Your 2014 Corporate Gift Plan – First Half

Don’t wait until 2014 arrives and the year sweeps you away. Start planning now for your corporate gifting strategy. There

are so many opportunities. Here is a list of a few events that you can use for your corporate gift planning. New Years – Wednesday 01 January Champagne Flutes make a wonderful New Year’s Gift. To start off the year give your clients crystal champagne flutes as a welcome to 2014 gift. If you are worried that they make not drink alcohol, find a recipe for a non-alcoholic cocktail and include into with the gift. There are so many delicious non-alcoholic recipes to choose from that you can’t go wrong. Plan to hand these corporate gifts out very early in January. After everyone has spent their holiday money, they will welcome the moral boost of a new year’s gift. Most people will start work around 06 January, so you can hand out gift between 06 January and 17 January. Other new year’s gifts include Conference bags, Dairies or Filofaxes, desk organisers, i-pad covers, mouse pads, notebooks, USBs Back to School – 15 January Children will officially go back to school on Wednesday the 15th of January. However some schools may change the dates a little. Many companies will start a back to school campaign for corporate gifts. Ideas include backpacks, book bags or conference bags, Frisbees, lunch boxes, math sets, pencil bags, pencils, pens, sharpeners, soccer kits, water bottles and yoyos. Conference season – January to end February Many companies will start the year off with planning and conferences. Whether you have your conferences at the beginning of the year later in the year, plan ahead for your gifts. Conference gift ideas include: conference bags, conference pens, custom printed notepads, folders, hampers, lanyards, mints, notepads, speaker’s gifts, trolley bags, USBs Valentine’s Day – Friday 14 February As Valentine’s Day is on a Friday, you can bet all the restaurants will be fully booked, so get your restaurant bookings done

early. Chocolates remain a popular choice, but with diabetes being on the increase, you can choose items that are easier on the hips. For example a Valentine’s Day cookie mug, heart shaped stress balls, mints, red t-shirt. There are a lot of choices for Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s is a very big event in the corporate gifting calendar and an essential for corporate morale. Human Rights Day – Friday 21 March We celebrate this day each year to remind us of the great suffering and loss of life that accompanied the struggle for human rights. It is to remind us that people in South Africa will never again be denied their human rights. We encourage people to not only promote this event within their companies, but also to use their corporate gifting spend to help others. Choose a charity for example a children’s home, home for the disabled or an old age home. Items such as beanies, blankets, caps, fleece sweaters, towels and t—shirts are all useful items to give to children, the disabled and the aged. Freedom Day – Sunday 27 April Freedom Day is a public holiday in South Africa celebrated every year on 27th April. On this day in 1994, the first democratic and non-racial national election was held in the country. Corporate gift ideas for Freedom day include, banners, South African caps, South African Flags, South African t-shirts. Good Friday – Friday 29 March Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ. While there are a number of other religions in South Africa, this day is still taken as a public holiday and is the beginning of a religious memorial that has its climax of Easter Sunday. Many people despite religious background will consume vast amounts of chocolate over the Easter weekend and retailers really pack out quite a spread over the Easter weekend. No matter what religion your clients are, many people welcome a tasty Easter treat. Great corporate gifts for this weekend are candy coated eggs, chocolate Easter bunnies, toy Bunnies, hampers, marshmallow eggs, sugar free eggs. A great idea is to host an Easter egg hunt for a local school. Family Day – Tuesday 01 April 2014 This was originally part of the Easter Celebration. Following the first free and fair elections in South Africa the day was renamed family day to include all religions. However originally it was to commemorate the resurrection of Christ who was crucified on the Good Friday. This was part of a prophesy that on the third day the Lord would rise again. The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the "Easter Hare", hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births so they became a symbol of fertility. The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass. The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg." Christians consider eggs to be "the seed of life" and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Freedom Day – Sunday 27 April It celebrates freedom and commemorates the first post-apartheid elections held on that day in 1994. In 2013 we bid a sad farewell to Nelson Mandela who was a key player in the journey towards freedom for our country. Corporate Gifts for this Freedom day could include books like “The Long Walk to Freedom, Hand held South African Flags, South African Caps. Workers Day – Thursday 01 May International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement that occurs on May Day, May 1, a traditional spring holiday in much of Europe. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries, and celebrated unofficially in many other countries. Youth Day – Sunday 16 June The Soweto Uprising, also known as 16 June, is a series of protests led by high school students in South Africa that began on the morning of 16 June 1976. Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. An estimated 20,000 students took part in the protests. The number of people who died is usually given as 176, with estimates of up to 700. 16 June is now a public holiday, Youth Day, in South Africa, in remembrance of the events of 1976. In commemoration of this day focus your corporate gifts on education. Choose a local community school and donate corporate gifts such as backpacks, conference bags, diaries; lunch boxes, notebooks, pencils, pencil bags, pens, stationary sets These are some of the many opportunities for planning for your corporate gifts calendar. With proper planning you should be able to spread goodwill through the year to clients, staff and the community. Here are some planning details to take into account. Plan for Production time Remember the following processes: 1. Plan a budget for your event. 2. Find the gifts that you like. 3. Get quotes. 4. Plan properly, just because a corporate gift was in stock when it was quoted, does not mean it will be in stock when you order. 5. Order your corporate gifts 6. Pay your deposit 7. Send through a high resolution logo. 8. Get a layout approval. 9. Thoroughly check the spelling, pantones and position of the logo an if you are happy sign off. 10. Branding will take 3 – 5 working days after you sign off your layout approval. 11. Pay the balance of your order. 12. Take delivery of the corporate gifts or corporate clothing. 13. Allow for extra days during peak season. For more information about corporate gifts or clothing contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or (011) 593 2450 or 082 948 7461 or visit our website: www.belleregalo.co.za

