At Cornerstone, we offer an almost endless selection of high-quality products and services. While many products are suitable for placement of your company’s name/logo, we also offer other selections (such as original artwork, sculpture and glasswork) which are not meant for logo/embossing, but rather as pure “gifts” more appropriate for recognition programs.
The key to success in gift selection is to really know the receiver. Consider the person’s demographic/lifestyle/personality, the culture of your company, and the budget within which you should work. It is easy make the mistake of “cheapening” one’s corporate image with a poor quality gift, or looking like you’re “greasing palms” with a too-extravagant gift choice. It is also best to give something the receiver couldn’t have just bought for themselves at a big-box store somewhere (you don’t need them finding out exactly what the gift is worth…it usually detracts from the value.) Something unusual, well-made, or well-styled is bound to get that “wow” factor.
Something for an Important Client
It is last minute, and the President of your largest revenue stream is in town and has asked for a tour of your plant. He is only here for two days – and you want to make a great impression. A gift is in order, one that isn’t too personal or “pedestrian” – one that stands above a normal marketing tool; and one that especially says “Thank You” to an important, loyal and valued client.
You put in a call to Cornerstone, and since your Marketing personnel have worked with their account executive in providing the required overview of your firms marketing and gifting requirements, a framed, limited edition print depicting the skyline of the city is ready to go, along with the engraved plate commemorating the visit and accompanying letter of appreciation from the President of your firm. The presentation is made and preparation to ship the artwork to the clients office for him is handled the next day. Mission accomplished!!
Religious Sensitivity at Christmas
‘Tis the Season and it is an opportune time to give thanks to those who have made the year a success – our clients and our colleagues. Since Christmas is a traditional gift giving time, we need to be sensitive to not only the religious affiliations of our recipients, but also lifestyle and ethical considerations as well. Many firms would prefer that alcohol related gifting not occur, and some do have policies in place that do not allow their employees to accept gifts of any kind. It is advisable to start planning your gift giving season well in advance – September planning sessions are advisable. If large firms are on your list, make a call to their Human Resources people, asking about their policy relating to gift giving. This will save embarrassment for your recipient if they are required to decline a gift – and will allow you to prepare something different for those who fall into this category. A beautiful card with a letter stating that a donation has been made in their company’s name to the Food Bank or the SPCA is one way to handle this situation (once you have confirmed that this falls in line with the policy, of course.)
If you have overseas clients, seasonal shipping must also be considered, along with the ability to ship whatever gift you have selected as your offering, to that country. Different product can be used for client gifting to cover these concerns, as long as the time factor is considered at the beginning.
For your staff and your local clientele – something seasonal is always appreciated. Think about our climate across Canada at this time – and a fleece blanket with your embroidered logo – or a polar scarf and matching mittens that carry your logo will always be appreciated. Candles and holders or a gift basket of hot chocolate mixer mugs with your logo and hot chocolate (and possibly a cookie or two!) speak volumes. We recommend that whatever branding you do on these products be very subtle. Thoughtful consideration of your message is important at this time of year.
Prepping for Trade Show Season
We recommend a yearly approach to planning for your Trade Shows. Meeting with a Cornerstone Account Executive will allow for us to assist in the time-line planning required to have your trade show items ready to ship with your booth. Many factors need to be addressed – locations of the shows, cross border shipping of promotional products and is this allowed? Your audience, your message and your budget per show. Can we co-op purchase applicable items – and what can we source that will fit all the parameters and make you stand out in the crowd? We will prepare a calendar of your shows, with order date requirements and a list of issues that need to be addressed so that what normally is the biggest head-ache of your preparations is handled by us – so that you can concentrate on the many other logistics that Trade show season brings to the table.
Stories About Product Choices Gone Wrong!
Bad Choices are sometimes made with the best of intentions. For example; a company was looking for the perfect gift to give a small group of delegates from another country visiting them on a fact finding mission. The delegation consisted mainly of men; the company – mainly of women. In an effort to provide a gift that subtly included their logo, was universal in its appeal and equally suited to both men and women – the choice was made to present a sports watch with the company logo on the face. A beautiful gift and an excellent choice because of the high perceived value and no sizing issues to consider. As is common with delegations – gift giving to the host company as a thank you is also standard. During the farewell dinner the gifts were exchanged. After all speeches made and goodbyes said the delegation left for their home country. The company opened their gifts to discover they had received the exact same gift they had presented to their guests! The moral of the story – know your recipients and their location in the world! The beautiful watches were designed and manufactured in the home country of the guests. A better choice for the host company may have been an item made in Canada –artistic in nature and therefore unique.
Blind Sided – A company was participating as a sponsor in a health related conference. As part of their sponsorship, they provided water bottles for all delegates to the conference, to be presented at each place setting during the opening luncheon. A day prior to the start of the event, the information regarding toxic BPA levels in some plastics hit the media. It was too late to replace the item with something less controversial, and as the situation was not something that could have been avoided, the sponsor company chose the next best thing – find an alternate use for the product! Initially the plan had been to fill each bottle with water for each person to take on their tour of the conference site. Instead, the bottles were half filled with water, and a small bouquet of flowers was added – and they were left in the room of each recipient. This entailed some fast footwork on behalf of the planners, but the promotion was still successful as a card was left with each bottle explaining the issues behind the BPA warning.
