About two decades ago, a dynamic a husband & wife team of Mr. Prashant and Mrs. Bijal Kalbag launched a vivacious venture, namely Creative Awards & Rewards. What forms the crux of their business process and philosophy? Let us try to find out…

The company strives up to provide complete personalized solutions to meet the creative demands of its corporate customers. With emphasis on constant innovation and experimentation coupled with a ‘Never Say No’ attitude, the duo has steadily established the company into a domain leader, steadily growing its offerings by adding diverse materials into their existing range. Here are some of the highlights of its extensive product range and its exquisite features:

•    Just to elaborate, Creative Awards & Rewards provides a bouquet of perfectly crafted products made of Metal, Steel, Crystal/Glass, Wood, Acrylic, Fiberglass, Soft PVC, Leather and Ceramic to suit every budget.

•    Besides, Trophies, Presentation Plaques and Cups, the Company also offers a range of Corporate and Promotional Gift items like Crystal Candle Holders/Paperweights/Min. Clocks/Ganeshas/Vases/ Glasses/ Bowls, Time Pieces – Wrist Watches/ Wall & Desktop Clocks.

•    Creative Awards & Rewards provides outstanding stationery Items in Wood and Metal like Photo frames /Pens and Pen holders, Calendars, Pen/Mobile & Visiting card holders.

•    Also there are magnificent items like Coasters, Ceramic Mugs and Plates, Bar Sets…… and promotional and gift items made of  Stainless Steel, Leather, Soft PVC, as well as Lenticular Products made precisely as per your design and specifications.

•    The whole gamut of operations- right from computerized designing, crystal, metal casting, wooden, acrylic, painting and packaging department- are all available under one roof to ensure quality and timely deliveries.

The idea is to help a client achieve the desired impact through highly rewarding and fulfilling corporate appreciation programs. That’s exactly why it has come up with a new range of products in the above mentioned categories. You just need to get in touch with the company’s sales representative by giving them a call and they will respond. Alternatively, you may send an online enquiry through the official website, http://www.creativeawardsnrewards.com/.

Giftex heartily supports the exciting business idea of Mr. Prashant and Mrs. Bijal Kalbag. Our best wishes to the enterprising couple…

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A highly professional approach over the years has ensured that business visitors at Giftex, the much awaited event related to the contemporary gifting industry, would be able to source the best possible gifts and stationery brands under one single roof. Top advertising executives, sales & marketing managers made it a point to visit the show.

No surprise, the previous edition of Giftex was an extraordinary success. As stated above, a host of high-profile visitors, essentially the lynchpins in the corporate decision-making process, thronged the exhibition venue to be part of this grand showcase event for the whole gifting industry.

Just peeping into the past, Giftex was started more than two decades ago. Since then it has truly been a fruitful journey, well reflected in the success of this highly prestigious event. Giftex, Trade & Technology Exposition Co. (India) Pvt. Ltd. has now established itself as a leading exhibition organizing company that hosts several events on different themes.

In due recognition of the importance of Giftex to the gifting industry, the India Trade Promotion Organization has provided the event with its seal of approval. The stupendous success of Giftex can be attributed to the fact that its organizers, namely Trade & Technology Exposition Co. (India) Pvt. Ltd., are steadfastly committed to a result-oriented platform. Their aim is to enable a meaningful exchange and interaction between exhibitors and potential corporate buyers.

Giftex occupies all the five halls of spacious Nehru Centre and yet at times this capacity is not enough to accommodate all the prospective exhibitors. At this exhibition bulk orders are booked, but no sales are permitted. In essence, you could find the products, which well fit your budget the best at the event for the purpose of gifting.

Giftex has emerged as a premier event for the entire gifting industry. The organizers are confident that the exhibition would be a huge success and offer exciting ideas for the corporate world this year, too!

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A major attraction of the Giftex show every year is the wide array of options it offers on corporate gifting. It also looks to create an awareness of techniques and advantages of a corporate gifting program thanks to experts with a vast experience in the gifting industry attending the gift.

Getting the right gift to impress clients has always been a tricky topic. There are so many decisions to be made like how much should be spent on corporate gifting exercise. It depends on your business scale and the worth of your crucial clients.

However, an expensive item may not go well with some clients. So the first rule of thumb for you as a gift giver is to know your respective clients first before you select a gift for them. You need to be discreet and selective.

After you have determined the dynamics including purpose of gift giving to fit the budget, your next challenge is deciding what? Depending on the situation and the occasion there are many options available (as you will find out at the Giftex exhibition). Something with an inherent thought behind it is always appreciated. This sure will strengthen your bonds with your corporate clients.

Logo or no logo is another decision to make. Whether to put your company logo or not is a matter of personal choice. Everyone loves seeing their company logo on products, but not every recipient would appreciate it. If you are confident of having selected a gift, which will make a lasting impression, you need not put your company logo on it.

The recipient will remember you by the gift itself if it is ‘different’ and thoughtful. It must help you and your brand stand out from the clutter. So instead of going for plain diary as a gift, you may get one made from exquisite handmade paper with the recipient’s name nicely embossed on it. Being distinctive in approach towards gifting would make sure that the person would always remember you every time he or she sees or uses your gift.

The Giftex 2012 will provide you with various such clues to getting the right corporate gift.

