Posts Tagged ‘engraving’
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
The Personal Touch
In times of economic downturn, priorities change. If you are planning a marketing campaign you will undoubtedly need to take this into account. For consumers, debt levels, mortgage repayments and fuel costs fuel costs take precedence over wider concerns. In business, too, companies take a more inward approach, concentrating on cost cutting and cash flow rather than new markets and revenue streams. Both consumers and business will gravitate towards safe options; good, services, and brands that convey reassurance and familiarity. Quality and reliability became increasingly important and whilst all this jittery uncertainly is certainly challenging, it also provides major opportunities for companies to engage with their customers in a closer more meaningful way. Personalised marketing and individual communication are the new watch-words and marketers who get their heads round this new concept will have a distinct advantage in a highly competitive market place.
Corporate gifts are an ideal way to connect on a meaningful and personal level with your key customers, most promising prospects, and even your staff. The Corporate Gifts Co specialise in a high quality business gifts that will convey a sense of familiarity in the classic styling of for example the silver plated Carriage Clock or the, Galileo Desk Pad, and reassurance in the quality of items like the premium leather range or the sterling silver collection. All our items can be engraved with your logo and promotional message using our in-house diamond engraving.
Why not add individually engraved or embrossed names to really create that personal touch. Call 0845 430 2902 for more details.
Tags: business gift, Business Gifts, Carriage Clock, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engraving, promotion
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company, Business Gifts, Corporate Gift Range | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Get ready for recovery
Is it? Isn’t it?
Will it? Won’t it?
Is the worst of the recession over and are we getting ready for the long awaited recovery? Who knows? If I did, I wouldn’t be writing this blog – I would be sitting on a beach in the Bahamas. In these times of uncertainly, if you can be sure of one thing- it’s the businesses that are prepared for the recovery that will most benefit from it. So what can you do to get your company ship shape to take advantage of all the undoubted opportunities that will be coming your way?
Here are our top ten heads up
1. Review – be honest dispassionate; look at where the business is now and where it needs to be in the future.
2. Cut supply cost – look at your whole supply chain: look for new suppliers offering better deals, re-negotiate with existing suppliers, and buy strategically with fewer suppliers rather than add hoc with lots.
3. Cash is king-tighten credit controls, use whatever leverage you can and monitor regularly.
4.Cut OK costs-concentrate on areas with the most savings, get staff ideas (they often are closes to spending waste) and be ruthless with “nice to have” costs.
5. Cut stock-keep your inventory to a minimum-convert old stock to cash, and reduce slow moving lines.
6. Staff-think outside the box regarding job roles and personnel. Keep and reward that add value to your business, and clean out those that don’t.
7. Processes- examine your procedures and invest in more efficient processes. Look for duplication and bottlenecks.
8. Outsource? A great way to make a fixed cost into a flexible one. But make sure it’s right for the business.
9. Location-not a realistic option for some businesses, but huge costs can be sauced by moving departments/functions abroad or even elsewhere in the UK.
10. Look after key customers-get closer to your customers, offer real value, and keep them interested and talking to you. Make judicial use of emailers, direct mail, face to face and sales promotion. The Corporate Gifts Co can supply executive incentives from; sterling silver to clocks and from USB drives to desk accessories. Call today on 0845 430 2902
Tags: Branding, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engraving, executive incentives, promotion, sales promotion
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
STERLING SILVER
The hallmark of quality; how often you heard that phrase? So why is the hallmark synonymous with the concept of quality?
Hallmarking precious metals was one of the very first instances of consumer protection in history; devised in Birmingham, England as a means of verifying the quality of the material goods were made of and protecting consumers from unscrupulous traders – not much has changed has it?
As silver plate is essentially a thin layer of sterling silver on top of a base metal such as brass or zinc alloy, it is difficult for the layman to tell the difference. The hallmark therefore, is indisputable proof that an item is made from sterling silver or another precious metal.
The hallmark is made up of symbols that denote; the year it was made, the assay office it was verified at, the maker, and the grade of precious metal. Most common are 925 silver, 9ct, 18ct and 24ct gold.
The Corporate Gifts Company have a comprehensive collection of sterling silver promotional items from business card cases to bookmarks and from photo frames to paperweights. All can be diamond engraved using our in – house engraving facility. We can also design special commissions and bespoke items in sterling silver and solid gold such as; cufflinks and corporate jewellery or keyrings and personal accessories. Our in – house design team can supply FOC visuals – just ask the sales team.
Tags: Bookmark, business card cases, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engraving, gifts company, promotion, promotional item, promotional items
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company | No Comments »
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
The carrot or the stick- the age old question when it comes to staff motivation. In the 21st Century we like to think we’re a little more enlightened – no dark satanic mills for us, no sir. In a job market where the employee is king (well, until the recession came along, that is) it’s been all carrot and no stick.
And whilst the economic downturn may well have “redressed” the balance somewhat, the future is still orange! And it’s not all about money, other factors such as job security (very topical) and career developments are big winners. So what are the key issues to consider?
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE COMPANY?
It’s very easy to get caught up with what works for the employee. Any scheme or incentive must be aligned with business goals and objectives. As with Investors in People, training incentives must have bottom line benefits for the company.