How to make a Difference to Children in 2014 using Corporate Gifts as part of Your Corporate Responsibility Programme.

In the New Year many children in this country will start the year without basic provisions for school. As part of your corporate responsibility you can make a big difference by sponsoring a local school with back to school items. There are many ways that you can impact the children in the community. Before you make a decision, it is important to know that there is a difference between plain charity and empowerment. A basic back to school sandwich box or lunch tin is something that may seem simple to some, but makes a huge difference to many children. If your company is involved in a sandwich run, giving out lunch time to put the sandwiches in at the start of the year makes a huge difference. For a children to bring their own sandwich box to the sandwich table is a small yet powerful thing, it adds a small element of control back to their lives and gives them something that is their very own. A gift has a vastly different emotional impact than charity. Basic back to school stationary items such as pencils, pens and notebook can make big impact. While charity contributions can be allocated for BBEE points, you can have the items branded as well. Back pack and conference bags give children an attractive ways to carry their books, personal belongings or stationary items with them to school. With literacy and mathematics being very important issues in the educational development, items such as pencils cases with contents and mathematics set can be hugely impactful. Play items such as frisbees and soccer balls add enjoyment to life. This cannot be overlooked as play is an extremely important part of development and bring stress relief which is increasingly important issue for children as a stressed child finds it very difficult to learn. We would also recommend sponsoring a few soccer teams with soccer kit and socks. Team sports are an excellent way to build social and emotional development in children. For girls we also recommend sponsoring netball kit of even a girls’ soccer team kit. Through children learn the sports three P’s, practice, patience and persistence. While companies still have the opportunity of sponsoring school in a cash basis, there is always a risk that funds will not be spend in certain areas. However sponsoring physical products can make a huge impact. Your corporate gifting company can supply you with many ideas that can help you to make an impact in your community. While writing out cheques is easy, the long term impact of sponsoring items with your band on it has a longer term good will impact. Many of these young people may even aspire to work at your company once day and be loyal to your organisation. For more information about corporate gifts and corporate clothing contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za

