Travel company gifts aren’t just for CEOs and auditors. The director of your local non-profit art gallery travels to Houston next month to interview for a grant. The deejay you see at the bar down the street every Friday will drive to Charlotte on Saturday for her next gig. For your creative clients and employees, consider the following unique company gifts.
1. Neon Slap-On Watch. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these (the benefit of working for a place that sells company gifts). They come in black, white and four neon colors, and -- the best part -- they slap on! The adult equivalent of kids’ slap bracelets, this company gift is a dream for any kid born in the eighties. The silicone band is soft, sleek, waterproof and flexible, and the analog face looks both modern and classic. I can easily see this watch being tossed in the bottom of a bag and emerging, unscathed, hours later. It makes a cool company gift for professionals this side of the corporate Rolex. I’ve been looking for an inexpensive yet stylish watch for years; now I just have to decide between Nickelodeon orange and Ninja Turtles green.
2. Vanity Bag. This compact toiletry bag fits neatly in a carry-on tote, backpack or briefcase, and comes in three neon colors (to match the watch, perhaps). It snaps open to reveal pockets for toothbrushes, makeup brushes or tweezers, as well as a translucent zippered bag for toothpaste, mini shampoos, makeup, razors and other items. Your logo fits nicely on the front center of the cylindrical bag.
Attractive and well designed, this company gift will brighten the dreariest of fleabag motel bathrooms. I have it from a good source that neon looks good even under flickering fluorescent lights.
3. Origami Laptop Bag. I imagine this company gift in the hand of an interior designer, or my best friend Rachel who works at an art gallery. Rachel’s the kind of person whose clothes are always perfectly tailored. She is fit and petite, makes a lot of hand gestures, and has stick-straight strawberry hair cropped at an angle with her chin. Her feet always point outwards just a little when she’s standing in the gallery. I can imagine Rachel receiving the Origami Laptop Bag as a company gift from one of the gallery’s wealthy octogenarian board members. I can see her walking quickly as she always does, toting it through the glass doorway of the gallery and plopping it down on her desk by the alcove. She opens the bag to reveal her white MacBook -- another company gift, lucky her -- postcards advertising next month’s exhibit, and her business card with rounded corners plucked into the appropriate pocket and sitting pleasantly among the soft Aspen stripes of the company gift’s interior lining.
I want to be Rachel.
4. Translucent Tumbler. If you don’t want to pay a million dollars for airport vended bottled water, you’ve got to bring your own, which is near impossible due to banned liquids on flights. The translucent tumbler, however, is perfectly permissible. Just take it through security and fill it up at one of the many water fountains near the bathrooms. Company gifts for travelers bring your brand an enormous amount of exposure, considering the thousands of people your traveling client will pass while drinking from her company gift that bears your logo. The stylish colors -- graphite, ice blue, and clear, among others -- draw attention. And the tumbler’s translucency will allow it to pass through security much more easily than its stainless steel -- and opaque -- counterpart.
5. Taxi Wallet. I know I said there’d be no black leather company gifts in this list, but the Taxi Wallet is different. An original of designer Alicia Klein, this company gift is small and -- as its name suggests -- suited for travel. Compact and designed for cash, the taxi wallet sticks nicely in your front pants pocket or an easily reached compartment of your shoulder bag. Use it to carry your identification and plane tickets as well as cash for airport vending machines and the in-flight beverage service. I often recommend the taxi wallet as a company gift that everyone needs and probably no one has.
When shopping for company gifts for clients and employees, don’t feel limited to black leather bags and desk organizers. Below is a list of more colorful company gifts for the start-up president, graphic designer or travel writer.
Acree Graham is a Marketing Coordinator at Pinnacle Promotions, where she writes articles, blogs and onsite content about marketing with promotional products and company gifts.
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