CREATE OWNERSHIP
Get your team involved up front. Buy in will come from involvement and that will effectively drive performance. Listen to what really motivates them and centre on that and that will effectively drive performance. Listen to what really motivates them and centre on that, especially for goal hungry sales staff.
BE COMPETITIVE
Check out the competition and make sure your scheme is up to scratch. Otherwise …..
MEASURE
If it can be measured, it can be managed. Staff will respond better to specific, measurable targets. Build in those KPI’s (key performance indicators).
EVALUATE
Don’t cast anything in stone; test, evaluate, review and develop. Failing schemes can be de-motivating and may see staff walk.
REWARD AND RECOGNISE
Finally, don’t forget to make individual or team achievements public and visible.
The Corporate Gifts Company has loads of great ideas to help your motivation scheme along. Staff will be highly motivated by awards, plaques, corporate jewellery such as lapel badges, or a well chosen gift to say thank you such as sterling business card case.
Tags: award, Branding, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engraving, gifts company, incentive schemes, plaques
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company, Corporate Gift Range | No Comments »
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Make your promotion special
Promotional campaigns come in all shapes and sizes. Quantities, target audience etc all vary; from hundreds of thousands of plastic pens at a few pence as give–aways, to a prestigious item for heads of state. When budgets are squeezed like now, there is always awareness that a “special” corporate gift for selected customers or staff can have a bigger impact and can be more cost effective than adapting a scattergun approach that is so often prevalent when times are better and budgets are more liberal. If you allocate the same budget but purchase fewer items coupled with a targeted approach, your promotional campaign can be cost effective with greater results
Segmentation of your database is key. You can slice your pie any number of ways (dependant on your goals and targets along with your particular market) from top spenders to key decision makers, or from most profitable customers to lapsed customers. Good data, of course, is essential, and put good use a series of highly targeted campaigns to defined customer groups will always be better than a blanket campaign to your whole database.
The Corporate Gifts Company
specialise in high – end business gifts and executive incentives ideal for targeted promotions. Engraving individual names onto a corporate gift such as a desk item adds little cost will have a huge impact. So, the next campaign you plan, try to segment into customer groups with different messages and choose your corporate gifts accordingly.
Make your promotion special
Tags: Branding, business gift, Business Gifts, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, Cost Effective, engraving, executive incentives, gifts company, promotion, promotional campaigns, promotions
Posted in About The Corporate Gifts Company, Corporate Gift Range | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Why Investors in people is good for our customers
Recent research from Cranfield School of Management pinpoints exactly how Investors in People make a dynamic difference to the bottom line. Investors in People has always been more than an’ act of faith’ by most recognized organisations. Direct experience of benefits has been confirmed in recent years by reports from organisations like the Confederation of British Industry, The Institute of Employment Studies and the Central Office of Information which showed the strong connection between using the Investor in People framework and business improvement. This culminated recently in research from the Institute of Employment which illustrated that the financial benefit of being an Investor of People amounts to an average of an extra £176 per employee in gross profit, every year. Why does Investors in People produce these benefits and what are the key factors between Investors in People and bottom line profitably? Cranfield School of Management’s research showed exactly how Investors creates the conditions in which the organisation performs better and more profitably. At the centre of Cranfield analysis was what was referred to as a “chain of impact.” This was based on the idea that the positive changes in a way an organisation operates ripple out producing, in their own turn a series of other changes in what becomes a virtuous circle of improvement. Other result from being Investors in People – includes levels of customers satisfaction, the ability to recruit and retain other employees, the quality of employee relationships and also by how well the organisation’s products and services are perceived.
The Corporate Gifts Company have held the Investor of People status since 2005 and we strongly believe that this enables staff to be more committed, also better trained and more knowledgeable through out the business. This means our customers get the best possible service from initial enquiry, through to through to advice on branding your corporate logo, from production and despatch through to after sales.
Call our expert sales team on 0845 430 2902 and see for yourself!
Tags: Branding, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engraving, gifts company
Posted in Corporate Gifts Business Card Holders | No Comments »
Friday, January 16th, 2009
Specifically fonts… If your engraving requires a special font to fit in with a logo or corporate branding guidelines. Don’t worry we can always help.
We have an extensive library of different fonts that our expert in-house engravers can access to fit with your specific requirement. If we don’t have the specific font that needs to be engraved we can redraw the logo in a vectorised format.
As a general requirement for artwork which is to be engraved, the rules is that the better the artwork is the better the engraving will be. And simpler is almost always better.
Formats… Our image format requirement is that the images need to be vectorised and preferably one of the following formats: ai, eps, pdf.
If you don’t have a logo we again can help you by getting our graphic design department to create one for you FREE of charge, as long as an order for engraved gifts is being placed. Simply contact Dan for help.
Tags: Branding, Engraved Gifts, engraving
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | No Comments »
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
We just thought that we’d spend a little time showing some of our mock-ups off…
We often get companies asking us for bespoke products, awards, keyrings, jewellery, bottle stoppers and just about anything you can imagine! Our normal process is to get our graphics department to design a mock-up based on the logo & brief, we then get a quote based on mock-up.
