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Why Corporate Gifts Are Important for Your Business

Gift-giving is an important part of the human experience. The act of giving helps define our relationships, strengthens our bonds and reinforces our feelings toward the recipient. 

When it comes to giving business gifts, the results are the same: it builds and strengthens relationships with your employees, customers and vendors. It’s a way to recognize an employee who has met or exceeded his or her sales goal; thank a customer who has supported your business year-round; and show appreciation to a stakeholder who has invested in your company.

Recognize Employees

The holiday season is a great time to show your employees that they are an important asset to your business and recognize individuals who have achieved goals or milestones. 

Studies reveal that 79 percent of people who quit their jobs cite ‘lack of appreciation’ as their reason for leaving. And a startling 65 of Americans in the workforce report that they weren’t recognized even once last year.

Feeling appreciated or being recognized has been proven to change an employee’s mentality from “My efforts will get me by,” to “I’m dedicated, committed and motivated to do my best at my job.”

It’s also important to remember that recognizing employees should be an ongoing effort and not limited only to the holiday season. Also, there are many ways for an employer to use corporate gifting to build up, fuel and recognize employees. 

Show your employees your appreciation with a gift that they can use year-round.
Show your employees your appreciation with a gift that they can use year-round.

Thank Customers

Showing customers your appreciation can greatly influence their loyalty and advocacy, which in turn leads to customer retention and increased sales. Keeping your customers happy is about making them feel like you care about them, valued and appreciated.

This is the foundation of a customer appreciation strategy.

While there are many ways to show appreciation to customers, corporate gifting is easy to implement as part of your customer appreciation strategy. If you take care of your customers, they will take care of your business. 

Here are a few other ways to thank customers:

  • Offer a loyalty program with tiered rewards 
  • Make a donation in their honor
  • Treat customers to a complimentary upgrade
  • Send a handwritten note.
A meaningful gift for your customers goes a long way.
A meaningful gift for your customers goes a long way.

The Power of Personalization

In today’s world, where the prevalence of personalization is so prominent in our daily lives, personalization should also play a part in a company’s corporate gifting strategy. One of the most popular ways to personalize, or customize, a gift is by adding your company logo or brand on the gifting product.

A business gift customized with your company logo can benefit both your employees and customers. Because your employees have a stronger emotional connection to your company and brand as they are a part of the daily business, branded gifts offer meaning and significance to your workforce. 

For your customers, when a business gift that has value and use (versus a generic item) and it includes branding, nearly nine out of 10 recipients are able to remember the branding eight in 10 can recall messaging from at least one branded product they received (Source: Promotional Products Association International).

It is important to remember that a corporate gift should be carefully thought through. After all, it is an investment the company is making towards strengthening its relationship with clients, employees, investors and partners. When emotions are at the heart of the relationships between brands and consumers, they steer conscious decisions and drive unconscious decisions. 

Need more ideas? Visit the FUSION OF IDEAS Corporate Gifting site.

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Our Favorite Tech Gift Ideas for the 2019 Holiday Season

You don’t have to be a “techie” or even a gadget lover to appreciate a new tech device. From Bluetooth speakers to wireless chargers, mobile technology is all around us.

With the rising trend of companies giving corporate gifts, technology has become a popular gift category for businesses. Giving a tech gift can also show that your company is modern and forward-thinking. 

We rounded our favorite tech gift ideas this holiday season:

  • Wireless Earbuds – Ultracompact and lightweight, wireless earbuds offer features such as noise-cancellation and a customizable fit. Wireless earbuds options are abundant, including Apple AirPods and the new AirPods Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds, Powerbeats Pro by Beats by Dre and the new Amazon Echo Buds.
Wireless earbuds topped the list for the most popular business gift in 2018. Seen here is a pair of customized Powerbeats Pro by Beats by Dre.
Wireless earbuds topped the list for the most popular business gift in 2018. Seen here is a pair of customized Powerbeats Pro by Beats by Dre.
  • Smart Speakers – A starting device or a complement to a complete smart home system, smart speakers or smart assistants like Amazon Echo or Google Home help you around the house, offers entertainment and more, all through voice commands.
A smart speaker like Google Home Mini are ideal gifts for customers, employees as well as shareholders.
A smart speaker like Google Home Mini is an ideal gift for customers, employees as well as shareholders.
  • Portable and Wireless Chargers – A practical gift option, mobile chargers are versatile for all types of technology. Popular wireless charger options include Belkin and Samsung and there are portable charger options from Mophie and Nimble.
Wireless and portable chargers are practical and versatile. Add your company logo for a lasting impression year-round.
Wireless and portable chargers are practical and versatile. Add your company logo for a lasting impression year-round.

