Establishing your name in the corporate world through corporate gift giving

Establishing a brand name can be one of the most important things a corporation can do. Having your name synonymous with the product you're selling (Kleenex, Frisbee) is the ideal, but any level of association between a product and your company in the customer's mind is the goal. There are many ways to get your company's name out there in public view, but an often overlooked one is to establish your name through a corporate gift.

A corporate gift is just that, a gift. Your company makes no money off the product but it does get something from it. First and foremost, it makes a client or corporate partner feel appreciated and welcome. Not everything in the business world is dollars and cents. To make that money, good, solid working relationships are needed between employer and employee, and between partnering companies as well as their clients. While separate entities on paper, you want people who are working toward a common goal to feel like they are one and the same; this will lead to a better product and better business as a whole.

Let's say your company has just dotted the "i's" and crossed the "t's" on a new partnership agreement. You want to make those in the other company feel like they're part of something. Corporate gifts say something about your company as well as please your new allies. In ancient days it was common to throw a large feast every time someone came by for a visit, so think food. If you don't have any livestock handy, try specialty cake.

Specialty cakes have some benefits as a corporate gift. They're not all that large; a foot long at the most, and are loaf shaped for easy transportation and storage. They lend themselves quite easily to being sliced. None of that wedge cutting stuff, we daresay many people have yet to master. Their slice ability means they can be portioned out as decent sized pieces for a handful of folks, or sliced thinner to be treats for those in a larger gathering.

Assuming you've chosen to serve specialty cake at a gathering you've organized, it can be used as a corporate gift to mark the occasion. Specialty cake can also be wrapped and sent to individuals or presented in person for them to enjoy later. If you really want to shine and make yourself and your company known as something different from the others, here's your chance. Because specialty cakes come in a wide variety of flavors (think beyond chocolate and vanilla), you can do a little polite snooping and find what flavor would best suit your chosen recipient.

Specialty cakes tend to have a blend of flavors such as pecan with walnuts, apricots with raisins, or maybe a blend of all four plus some other things. They can be made without sugar by using fruit as a natural sweetener. Used as a corporate gift, a specialty cake can be designed to meet any taste. Presenting such a well thought out corporate gift will also show you cared enough to do the research and go after something unique. After all, plain old gift giving can be seen as something automatic or impersonal, which negates much of the effect you're going for.

If done right, food as a corporate gift will make your company come off as one that goes above and beyond what is commonly expected. Not only will this help strengthen your ties to another company or client, but those people will talk to other companies and they'll be sure to mention a corporate gift that went over well. Your company will become known for this behavior if you do it enough, and when it comes to clients seeking services, it may be what puts your group over the top. With the economy being what it is, the competition for business has not been fiercer in many years. You may find your company neck and neck with another on someone's pros and cons list, and having a reputation of being a company that implements corporate gifts may give you an edge.

Of course it's not the cake that's going to give you more business (or maybe it is, people do love cake), but the sense of commitment and thoughtfulness you will build around your relationships through the specialty cake giving process.

Food is such a basic human need; it carries a deceptive amount of power. Taste and smell are closely associated and have been known to touch parts of the brain few other things do. A smell or taste that reminds someone of childhood or other happy days can nearly transport a person back to that time and place. Using specialty cake properly can tap into this effect and further ingratiate yourself with clients and business partners. Choose the right food as a gift and you can possibly have your brand name associated with memories of grandma's cookies. It's not exactly mind control, but as stated previously, in this economy every little advantage you can pursue should be pursued. Are you thinking about giving a corporate gift to a group of clients? Some of those folks might someday have companies of their own, and if they associate your brand name with that delicious snack they ate that one time, you may get a phone call with an opportunity on the other end of the line. These connections and associations can be invaluable, given you likely spent less than $100 on specialty cake to form them.

A lot has been said about using food as a corporate gift to get your name out there, but inedible things are not to be discounted. Corporate gifts can be things like clothing, umbrellas, coffee mugs, pens, calendars, and water bottles. High end specialty items like computers and desk decorations can go over well, too, but by putting out a bunch of things with your name on it, you get more eyes on your product. Common, everyday items that get used are the best for this type of branding a corporate gift.

Cakes or pens, mastering the art of corporate gift giving can put your name in people's minds, and can make all the difference between success and failure in today's economy.