T-Shirts Are in the Media Again

Just this week a big political t-shirt row was in the media again. Three T-shirts were designed by pupils of a Durban high school. T-shirts bearing the faces of President Jacob Zuma, former president Nelson Mandela and African National Congress national executive committee member and former police commissioner Bheki Cele, with derogatory captions, were displayed at the Westville Village Market Mall in Durban on Tuesday 05 November. An enormous row started between the ANC and the DA with regards to the T-shirts. The ANC reportedly moved a motion demanding that education MEC launch an investigation. With the end result being that the three t-shirts which were part of an art exhibition being removed despite DA protests that learners have the right to express themselves in whatever way they want to. This right is enshrined in our Constitution as the right to freedom of expression. No matter who you support, the handing out of t-shirts, although creating huge amounts of debates, is just a clever way of marketing. Colours are chosen so that from a distance it is obvious that the party is that is represented. If you saw a large group of people from a distance with yellow t-shirts on, which political party would you assume they would represent? Now because there are two political parties who both have the same main colour that may be a confusing. Is this because they want to blur the line and make it easier to move over to a new party? Who knows? In the past if we got an enquiry for high volume t-shirts in yellow, we would have assumed that it would be the ANC, but now we would wonder if it would be COPE. Blue t-shirts would be considered to colour of the DA’s t-shirts. In South Africa we have a large number of political parties, each with their own choice of corporate clothing, but for this article, I have chosen images for the parties who have t-shirt images that are easy to find on the web. While you are debating the use of colour for your t-shirts, or other corporate clothing, let’s look at branding. For t-shirts the most obvious choice of branding would be silk-screening. Screen printing is a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the fill blade or squeegee and onto the printing surface during the squeegee stroke. It is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing. One colour is printed at a time, so several screens can be used to produce a multi-coloured image or design. Screen printing is a versatile medium that can be used to create fine art or commercial reproductions. Of the four printmaking methods, screen printing is the only one which can personalize a wide variety of items, from textiles to ceramics. Sadly many companies when ordering t-shirts or other corporate clothing, done know what their pantone colours are. The Pantone Colour Matching System is largely a standardized colour reproduction system. By standardizing the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colours match without direct contact with one another. So when you want to have a strong brand identity, it is important to have your pantone colours on hand to brief your t-shirt printing company. So when you want to create a massive impact, then t-shirts with silk-screening are the best option for large volumes and maximum impact. For more information about our t-shirt options, contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or call us on 0829487461.

