offered to the employees or business associates by a business house. These are given without any possible obligations but as a genuine token of goodwill or appreciation. The majority of big companies and established organizations have a set policy to do so.

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But when asked precisely, ‘what is corporate gifting?’ then its answer also has a broad scope. New managers do ask it, and also why does there a need exist for yet another idea list for finding corporate gifts; when there exist many such lists in abundance? There is only one answer to it, which is ‘Things change!’ True that the list, which worked just perfect in the past years, may not work in 2020. Especially in the times of Corona, in the UAE. There are various aspects to keep in mind when looking, finalizing, and handing over the gifts.

The corporate gifting meaning may change entirely if a few crucial things are not paid attention to. There are some do’s and don’ts that are to be observed carefully when giving corporate gifts anywhere, not just in UAE.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Corporate Gifting

1. Do Have The Gifts Personalized: Yes, a personalized gift does speak many positive sentiments and gives a profound meaning for the recipient. One of them is to ascertain the connection to celebrate that meaningful bond. Personalizing is easy with a note that is handwritten by the CEO or Chief Communication Officer to the gifts, which never fails to leave a positive mark in the head and heart of the recipient. Sometimes, presents with the recipient’s name engraved on it also make for a memorable moment.
2. Don’t Ever Insert Promotions: The entire motivation behind a corporate gift is to thank the employees, business collaborators, and the clients; and to offer a caring gesture. However, it should never be made into a promotional activity to increase brand awareness. The money and effort here are put to make a meaningful gift, and whatever comes back to the giver because of it is a pure bonus. Putting a logo or name of the company is not going to be good, but a handwritten note on the company letterhead would do just fine.
3. Don’t Go Down On Quality: Keeping the quality high gives corporate gifting a meaning, which is essential to its fundamental nature, which is making a memorable impression. Thus, allocating a fair budget for the gifts should not be meager, but neither should they break the bank account of the company. Hence, giving out only the best to the recipient from the allocated budget should be the option, and no compromise should be made on that. As it is a corporate gift, the reputation of the organization does get affected by the quality of the present.
4. Being Appropriate: The guidelines for selecting and giving corporate gifting a meaning it is challenging to choose the right item to be an appropriate gift. The gift itself has to be a suitable fit for the business atmosphere. A lot many things could go wrong if the gift is not matched with the business atmosphere as well as the occasion or theme. Thus, at times, using common sense helps a lot in such a situation. That ends the dilemma and makes the recipient feel special and grateful

Small business owners make many mistakes while marketing and operating their business; one of them is not developing a strong relationship with their stakeholders and partners and clients. Gift-giving can be a great way to build an emotional and personal connection.

This corporate gift giving has a way to do it right.

What Is the Best Way to Present a Corporate Gift?

There are no fixed formulas for this. But once the do’s and don’ts are chalked out well, this is the second step towards presenting a great corporate gift. It will sort everything well with the expected reciprocation from the recipient of the gift. However, there are few steps that can be taken to look into the presentation of the corporate gift critically.

Step 1:

Brainstorm the Plan: The first step to ensure that all goes good with the memorable gift is to think thoroughly about it. But if it has to be memorable, there has to be ample creativity to it as well. Without that, there is no possibility of making an impression on the recipient. The days of a Diary for New Year are passed, this is the time to go ahead with a little risk; tiny bits of careful experiments. That is what will make things click and give the corporate gift a meaning.

Step 2:

Time: When to give the gift is indeed a tricky affair to deal with. However, most of the corporate gifts are handed over around festivals and holidays. Now that has to be reconsidered, and cultural differences have to be acknowledged before finalizing the time. Hence, researching well on important festivals and events of the recipients and then gifting them accordingly would be a winning scenario for both. Gifts being given only at Christmas or Eid would undoubtedly create a massive dissatisfaction among the employees who are from different groups and ethnicity. Other than that, if the gifts are offered to employees when they are doing things at the same level, it could be looked upon as a tradition, and some may feel hugely indifferent about the same. In a way, corporate gifting brings more happiness when the recipient least expects it.

Step 3:

Presenting the Gift: Now that the gift has already been compiled and the date as well as time or occasion has been finalized, the management can proceed to present the gifts. However, it would be best to maintain a procedure of gift management to avoid any of the last-minute troubles. Here, as mentioned before, a handwritten note on a letterhead with the gift in formal wrapping would go well with a humble presentation. Delivering it personally by a senior officer with a much humbler approach and regards would keep the essence of the gift intact.

What Should a Corporate Gift Be?

There are many options to get corporate gifts in bulk, but to make the most out of them and to keep the selection hassle to the minimum, below ideas could work well.

1. Gift Cards: They have been deemed the best corporate gifts for every season. The reason is that they give the flexibility to the recipient, and thus, they can buy whatever they need to. Though it does lack the personalization, it certainly is an extremely safe solution in terms of corporate gifting to employees.
2. Wellness Gift: Subscription of healthy food, an onsite gymnasium, sauna, or health club can boost the morale of the employees as well as the clients who are fitness-savvy. This makes for an incredibly thoughtful corporate gift.
3. Electronics: There are many different kinds of electronic items in UAE which can be bought for gifting purpose. Smartwatches, Portable Bluetooth speakers, Fitness Trackers, Activity Earphones, Fishing Gear, etc.
4. Sweet Gift Hampers: The hampers consisting of popular UAE sweets, Gourmet food, dry fruits, chocolates, and other variety of local desserts are always a good choice during festivities.
5. Cake and flowers (White roses, Pink roses): A recipient’s personal milestones such as Anniversaries, Birthdays, or any other exceptional achievements can be made special for them with the delivery of cake and flowers.
6. Gift Bags Customized: Gifting music lovers with speakers, headphones, vinyl records, and sports lovers with gears for sports such as sports shoes, customized sports apparel, etc. would be memorable for them.
7. Surprise Experience: An experience in itself could be a gift if it is a weekend stay in a five-star resort or a dinner coupon for two at an upscale restaurant. Such experiences can be booked in advance and then bestowed upon the recipients on an appropriate day.
8. Office Essentials: Almost every person associated with the corporate world tends to spend much of their time in offices on their desks. Hence, giving them a set of best office essential at their utmost quality could be a great gift item. Engraved fountain pens, Digital organizers, pen drives, professional notebooks, memory cards, etc. are good to give as gifts. Some of them can be conveniently compiled to present as a gift basket to the recipient.
9. Coffee Cup: Coffee as an energy drink is loved by all in every nook and corner of the globe. It is even popular for corporate employees as it reduces stress, tiredness, and increase focus. This daily use item can be an amazing gift idea with some personalizations such as funny text or logo, slogans, or images. You can find a huge collection of coffee mugs, coffee cups online in UAE on the Gift Planet website.
10. Traveling Kit: Some people tend to travel a lot, for those people, a traveling kit that includes power banks, mobile phone chargers with different charging sockets, flight organizers, passport holders would be of great gift value.
11. Books: At times, nothing beats the bountiful of great books. Asking the recipients randomly their favorite genre and then gifting them a book of an established writer of that same genre will be impressive and thoughtful.

Nonetheless, whenever the mind is in doubt of ‘What is corporate gifting?’ One should not be much stressed but just follow what he or she would like to be gifted that is not extremely expensive but meaningful. In the same manner, people like to be treated when receiving gifts from someone they look up to. If you are from UAE, you can find many reputable companies providing promotional and corporate gifts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and other cities. Some of them worth mentioning are Gift Planet, Royal Promotion, Shass Gifts, etc.

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