Year End Function Gifts

Sadly many people leave the decision of their year end function gifts to the last minute and the gifts is one of the items that leave a last impression as it is the item that most enduring besides the memories. So rather in corporate gift planning with all your other event planning right at the beginning to avoid disappointment closer to the function. Here are some aspects to consider when planning for your year end function gifts. Theme of Gifts When planning for the year end function gifts consider providing gifts that can be used on the staff or customers on their holiday or in their home. Gifts of this personal nature far more appreciated than desk based gifts which are items that can only be used at work and while work is an important part of life and the basis of your relationship with them, no one wants to think of work at the end of the year. In the summer months people like to go for braais to the beach, have socials with friends and generally soak up the good weather. Ideas for the outdoor theme are picnic blankets, portable braais, cooler bags with braai kit inside, a stunning new gift is the big game folding cooler which is a large cooler that has a stand and can be filled with your favorite beverages. Amount of Space on the Table If you are planning to out your gifts on the table, you may want to consider smaller items that do not take a lot of space off the table. No one wants to have the gifts in the way of their crockery as they are just an irritation. On the other hand at some functions guests can also take more than one gift if one of your guests does not arrive and if the gifts are small then no one will notice an additional gift slipped into a handbag. Nice gifts are small in size are: The Icon Range of Carol Boyes Salad Servers; The Icon Range of Carol Boyes Sugar Ladles; Carol Boyes Bottle Opener, Carol Boyes Coaster Sets, ceramic coffee mugs, photo frame, key rings, notebooks, wallets and purses, pens and pens sets, sunglasses, book lights. Packaging of Gifts Gift wrapped gifts always look smarter than a gift left on the table. A lot of companies want to gift wrap in their corporate gift wrap. But first chat to your event coordinator about the colour scheme of your function and then purchase your gift wrap to tie in with the event theme. If your gifts are going to be wrapped and stored before the function, then only use fabric ribbon, as paper ribbon tends to bend and crease whereas fabric ribbon stays looking fresh for longer. Although ribbon with the wire inserts are beautiful for on the day gift wrapping for stored items a normal satin ribbon is better as the wire also bends if stored after wrapping. If your budget allows for it boxes with lids save you a lot of time in terms of gift wrapping. If you are branding ribbon please do allow for manufacturing time. Lead time of Gifts Take into account that your branding house will need time to create an artwork approval, have it signed off and book your branding production space, print, cure and repackage. As it is now peak season for the corporate gifting industry and over 50% of annual turnover for the industry is done in the last four calendar months of the year, you know that you will be competing for production space with many other companies. Handing Gifts out on Departure If your gifts are larger or you are concerned about security a very nice idea is to hand gifts out upon the departure of the guests. This is great for security, as then you are ensuring that each guest only one gift, which is important if your gifts are of high value. Handing gifts out upon departure also works well for large gifts that would not be able to be placed on the table. Large gifting items that can be handled out upon departure include: Sally Williams Gifting Hampers, Indestruktible luggage gifts, braai gifts, duffel bags, outdoor blankets, cooler bags, Carol Boyes ice bucket. For more idea please visit our website www.belleregalo.co.za Useful links for gifts ideas. Try these links for end of the year gift ideas. Carrol Boyes Range: http://belleregalo.bcgshop.co.za/carrol%20boyes/Products.aspx Sally Williams Hamper Range: http://belleregalo.bcgshop.co.za/sally%20williams%20hampers/Products.aspx Leisure and outdoor gifts: http://belleregalo.bcgshop.co.za/leisure%20and%20outdoor/Products.aspx Good luck for your year end function.

Top Corporate Gifts

It is a very sad person who does not love to receive corporate gifts. Almost everyone has it built into their system to live receiving gifts. But you may say that you know people who do not like receiving gifts. I know that my dad is one of those people who always say that you must not get him anything. But I now that he secretly hopes that he will get something. As a corporate gift supplier we have a lot samples. I can use my father a barometer for popular corporate gifts. When he comes to visit, I get a feel for what he likes. When I visit him in the eastern Cape and I have some of our gifts with us, then he breaks out of the “don’t get me anything” mode and starts telling me how much he would like to have whatever I have brought with me. Over the last few years, these are the corporate gifts that I have given my dad after he gets that “Oh, I would just love to have this” look. One Christmas we brought a car emergency kit with us. On one side, it had jumper cables, a few other car related items and then on the other side it had medical items. Once my father saw this, I just knew that we would be leaving this corporate gift behind. As there is no coffee station at his new job, the thermal coffee mug was a winner as he makes his coffee in the morning and takes with him to work in the mornings. Thermal coffee mugs make great all year round corporate gifts as well as year end gifts. As a buyer at a previous company, my father received a great many corporate gifts. Some he used a lot and some he left in the cupboard. One of the most popular corporate gifts that I have seen him use, were luggage. He really loves all kinds of bags, overnight bags, travel bags, tog bags. Bags make great corporate gifts and we also have a terrific Indestruktible range of corporate bags. One thing that I know about my dad is that he really gets a thrill out of getting corporate gifts. He often shows off the corporate gifts that one of his suppliers has given to him, as they make him feel valued by his suppliers. My father is a no nonsense kind of guy. He says it the way that it is gets the best prices out of his suppliers and would be a terrific companion when visiting a country where you have to haggle. But he is quite willing to spend just a little more time on suppliers who make him feel valued. So if you are wondering if giving out corporate gifts if worth it, if I go by my father’s personality, it definitely is worthwhile.