Best Branding for Corporate Clothing

Corporate clothing is a wonderful promotional tool. But bad branding is like getting a tattoo on your face. You had better be sure before you take the plunge. Many companies use corporate clothing to help enhance their corporate image and also use corporate clothing as uniforms. Companies have large spends on corporate identity, but sometimes get unstuck when it comes to applying their branding to their corporate clothing. Here are some check points when branding your corporate clothing. 1. Know Your Company Logo A logo is made up of the design, but also the pantone colours. Some designs are made with print in mind, but cannot be easily embroidered. We have a client who entered into a joint venture and had lounge shirts done for the project. The designer added text to the bottom of the logo. When we converted the logo into an embroidery format we saw that the letters would have merged into each other making the letting illegible. So we had to recommend to the client that they alter their logo to allow for bigger lettering. When you have a logo designed asked the designer, what pantone colours match the logo. Pantone is an international numbering system for inks. When you know your pantone, you can ensure that you corporate clothing always has the correct colour. Embroidery threads do not match pantone colours, but using a pantone reference books embroiderer’s get the closes thread match for you. When you send through your logo, make sure that you have a high resolution good quality logo. The better the quality of the logo, the better the quality of the branding. 2. Know the difference between different kinds of branding Embroidery on corporate clothing Embroidery is when the logo is made of masses of tiny stitches. Almost like colouring in the logo with a needle and thread onto your corporate clothing. Embroidery adds a quality and expensive look to corporate clothing. Embroidery can be cost effective if your logo is small. But don’t scrimp on stich count. If your embroidery quote looks very low as why. Some embroiderers’ compete only on price and use few stitches, so that they will appear to be cheaper, but that is all that it is, cheap and cheap does not enhance a brand. There must be sufficient stitches to cover the area and not have bit of fabric peeking through your logo. You would use embroidery of jackets, lounge shirts, fleece, caps and jerseys. In the motoring industry embroidery is often used on pit shirts. Heat Transfer on corporate clothing Heat transfer printing is a method of printing fibres with disperses dyes. The dyes are designed and are then transferred from pre-printed paper onto a fabric by contact heat and then the dyes are absorbed by the fabric. Heat transfer is great for producing clear and very well defined images. It works almost like an iron on label, but on a much bigger scale. Heat transfers are commonly used when you need to put a photo onto a garment. It is generally more costly than silk screening. However if there is a lot of definition, then heat transfers can be cheaper than silk -screening. Silk-screening on corporate clothing Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil to receive a desired image. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A fill blade or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink into the mesh openings for transfer by capillary action during the squeegee stroke. Basically, it is the process of using a stencil to apply ink onto a substrate, whether it is t-shirts, posters, stickers, vinyl, wood, or other material. The vast majority of t-shirts are branded using silk screening. Although you can silk screen a number of corporate clothing items, it is not as durable as embroidery, so it is more likely to be used on low cost corporate clothing items such as conti-suits and t-shirts. 3. Know how costing works for branding on corporate clothing Whatever branding you are using for corporate clothing, there is always a set up cost. This is the cost to set up the machine to work on your job. A machine or silk screener can only work on one job at a time. For embroidery your logo has to be programmed into the machines. For silk-screening, the screens have to be placed onto the frames. The process where the machine operator or silk-screening sets up the work station is called the set up and you are charged for this. Some companies will build this cost into the cost of their garments, so it is not visible, but this cost always exists. As the set up cost is done at the start of each job, you can divide this cost by the total number of corporate clothing items that you are branding. For embroidery your costs are calculated by working out many stitches it takes to colour in your logo. This means that the bigger your logo on your corporate clothing, the more stitches will be used and the higher the cost of your logo on your corporate clothing. For silk screening the costs are calculated by how many colours you need to print. New screens are made for every colour. If you have a colour printer at your office, you may be tempted to think that your t-shirt or other corporate clothing will come out nice and quickly like it does on your printer. For silk-screening of corporate clothing, the silk screener will put up the first screen with the first colour and then print that colour. Then he or she will remove the screen, set up a new screen and then print the second colour. So the more colours you have the more times this has to be repeated. That is why you pay per colour of your t-shirt or other corporate clothing. 4. Getting Artwork Approvals A good quality high resolution logo will produce the best quality branding on your corporate clothing. You can think of it as the foundation of your branding on your corporate clothing. Once you have sent through your artwork, then the branding department will produce a layout approval. This will show where the logo will be positioned on the item and will also indicate what the pantone colours are. If you have not supplied your pantone colours, then the branding department will do an estimate of what the colour should be. The responsibility always lies with the client to make sure that the colour is correct. Once you have signed the approval, you are accepting it the way that it is and you cannot have it changed once the job is underway. The layout approval is like a branding contract that you enter into. Some clients prefer to have a pre-production sample. This is a matter of personal preference. Thousands of logos are embroidered or silk screened every day without a pre-production sample. But if this is your first time using a supplier or if you have a manger who micro manages, or if you have very strict corporate identity rules then you will get a lot of reassurance getting a pre-production sample. Many companies will charge you a separate set up fee for this service, as they have to set up the machines for only one item. Even a small company can get the benefits of having corporate clothing. Going through these simple branding tools can help you to get the best results for your corporate clothing branding budget. For more information about corporate clothing contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or 0829487461 or visit our site www.belleregalo.co.za