Tips
At Cornerstone, we offer an almost endless selection of high-quality products and services. While many products are suitable for placement of your company’s name/logo, we also offer other selections (such as original artwork, sculpture and glasswork) which are not meant for logo/embossing, but rather as pure “gifts” more appropriate for recognition programs.
The key to success in gift selection is to really know the receiver. Consider the person’s demographic/lifestyle/personality, the culture of your company, and the budget within which you should work. It is easy make the mistake of “cheapening” one’s corporate image with a poor quality gift, or looking like you’re “greasing palms” with a too-extravagant gift choice. It is also best to give something the receiver couldn’t have just bought for themselves at a big-box store somewhere (you don’t need them finding out exactly what the gift is worth…it usually detracts from the value.) Something unusual, well-made, or well-styled is bound to get that “wow” factor.
Something for an Important Client
It is last minute, and the President of your largest revenue stream is in town and has asked for a tour of your plant. He is only here for two days – and you want to make a great impression. A gift is in order, one that isn’t too personal or “pedestrian” – one that stands above a normal marketing tool; and one that especially says “Thank You” to an important, loyal and valued client.
You put in a call to Cornerstone, and since your Marketing personnel have worked with their account executive in providing the required overview of your firms marketing and gifting requirements, a framed, limited edition print depicting the skyline of the city is ready to go, along with the engraved plate commemorating the visit and accompanying letter of appreciation from the President of your firm. The presentation is made and preparation to ship the artwork to the clients office for him is handled the next day. Mission accomplished!!
Religious Sensitivity at Christmas
‘Tis the Season and it is an opportune time to give thanks to those who have made the year a success – our clients and our colleagues. Since Christmas is a traditional gift giving time, we need to be sensitive to not only the religious affiliations of our recipients, but also lifestyle and ethical considerations as well. Many firms would prefer that alcohol related gifting not occur, and some do have policies in place that do not allow their employees to accept gifts of any kind. It is advisable to start planning your gift giving season well in advance – September planning sessions are advisable. If large firms are on your list, make a call to their Human Resources people, asking about their policy relating to gift giving. This will save embarrassment for your recipient if they are required to decline a gift – and will allow you to prepare something different for those who fall into this category. A beautiful card with a letter stating that a donation has been made in their company’s name to the Food Bank or the SPCA is one way to handle this situation (once you have confirmed that this falls in line with the policy, of course.)
If you have overseas clients, seasonal shipping must also be considered, along with the ability to ship whatever gift you have selected as your offering, to that country. Different product can be used for client gifting to cover these concerns, as long as the time factor is considered at the beginning.
For your staff and your local clientele – something seasonal is always appreciated. Think about our climate across Canada at this time – and a fleece blanket with your embroidered logo – or a polar scarf and matching mittens that carry your logo will always be appreciated. Candles and holders or a gift basket of hot chocolate mixer mugs with your logo and hot chocolate (and possibly a cookie or two!) speak volumes. We recommend that whatever branding you do on these products be very subtle. Thoughtful consideration of your message is important at this time of year.
Prepping for Trade Show Season
We recommend a yearly approach to planning for your Trade Shows. Meeting with a Cornerstone Account Executive will allow for us to assist in the time-line planning required to have your trade show items ready to ship with your booth. Many factors need to be addressed – locations of the shows, cross border shipping of promotional products and is this allowed? Your audience, your message and your budget per show. Can we co-op purchase applicable items – and what can we source that will fit all the parameters and make you stand out in the crowd? We will prepare a calendar of your shows, with order date requirements and a list of issues that need to be addressed so that what normally is the biggest head-ache of your preparations is handled by us – so that you can concentrate on the many other logistics that Trade show season brings to the table.
Stories About Product Choices Gone Wrong!
Bad Choices are sometimes made with the best of intentions. For example; a company was looking for the perfect gift to give a small group of delegates from another country visiting them on a fact finding mission. The delegation consisted mainly of men; the company – mainly of women. In an effort to provide a gift that subtly included their logo, was universal in its appeal and equally suited to both men and women – the choice was made to present a sports watch with the company logo on the face. A beautiful gift and an excellent choice because of the high perceived value and no sizing issues to consider. As is common with delegations – gift giving to the host company as a thank you is also standard. During the farewell dinner the gifts were exchanged. After all speeches made and goodbyes said the delegation left for their home country. The company opened their gifts to discover they had received the exact same gift they had presented to their guests! The moral of the story – know your recipients and their location in the world! The beautiful watches were designed and manufactured in the home country of the guests. A better choice for the host company may have been an item made in Canada –artistic in nature and therefore unique.
Blind Sided – A company was participating as a sponsor in a health related conference. As part of their sponsorship, they provided water bottles for all delegates to the conference, to be presented at each place setting during the opening luncheon. A day prior to the start of the event, the information regarding toxic BPA levels in some plastics hit the media. It was too late to replace the item with something less controversial, and as the situation was not something that could have been avoided, the sponsor company chose the next best thing – find an alternate use for the product! Initially the plan had been to fill each bottle with water for each person to take on their tour of the conference site. Instead, the bottles were half filled with water, and a small bouquet of flowers was added – and they were left in the room of each recipient. This entailed some fast footwork on behalf of the planners, but the promotion was still successful as a card was left with each bottle explaining the issues behind the BPA warning.