To Gift Wrap or Not to Gift Wrap.

To Gift Wrap or Not to Gift Wrap. Many years ago I worked as a marketing manager for a company. We had numerous functions, but also had a year end function for staff and family. During this year end function we handed out Christmas Gifts for the children. Instead of Corporate Gifts, we did toys. Naturally these gifts had to be gift wrapped. As the end of the year function was a marketing and public relations divisions, we had to see to the gift wrapping of our end of the year gifts ourselves. We had given the parents a list of toys to choose from and each parent wrote the name of their child and the type of gifts on a list and we gift wrapped these end of the year gifts and put a name tag on each gift. Although it was fun to play Santa’s elves for a while, we have a series of complications. The first was space. We had to do the entire job in our office and no gifts were allowed to spill over into the neighboring work stations. All the gifts were different shapes and sizes and so the office was taken over by year end gifts. The easiest access to our office was to drive our vehicle around the factory and climb in and out through our window. Then came the monumental task of wrapping all those gifts and putting the name of each child on their gift. For a full two days, my assistant wrapped and wrapped and wrapped year end gifts. Yes, the final result to see all the happy faces of the children was wonderful, but I do wonder what the real cost was for two salaried employees wrapping all those gifts. There are many companies that offer gift wrapping services. All you need to do is buy the gift wrap and the ribbon and hand it over to a gift wrapping company and you can get on with your core business and have a fantastic year end function. If you are wanting to buy year end gifts and to gift wrap them, please contact Belle Regalo on info@belleregalo.co.za or 082 948 7461 or visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za

Why Purchase Corporate Gifts?

Let’s face it, the economy has hit some hard times. So you may be asking why you should budget for corporate gifts. Is it not just another expense that perhaps you can not justify budgeting for it. However think again. Corporate gifts are about relationships. Relationships are with human beings. Let’s think of other human beings like YOU. If you get a present from someone for your birthday or for Christmas, do you feel valued? Of course you do because someone took the time to think of you and took the time to choose a gift for you. Maybe they even took the time to gift wrap it for you and to write your name on the card. Corporate gifts are much the same. The only difference is that this is a business relationship. So is a business relationship an important one? You bet it is. That is why we give out corporate gifts, to thank our customers for helping to build the business. Now of course in life there are people that we are good friends with and there are people who are acquaintances. We prioritize giving gifts to people are special friends and family members who are close. So too it is with customers. There are customers who have made a difference to your business and those clients are definitely deserving of corporate gifts. Then there are the once off customers who accumulatively make a difference to your business but are not with you for the long haul. Naturally your spend on corporate gifts will be affected by the value of your clients. So change the value of your corporate gifts to match what you see as the perceived life long value of your client. So is it not time you rethink your approach to corporate gifts. For more ideas on corporate gifts visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za

Corporate Clothing

Corporate clothing is still an excellent corporate gift. Corporate clothing is great way to create a positive impression of your company. Supplying your staff with corporate clothing ensures that they are neatly dressed and easily identifiable by customers. When choosing branding for your corporate clothing, promotional clothing can have big silkscreened logos, but generally corporate clothing for staff will have embroidered logos which look smarter. Generally customers buy corporate clothing for their staff once a year. This is because depending on the number of shirts that you give to your staff for corporate clothing the high frequency of wear and sometimes rough washing can make some of the garments wear faster than others. So rather that checking up on each staff member, getting new shirts each year will ensure that the average appearance of the corporate clothing of staff members remains good. If the dress code of your staff is casual then a golf shirt is a good however if your dress code is smart then you would be wize to purchase lounge shirts and blouses. These days many corporate clothing options come in matching ladies and gents styles making your corporate clothing choices a lot more varied.

Isosteel as a Corporate Gift Stands the Test of Time.