How Corporate Wear Sets your Apart from The Rest

Corporate wear doesn’t necessarily need to be stuffy and uncomfortable to wear. Investing in corporate wear for your company can encourage a feeling of unity and team-spirit among your employees, and form part of your corporate identity. Not only is it a great tool for additional advertisement, but for companies who work directly with the public, such as restaurants and grocery stores in South Africa, it serves to distinguish one organisation from another. Just yesterday, I was at the reception area of one of my suppliers querying a product’s features. Up to that point I had been

for a few weeks been pondering which service provider to use for a specific marketing project that our firm needs. I saw two men coming out one of the offices. I saw on the sleeve of the lounge shirt of one of them men that they were from one of the companies that we are considering using. I there and then was able to ask them to answer a question that was a key factor in me choosing a supplier. They answered the question and I then had had some critical decision making information. Corporate clothing gives a sense of exclusivity. In a professional and well-established company, corporate wear will signify the professionalism of the company and serve to increase its credibility among its customers. Investing in your own corporate clothing is a step in the right direction. There are many benefits to making this smart investment. For one, your employees will appear far more professional from the off. It is an incredibly important characteristic and its benefits and importance shouldn’t be disregarded. Once your company made the investment in this type of clothing its credibility with consumers will also rise, while also engendering more trust in your company. However, you don’t only need to invest in corporate wear in the form of uniforms. There are many instances where you can find a great fit for corporate wear for every day at the office. As mentioned, it can promote cohesiveness among your employees while also providing a standard dress code that should be adhered to in order to remove any ambiguity in the office surrounding acceptable and unacceptable work attire. Some options for corporate clothing include: Active wear Caps Corporate Wear Fleece Golf Shirts Jackets Jerseys Sweaters Tracksuits Trousers T-shirts For more ideas for corporate clothing concat us n info@belleregalo.co.za or visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or call us on 082 948 7461.

What Are People Spending on in Terms of Corporate Gifts?

Sometimes you may feel that your corporate gifting strategy is just based on a feeling that you get when looking through a catalogue, but there is a lot of data that can help you make more informed decisions. In this article we have presented some of the statistics available for promotional gift spending based on the US figures. We also look at how this related to our market and what gifting options are popular within these categories. Based on US studies corporate clothing remains a firm favourite for promotional spend, with t-shirts representing 13.8% of total spend. T-shirts represent $ 2.7 billion of the $ 19.4 billion distributor revenues for 2012, the year in which the study was completed. Other clothing items represented in the study were polo shirts, which

we refer to as Golf shirts or Lacoste shirts, coming in at 6.7% of the annual spend. Other shirts come in at 2.1% and other wearables at 4.8%. Making the total clothing spend at 39.6%. If you add the cap spend at 5.6%, then you get to 45.20% of the total corporate gift and promotional gift spend. Corporate clothing can bring profit for your company in terms of quality, standards and reputation. Just spending a little money for your corporate clothing can pay you back in terms of much costumer and better reputation for your company. Corporate clothing can be used for promotional give away. But you can also kit your staff and clients our with leisurewear such as sweatshirts, tracksuits, customised cycling gear etc. When they are wearing it at gym or a sporting event that brings exposure to your brand. At Belle Regalo our figures confer with this our clothing sales being on a year to day basis 50.36% of our total sales. This year was a big t-shirt selling year for us, with corporate shirts or lounge shirts and golf shirts being other good sellers. Other big areas are bags at 8.7%. However it is interesting to note that in the US from 2009 to the close of 2012, bags had

decreased by 21%. The study does show which bags have caused the decline, as there are so many types of bags to choose from: Drawstring bags, shoppers, totes, shoulder bags, backpacks, conference bags, laptop bags, sports bags, double decker bags, trolley bags and eco-friendly bags Top sellers would definably include drawstring bags, document bags, lunch bags or coolers. These are low to medium cost bags that can suit most budgets and are very well received. Writing instrument sales in the US were 8.1% of total spend on promotional items. There was an 8.1% increase in the market from 2010 to 2012. Pens do remain a firm favourite as a promotional item. There are a number of good quality low cost pens to include in your corporate gifting budget. They are an excellent conference gift or hotel gift. Drink ware came in at 6% of the total promotional gift spend in the US. One of the great drinkware items is the ceramic coffee mug.