Complete the brand experience with personalization. Adding the recipient’s name or using customized packaging with your company logo can make a lasting impression. For more corporate gifting ideas, visit www.fusionofideas.com/gifting.

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Present Perfect: The Art of Corporate Gifting

A well-considered corporate gifting program can help celebrate employees for a job well done, establish and enhance your customer and vendor relationships, and promote activities that benefit the overall business. 

When choosing the perfect gift for your corporate gifting program this year, we put together our top three things to start thinking about before the flurry of activities hits the holiday season:

High-End or Budget? 

Even if you are the most generous person in the world, you are still operating a business within a budget. Whether you go luxury, conventional or somewhere in-between, don’t think you have to choose a high-end gift just because it costs more. Do it because you think that’s the gift the other person will appreciate. If luxury is the route you choose and budget is a concern, narrow your recipient list. 

There is an array of gifting options that fit budgets of all sizes. The hard part is finding one that speaks to your recipient.
There is an array of gifting options that fit budgets of all sizes. The hard part is finding one that speaks to your recipient.

Company Logo and Customization.

To logo or not to logo, that is the question. For many businesses, customized gifts keep the company name in the minds of recipients. When the item is practical and likely to be used every day – such as a calendar, pen, coffee mug, or tote bag – this amounts to free daily advertising. But there’s a tackiness quotient to consider. 

That being said, keep in mind that you can minimize the size of your logo and still have your brand printed but in a more subtle way. Second, customization does not have to come in the form of a logo. For example, you can personalize the gift by adding the recipient’s name. 

Adding your recipient's initials on their gift is a subtle and unique way to personalize the gift.
Adding your recipient’s initials on their gift is a subtle and unique way to personalize the gift.

Packaging.

We call this the unboxing experience. The unboxing experience triggers emotions and senses when the recipient opens the gift. The packaging, the gift wrap, the ribbon all matter. When done right, it can improve the way the recipient feels about the actual product because first impressions matter.

First impressions matter. A memorable unboxing experience can turn your gift from good to remarkable.
First impressions matter. A memorable unboxing experience can turn your gift from good to remarkable.
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And That’s a Wrap!

From Apple Watch and Apple gift cards to Amazon Show, Bose Quiet headphones and Yeti coolers, we saw an array of corporate gift requests come through over the holiday season. On top of brand customization, businesses opted to add extra touches such as personalized gift tags, custom set-up boxes and custom gift wrap to create a memorable unboxing experience for the recipients.

  • A custom sleeve is the most popular custom option for corporate gifts as they are precisely cut to fit snugly over the original manufacturer packaging. Sleeves are customized using our color printing process and come in various finishes, including matte, satin, UV glass or spot gloss.
  • Custom gift wrap is individualized with the company logo or artwork. Each piece of gift wrap is precisely cut to the perfect size for the gift, which is hand wrapped and finished with a matching bow.
  • And finally, custom set-up boxes have become the standard for the ultimate, executive-level gifting experience. Creating a luxurious unboxing experience for a single device or for neatly housing multiple products, each set-up box is custom designed according to the device(s) size and company brand.

Check out a few highlights from our 2018 Corporate Gifting Program:

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Bowl Swag for the Books

Bowl games have a long history of making the holiday season merrier and brighter for college football fans, especially when your team is in the playoffs. For the players involved, there is a great sense of pride that comes with playing in the biggest game of the season. And of course, there is bowl swag.

The Pac-12 Conference events team partnered with FUSION OF IDEAS the last two football seasons to create memorable gifts for the Pac-12 bowl teams as a reward after a long season of hard work. Both years, the gift of choice was a customized Apple TV gift set that included a fully branded Apple TV, remote, and iTunes gift card, which were shrink-wrapped and packaged with coordinating crinkle paper inside a customized Pac-12 shipping box.

The one-of-a-kind gift, which took a popular Apple technology and made it personal with custom branding and packaging, was a unique and thoughtful way for the Pac-12 organization to show appreciation to the players.

Playing the most important game of your season is already a dream come true. Add in cool free stuff and it’s easy to see why athletes love this time of year.