What does corporate gifting have to do

with having a baby you may ask. But I have found that at this juncture of my life I have realized the lasting impact that choosing the correct stainless steel flasks can have. Over eleven years ago I bought an Isosteel vacuum pot because I liked the design. Once we moved I put a lot of things in storage and recently opened up the storage and found it. I had a baby on 23 May and when expressing at night we would put a stainless steel flask on the best side table to heat up the milk overnight for the baby. As a corporate gift supplier I have a large number of various stainless steel flasks lying around the house. I found that if I filled up one of the low costs stainless steel flasks early in the leaving, by midnight the water was completely cold. Not even luke warm but cold. This was quite frustrating as we would have to get up, boil the kettle and heat up milk in a bowl for the baby. Having a crying baby at midnight is not a bag of laughs. Once we found the vacuum pot, we tried that out and the Isosteel brand proved its worth one again. Our water remained hot so heating up the milk was merely turning over, opening the Isosteel vacuum pot and pouring into the bowl and in 5 minutes we would have warm milk for the baby. How amazing is it that eleven years later the Isosteel brand is still performing. As a corporate gift Isosteel is amazing and the fact that this corporate gift performs so well over the years it is a great brand to align your brand with. The Isosteel range of products make wonderful corporate gifts.

Winter Trends for Corporate Gifts

It may seem like you have heard this from your grandmother, but do cover up your head during winter. This tip and other winter habits in this article can enhance your gift purchasing decisions as well as surprisingly the health and well being of staff and clients. Most of Your Heat Loss is through Your Head. A surprising truth is that we loose a lot of heat from our heads. Now you are probably thinking, “But my head does not get cold.” That is true, but it is because the body knows that the brain is a vital organ, so it will redirect heat to the vital organs. That means stealing the heat away from less vital body parts like your fingers or toes. I do not know about you, but when I am cold, I find it very difficult to concentrate. So for winter, getting staff or clients beanies is a great gifting idea. Especially if you have staff who work in a warehousing facility. Warehouses are notoriously cold. Beanie, scarf and glove sets are a low cost gift or uniform item, but very well received from your warehousing or factory staff. If clients do not like to have your brand plaster all over the front of the beanie, then insert a side winder (a label sewn into the seam of a garment) into the beanie. Layering for winter. Depending on where you live in South Africa, you can still get some great sunny winter days. Getting dressed in the mornings is a true test of determination, so you really do need to be very warm when you leave for work. But with aircon in offices or as the day progresses, you may find yourself getting too hot for the gear that you are wearing. That is why layering is a tried and tested method for winter. In South Africa we do not get much snow, so corporate wear does not come designed for glacial type weather as it does in the colder countries. But you still need to keep warm. New versatile 4-in-1 jacket offers four combinations: light weight outer, polar fleece body warmer, water resistant body warmer and combined jacket. Outer jacket features include zip-off hood, Airtex lining, storm flap, zippered outer pockets and inner pocket. The outer jacket is in a water resistant nylon fabric. The reversible body warmer with coated polyester and fleece on the inner. These jackets come in a complimentary feminine fit with contrast panels. Choosing Recognizable Brands. These days there is a trend for clients to go for brands that are recognizable in the retail industry. These are mostly clients who are looking for more expensive items for their high end clients. One of the more popular brands for winter is the First Ascent brand. First Ascent is one of South Africa’s leading outdoor brands. The great thing about this brand is that while there are some firm favorites, they do regular updates to the products like the Ladies Phantom Softshell Jacket. This updated soft-shell fabric offers the best of both hard-shell and fleece in one garment - water repellent enough to protect you from a light downpour. This jacket has a high fleece lined collar for increased protection. Larger Portions Evolution theories have us related to apes. But in winter, I feel that I am related to the bear. I crave carbohydrates, want to sleep later and have noticed that coffee, tea, hot chocolate and soup consumption tends to go up in winter. There is nothing quite like a steaming cup of coffee to wrap your hands around on a cold winter morning. So instead of running to the kitchen every hour, rather go big with jumbo mugs. Jumbo mugs are really big on impact. It is impossible to miss them on a client’s desk, so this is a great winter way to promote your brand. Plus if you are not wearing a beanie, as recommended by grandma, it does help warm up those fingers that are sending their heat to your brain. The Need for More Sunshine While you probably want to hibernate at home and watch endless DVDs, you actually need to get out into the sunshine. This thought may send you into a panic, but there are some critical vitamins that only sunshine can provide. For example Vitamin D. Vitamin D sufficiency, along with diet and exercise, has emerged as arguably one of the most important preventive factors in human health. Hundreds of studies now link vitamin D deficiency with significantly higher rates of many forms of cancer‚ as well as heart disease‚ osteoporosis‚ multiple sclerosis and many other conditions and diseases. A solution is to get out into the heat of the winter day for a lunch time picnic at your local zoo or botanical gardens. In Johannesburg and Cape Town the botanical gardens have wonderful winter concerts when large groups of people enjoy music, good food and company. That is why picnic basket and blanket sales surprisingly increase in winter. So this winter, make purchasing decisions that promote your brand exposure as well as your health, comfort and well being. Belle Regalo – Supplier of Corporate Gifts www.belleregalo.co.za 011 4682954