Coffee mugs have endless possibilities for use. The most natural is for the use of tea, coffee. Hot chocolate, warm milk. But we have found that some of our clients use our coffee mugs as pencil cups. I have to admit that was a surprise. A coffee mug is a safe choice for corporate gifts. Pens and pencils are often lost or even thrown away and bags are used for s specific purpose. But a coffee mug is used time and time again. Coffee mugs are placed in the top five items as a preferred corporate gift. At Belle Regalo we prefer to Kiln fire our coffee mugs. The mugs are decorated by hand using water sliding decals and then baked in a linear kiln at 780 Degrees Celsius. The heat allows the decal to bond to the glazing of the mug. When it is cooled, it is permanent and dishwasher safe. Although USBs drives made up 3% of total promotional gift spend, as a group USBs and other electronic and technical products represent 10% of the overall market. Great technical gifts include, cable management, car chargers, earphones, IPad Covers, laser pointers, stylus pens, USB hubs, USBs and webcams to name but a few. What we found very interesting was that incentive awards are rebounding with the economy. This category has grown by 105% since 2009. This means that there is an optimism that is showing in where people are spending. This study gives some perspective on where people are buying. It can give you hints on what are popular choices for your corporate gifting strategy. For more idea on corporate gifts visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za

Why Choose Corporate Clothing as Corporate Gifts

Corporate clothing used to be a “Nice to Have” item, but times

have changed so much that it is now an essential item. When times are tight, companies tend to move a lot of their spend to corporate clothing. There are a number of benefits of this. Corporate clothing is good value for money We often judge the corporate gift spend by how frequently the corporate gift is used. If the corporate gift is used infrequently then the cost per use of the corporate gift is high. If the corporate gift is used frequently then the cost per use is low. With corporate clothing the clothing items are used frequently and then the cost per spend is relatively low. Corporate clothing improves the company’s image We all know someone whose dress sense is not professional or appropriate for business attire. Corporate clothing bring a uniformity of style to the work place and if chosen correctly enhances your image. Corporate clothing is well received across the income brackets Not all staff member are able to afford good quality clothing for work. This may be because of low salaries, but it could also be because they have other financial priorities like educating their children, caring for a relative of that they have bought a new home. With the budget tightens, and then often the personal clothing budget diminishes. Buying corporate clothing can also assist these staff members to look and feel professional without using their personal budget for clothing. Corporate clothing can improve morale In winter many people are often grumpy. This is understandable as our instinct is to remain in bed on cold winter days with some hot chocolate. If people are honest then most people would rather not go to work on a cold day. Giving your staff warm winter jackets as a corporate clothing items, have more are reaching benefits than other corporate gifts at this time of the year. Large Variety of Corporate Clothing to Choose from Gone are the days that you could only choose a dri-mac or a golf shirt as a corporate clothing item. Corporate clothing has evolved to include a wide variety of corporate clothing ideas. You can choose form a number of Blouses, Caps, Dresses, Golf shirts, Jackets, Jerseys, Lounge shirts, Skirts, Sweaters, T-shirts. Within this range there are so many colours and styles to choose from that corporate clothing has become a versatile and well received corporate gift. Corporate Clothing can be fun Many companies have an annual family faun day or sports days and then corporate clothing can be fun. For family fun days there are wade variety of t-shirts, caps, tracksuits, sweaters and other corporate apparel to choose from. Cycle challenges also are a fun way to boost company morale and you can have custom cycling gear made. In fact the 94.7 cycle challenge is coming up and companies are already starting to submit entries Another fun way to use corporate clothing to boost morale is to attend soccer and rugby matches together. Belle Regalo offers a wide variety of supporter’s gear as part of our corporate clothing range. This includes the official SA rugby clothing range. For more ideas on corporate clothing and our range of corporate gift visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za