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

Corporate Gifts for the Whole Year

It amazes me how many creative ways there are for giving corporate gifts.

We tend to think that year end gifts are the only strategy for corporate gifts. However during the year we see a number of opportunities. Some clients do not send out year end gifts, they send out gifts at the beginning of the year, when everyone if thinking about planning the year. You could use desk based gifts like, coffee mugs, desk based coffee machines, desk fans, desk planners, pens, note pad and stationary sets. February usually bring conferences. Consider sponsoring your client’s conference. This produces brand loyalty and also gives your brand visibility that you may not have had before. Great conference gifts include, banners, branded notepads, branded water, business card holders, conference bags, folders, mints, pens. Valentine’s Day is a way to spread good feelings around both your clients and staff by the giving of small corporate and promotional gifts. You don’t have to just stick to just chocolates, which logistically are difficult to hand out as they melt. You can use any red items like, caps, pens, picnic blankets, stress balls, T-shirts, water bottles. Arbour day is a great month to link in with growth. Sending your clients Arbour day gifts, show that you value relationships. That you value growth and you want to grow with them. Corporate gifts that work well with arbour day are bonsai trees, gardening sets, knee boards, picnic sets (because we picnic in gardens) and of course plants. In September there are so many opportunities for spring day corporate gifts, braai day promotional gifts, secretary’s day corporate gifts. In October we create awareness for breast cancer and then it is time to think pink. You can give out corporate gifts like pink T-shirts, pink pens, pink draw string bags, pink notepads, pink IPad covers, and pink water bottles. In December we kick off with World Aids Day. Aids is a life style spread disease and so awareness in this area is critical. A world Aids Day strategy is a terrific way to show both clients and staff that you care. Then you can end off the year with your traditional corporate gifting strategy. Great gifts for December include anything that can be enjoyed on holiday such as, braai sets, cooler boxes, garden chairs, hampers, picnic blankets braai lights, picnic sets, water bottles, wine sets . For more ideas on corporate gifts and year end gifts contact us on info@belleregalo.co.za or visit us at www.belleregalo.co.za

Top Selling Year End Gifts

I was taking a look at what were good sellers for year-end gifts last year. Our top list for year end gifts were. 1. Beach Umbrellas 2. Coolers 3. Diaries 4. Double Decker Bags 5. Our of Africa Sling Coffee Bag 6. Pens 7. Photo frames 8. Portable Braai 9. Zip Around Folders 10. Knife Set in Boxes 11. Management Journals 12. Watch Gift Set Beach umbrellas make wonderful year end gifts, as so many people particularly those who live in Gauteng, head off to the beach. If you have your client a beach umbrella as a corporate gift or year end gift last year, then any kind of gift that is associated with outdoors would complement a beach umbrella. For example beach mats or beach towels make wonderful complimentary corporate gifts or year end gifts for beach umbrellas. Whether you are adding to a beach corporate gifts idea or want to have an outdoor theme for your year end gifts, cooler bags are always a winner as a corporate gifts. They are perfectly practical gift for those impromptu picnics. Annually the gift that remains a practical, recurrently excellent value for money year end gift is the enduringly popular diary. Diaries come in a range of size and colours and give longevity to your brand. The double decker bag is a firm favourite for a weekend away or for a golf day or any other corporate sporting event. Introduced last year was the pit of Africa sling coffee bag which is a stylish alterative to the wine glasses typically found in picnic baskets. The coffee bag makes for a fun alternative to picnics during winter months. They are perfect for travelling especially if via road and have coffee for two travel companions. Pens are not just for conferences, chosen well a pen is a wonderful year end gifts for senior executive an there are many up market pens to choose from for corporate gifts or year end gifts. Photo frames make wonderful gifts for women as well as for gents who have family pictures that they want to display on their desk. Photo frames make wonderful corporate gifts and year end gifts as they are versatile and can be used as desk accessories or in the home. Portable braai are a great seasonal gift for National Braai day or year end gifts. There are a variety of styles and sizes to choose from, but one thing is for certain, they are always a well-received corporate gift of year end gifts. For these and other corporate gifts visit us at www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us at info@belleregalo.co.za

Belle Offers a Wide Range of Corporate Clothing and Corporate Clothing

Belle Regalo offers a wide variety of corporate clothing items.

Our range includes: Blouses, caps, custom made cycling gear, First Ascent clothing, formal jackets, golf shirts, jackets, jerseys, lounge shirts, shorts, skirts, tracksuits, trousers We also offer a wide variety of Corporate Gifts Backpacks, business card holders, clocks, computer bags, conference bags, coolers, desktops, drawstring bags, flasks, hampers, key chains, moleskine notebooks mugs, multi-tools, notebooks, pens, travel bags, wine accessories, women’s gifts Belle Regalo offers a full branding service on items purchased from Belle Regalo. Our services include: Debossing, digital printing, embroidery, engraving, foiling, kiln fired mugs, pad printing, silk-screening. No branding will take place until you have signed off your artwork approval. This gives you an opportunity to check spelling, layout etc. until you are happy enough to proceed with the actual branding. For more information visit us on www.belleregalo.co.za or e-mail us on info@belleregalo.co.za