Make It Meaningful: A Corporate Gift Guide

The Art of Giving Gifts to Remember You By

There’s Gift-Giving…

It’s that cute little thing you do when you care about someone.  You see something that reminds you of them, you purchase it, and you proffer it at the next celebratory occasion.  If you’re really adventurous and want to express extra appreciation, you might even make the gift yourself (crafty people LOVE to do this).

There’s also a subset of folks who enjoy this process so much that they do it just because on a regular basis – no occasion required!  It’s a whole love language on its own for those folks. 

And then there’s Corporate Gift-Giving

A corporate gift is a bit of a balancing act.  These are the gifts you (as a business or boss) give to your clients, prospective relationships, partners/contractors, or even employees.  All relationships and gift giving are an exchange of sorts, but at the corporate level, it’s absolutely a transaction.

The overall sentiment remains the same: an expression of appreciation and gratitude for your relationship.

The execution?  A little more nuanced.

Make it too branded, and you might damage your relationship with “cheap” marketing (regardless of the price of the gift).

Make it too generic, and you’re forgettable or worse – you might come off insincere.

A good corporate gift should check a few boxes:

• Personal
• High quality
• Memorable

Nail those three areas, and you’re golden!

Yeah, It’s Personal

You’re giving a gift!  That’s a tactical acknowledgement of a relationship by nature.  So yes, even though it’s a business gift, it’s still personal.

And because it’s personal, put some honest thought into it!

Don’t Force Your Marketing

While corporate gifts are a marketing strategy, they don’t (and shouldn’t) feel like a mindless blind buy.  A lot of companies reach first for thoughtless items they can slap a logo on: water bottles, pens, paperweights… office junk that’s overbranded and is very clearly more interested in selling than strengthening a relationship.

That’s what you’re really trying to do: strengthen a relationship.

There’s nothing wrong with a small, well-placed logo.  But those two qualifiers?  They’re important.  People don’t remember companies.  They remember how they were treated, how you made them feel, and they remember other people.  You’re giving a gift to a person, not a business.

So, if you must include a logo, put it on a card – with a handwritten message from you, of course. 

What You Give Matters

You already know this!  Everyone has had the cringe-worthy experience of receiving a gift that just didn’t land.  Maybe it was something you outright don’t like, and all the giver managed to do was demonstrate how little they know you.  There are countless ways to be thoughtless in gift-giving.

But at the corporate level, how do you give a thoughtful gift?

Simple: choose an item that represents both beauty and utility.

Everyone on your marketing team already knows that at the root of it, all of us want our lives to be a little easier, a little prettier, and a little more special. 

When making your gift selection, lead with utility and beauty in mind.  Does it make your recipient’s life easier?  Does it make their life more beautiful?

Beautiful, Useful Gift Ideas to Get You Started

• Live potted plants: gorgeous to look at, makes the home or office feel more inviting
• A sensory experience, such as a bottle of wine or a gourmet basket of treats: tasty, filling, and a great way to take the edge off of a long day
• Art or an artistic experience: reminds you how much life there is outside of work
• Vouchers to an experience, such as a concert or museum: a great way to actually relax!
• An artisanal item, like a handmade candle, lotion, etc.: equal parts indulgence and utility
• A pen (high quality, beautiful ballpoint or fountain pen with matching ink, for extra pizazz): do this right, and it’ll be their office favorite, thanks to you.  No logos allowed on this one!
  • Go the extra mile and make it a desk set, complete with personalized stationary
• Embroidered handkerchief or pocket square: one of life’s little luxuries that, done right, becomes a conversation starter and a referral at every conference they attend in the future.

Quality Counts

No one wants to feel like an afterthought. 

Presentation is your best friend.  Once again, everyone on your marketing team already knows that packaging matters.  It’s the recipient’s first impression of you and your standards. 

When you can, it’s worth splurging on a well-constructed presentation: the fancy box, the nice wrapping paper, the embossed envelope… it all counts.

But for the gift itself?  Opt for artisanal every. Single. Time.

Artisanal goods took time and care to craft, and because an artist is involved, you’re getting reliable construction paired with their talent.  It’s a gift that silently says “can you imagine the time and thought it took to make this?  That’s how much I value you and our relationship.”

Make It Memorable

If you’ve checked the beauty, utility, and quality boxes, then you’ve made it 99% of the way to the perfect corporate gift. 

All that’s left: add a card.

Don’t skip this step!  And more importantly, don’t outsource it to AI, your keyboard, or an employee.  This gift is from you, not your office.  Sure, it’s a corporate gift, but remember what we said earlier: people remember people.

Hand write an honest card, sign it with confidence, and pair it with your perfect gift.

Let’s go back to a super common gift: pens.

You could go for the cheap option, logo on the barrel, with temperamental ink that smudges left and right.  Plastic, through and through, right down to the crinkly bag it came in.  You could even gift a few dozen of these to be kept on hand at the recipient’s office.  They’ll lose at least half of them within a month. 

Your corporate postcard with your stamped signature on it ends up in the bin within a matter of days.  No one’s talking about that gift, and if they do, it’s your name that comes out of their mouth, paired with a blase shrug and a visible cringe. 

They’re not mad or offended.  They just… can’t be bothered to care.  You didn’t nurture a relationship; you tried to sell them with a half-hearted gesture. 

They can tell.

OR…

You purchase exactly one pen: made by a local carpenter who specializes in turning wood scraps into gorgeous polished barrels.  You pick a purple heart piece, since this client/partner’s branding is purple, too.  Brass hardware, so it catches the light and makes a polished statement when it sits in their front pocket. 

It gets noticed around the office, by their clients, and by their business partners.  It becomes a topic of conversation that makes them look and feel good, and they’re excited to tell the story of how they got it.  Your name is regularly on their lips, right next to a smile. 

You opt for the ballpoint for its simplicity, low maintenance, and reliability – but you go out of your way to include extra cartridges so they can keep on using it once it runs out of ink.  You also opt to purchase one of the carpenter’s pen boxes (also handmade in the shop) in the same wood.  That box now lives on their desk. 

You handwrite a card, presented with the pen.  They eventually toss the card after some months of it also living in their office. 

There’s not a single logo from your company to be found anywhere, but it was never needed.  They remember you.

It’s still just a pen… but not really.

A Final Suggestion

As the holidays come around the corner, we at The Magnolia Company would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we specialize in artisanal corporate gifts! 

Our wreaths are constructed entirely from sustainably sourced magnolia foliage, grown on our small family farm in Central Florida.  We’ve been in business for 20 years, so we know exactly what it takes to construct a gorgeous natural wreath that’ll last season after season. 

Our team crafts everything – yes, everything – by hand, and the only logo you’ll find is the one on our shipping box (which we redesigned some years ago to be even sturdier, so it also becomes your long term storage box to protect the wreath in the off seasons). 

It’s fresh and green for the first season, then naturally dries to perfection for every season after.

Classic, timeless, festive, elegant, and remarkable: everything you want in your holiday decor. 

It’s the right impression, hung on their doorstep.

Contact us via email to get a quote today! Or browse our corporate gift collection — orders of 10 or more to a single address receive 20% off automatically.