Below are some examples of our recent concepts.
If you have a requirement for bespoke products then give us a go, we can normally get a design to you within 1 hour.
Some of our most popular bespoke items are:
- Bespoke Jewellery, in any shape or finish
- Custom Jewellery in precious metals
- Bespoke Awards in any shape
- Bespoke Awards in any size or material
- Bespoke Cufflinks:
- Engraved
- Hard enamelled
- Soft enamelled
- Epoxy domed insert
- Die Stamped
- 3D Moulded
Tags: award, awards, bespoke awards, Bespoke Cufflinks, Bespoke Jewellery, engraving
Posted in Corporate Gift Awards, Corporate Gifts Advice and Help, Corporate Gifts Bespoke Products | No Comments »
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
Just like every other office, I guess, here at The Corporate Gifts company we have jumped on the chance to talk about something other than the credit crunch and we’ve boarded the bandwagon to put our twopenneth worth of ill informed opinion about the the BBC’s recent unpleasantness. Well, whaddaya know, seemingly like the rest of the country, our office was definitely divided along age lines (gosh I hope that isn’t an ageist remark!).
Basically, the over 35 disgusted of Tunbridge Wells type were…well, disgusted, and the our resident Y Generation upstarts couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
Afganistan, Iraq, USA presidential elections, world recession, etc, etc and we in the UK are obsessed with a schoolyard prank gone too far! I’m sure this “scandal” is just like a sorbet course of a really expensive meal; refreshing the palate so that we can really get stuck into the main course of how far the world will tip into recession in the next few weeks, months and even years.
What Jonathon Ross and Russell Brand need is a bit of positive PR. For the 35,000 (and counting) disgusted of Tunbridge Wellsians, a sensitively chosen corporate gift engraved with a message of heartfelt contrition drop shipped directly to their door is just what the spin doctor would order. The Corporate Gifts Co could do that for them (cyinical I know, but we’re always looking for sales opportunities).
Anyway we decided to call for ideas in the office as to the most appropriate gift.
How about;
This photoframe to put a picture of a proper radio presenter in (Terry Wogan perhaps?) http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_photo_frames.html
A pen – so they can write more complaints http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_milan_ballpoint_in_a_chrome_box.htm
Notebook – to write more….yes you guessed it http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_pocket_notebook_pen.html
Put a cork in it and have a drink instead (my favourite) http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_cone_wine_bottle_stopper.html
See how good we are, and we weren’t even trying really. If you’d like us to suggest an appropriate corporate gift or promotional premium for your company or promotional event, please give our expert sales team a call!!!
Tags: corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, engrave message, engraving, gifts company, promotion, promotional event, promotional item, sales promotion
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | 2 Comments »
Friday, December 5th, 2008
I’m sure most of you will have an idea of what engraving is, but I guess the majority will probably think of the little chap at the Open Golf Championship hand engraving the winners name at the last minute, or maybe the guy in the shoe repair shop who has a 50 year old manual engraving machine in the corner of his shop.
Times have moved on, but people still equate engraving with quality, and moreover the overall quality of the item or gift. So when buying promotional items, what does engraving mean in terms of reproducing your corporate logo?
There are many types of “marking” methods for advertising gifts, cheaper promo items tend to be printed as this is very cost effective. Leather can be embossed or blocked. Glass can be engraved or sand blasted. Etc, etc, etc. When it comes to metal items the most common method of branding is either diamond or laser engraving.
Here at the Corporate Gift Company we use diamond engraving. Laser engraving is particularly good in some circumstances and it’s resolution is particularly good on fine detail. As it actually burns the surface of the metal, however, it can effect can look “burnt” and a bit yellowy. Even when it is good it looks like a grey print. In which case, why not print it instead? Print is associated with promo giveaways, so if you are paying £20 for a promotional clock or desk item, why would you choose a branding method that cheapens the product. After all, a promotional product is all about perception and impact, so it is important to enhance the perceived value of your corporate gift, not lessen it.
At the Corporate Gifts Company we have 10 state of the art computerised diamond engraving machines to give you the quality and turnaround times necessary to make your promotion a success. Logos are plotted, vectorised and digitised using specialist software and the item is then engraved reproducing your logo as you’ve never seen it before. But even though the engraving machines are computerised, it still uses a diamond tip to mark the surface of the metal, giving the logo a shimmer that no other marking method can match, enhancing and increasing the perceived value of your corporate incentive.
Of course it’s a matter of personal taste, but 20 years of experience tells us that if you want to make the biggest impact with your executive gift, then diamond engraving is the best choice.
Call our sales team today on 0845 430 9202 to find out how we can translate your logo for maximum promotional impact.
Tags: Advertising, advertising gifts, Branding, corporate gift, corporate gifts, Corporate Gifts Co, Corporate Gifts Engraving, Cost Effective, engraved business gifts, Engraved Gifts, engraving, Engraving on Corporate Gifts, executive incentives, gifts company, promo gifts, promotion, Promotional Clock, promotional item, promotional items
Posted in Corporate Gifts Advice and Help | 1 Comment »
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