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Specific rules and norms are set by respective advertising standards authorities in different countries. The same are monitored by committees that keep a tab over advertising practices that can often be misleading. These bodies are independently administered and serve like a watchdog.

For example, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) functions as a self regulatory voluntary organization. The role and functioning of ASCI encompasses addressing complaints received from consumers and industry against advertisements and claims that are considered as false or misleading. It is important in this context that we consider the difference, albeit subtle, between a prize (awarded to a lucky few winners) and a gift (available to all or a majority of entrants to a promotion irrespective of the fact whether they win or lose).

This distinction should always be made amply clear to consumers who are being targeted or approached through promotional offers. If all or almost all participants are entitled to an award in a promotion, it should not be termed a prize. In such a case, it may preferably be denoted as a ‘gift’, ‘reward’, ‘award’ or a similar such term as long as the context does not get misleading to consumers.
For example, promoters should not make a claim that respondents will get to ‘win’ a ‘gift’ because the terminology is improper, confusing and inconsistent. Rather state they would get to ‘win a ‘prize’ or will be ‘given a ‘gift’. Let’s take a practical case. A few years ago, the UK based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) mulled over a peculiar promotion that involved the promoter offering several prizes and gifts.

The promoter considered that since recipients got one of two or three gifts on offer with no single gift going to ‘all or most’ of them, each gift could well be described as a prize. However, the authorities stipulated that since the vast majority of respondents would get one of two or three low-value items, they should be termed as gifts. The promoter thus had to withdraw the claim that these were rather prizes and not gifts.

So make sure that you promote the program in a proper context so that it is not perceived to be misleading consumers. In other words, drawing a fine line between a gift and a prize is vital.

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Contrary to the perception and predictions of gloom and doom for global economy, marketers are bullish on Asia and India in particular. They describe these as real exciting times, presenting a great business opportunity and hence are keen to open new stores across different cities this year. Sample this:

• Porsche Design has opened in New Delhi and already has chalked out plans to expand to other leading cities of the country. It tracks several luxury brands including Montblanc, Ferragamo and Prada; if eight of the 10 start in a particular city, it grasps the market is now ripe for it to make a foray.
• Louis Vuitton has recorded double-digit growth in 2011, albeit from a small base. It has been a star performer not just in India but globally,” states the chief representative (Asia) for LVMH (Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton), Tikka Shatrujit Singh, also an advisor to the Louis Vuitton chairman.
• Harley-Davidson has buyers from the North-east as well as Kanpur, Allahabad and other cow belt towns. Shreyans Group that retails Ferrari and Porsche claims to have sold 10 Porsches at least in Kanpur until now thanks to a discerning and affluent class there who appreciate luxury something that only the rich in top metros were known for in the past.
• Car marques such as Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari are witnessing an impressive upsurge in demand. If the former got around 20 orders for the last six months in 2011, Porsche delivered more than 310 cars - all are customized to the buyers’ demands - in 2011, more than twice the number in the previous year.

What is really driving this trend? One reason is that a Badge consciousness perhaps reigns high. There can be few better ways of flaunting your success or new-found status than by flinging out your captivating Canali wallet during an office meeting or click-clicking in your jazzy Jimmy Choos. This tendency is clearly going to have a positive impact on gifting industry as well, which is a much welcome development in today’s apparently tough times.

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In the west a food hamper is the most preferred gift and corporates choose their hampers with great care, it is usually a  and other accompaniments. Unfortunately this trend has not yet caught up in India given the fact that most stores such as Godrej – nature’s basket or RIL’s Fresh, shoppers stop and spencers do not cater to the corporate gifting market. There is an opportunity here for someone with an artistic ability to pack and put together a beautiful hamper that the receiver will cherish. What is important is the packing to give it the kind of panache it requires.

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It may be that one of your friends or family members have burnt their fingers in the stock market meltdown. Can you provide them with some succor? Do you want to suggest them an alternative avenue to park their hard-earned money to safeguard and grow it? Is there a way to assured wealth building in these uncertain times? Well, you need not harangue them on risk-free investing.

What you need do is just buy a nice piece of art, and gift it to them. It’s bound to fascinate them. Then draw their attention to the fact that many high net worth individuals and non resident Indians are putting their money in art! Here are some artists to consider:

Chintan Upadhyay: He often explores the iconography of Pop to convey his subject matter. His paintings carry references from media, advertisements, Bollywood and even the traditional miniature paintings.

Baiju Parthan: His fascination for technology, blended with his passion for mythology is palpable in his practice. The artist views them as symbiotic, as he thinks both mythology and technology feed off each other.

Riyas Komu: His oeuvre refers to the paradoxes of the urban situation that he paints with cynicism and compassion. The artist strives to archive the times, as well as reflect our immediate concerns – both localized and globalized.

Jagannath Panda: In his Panda’s work, a routine event or any commonplace object gets imparted with symbolic stature that is oriented to represent collective aspirations or sometimes rigid dogmas.

T.V. Santhosh: Drawing on images and news reports from the media, he combines pointed text and repetitive sculptural forms to make a statement on both the persistent nature of violence and the way it gradually becomes the norm, through recurrence.

Sunil Gawde: His tools often include sophisticated paint materials and implements like trowels and scrapers for achieving a layered depth in his pigments. This results in textured surfaces - dynamic and dramatic in nature.

D Ebenezer Sunder Singh: The paintings of Paul Cézanne and his principles of Art influenced me immensely. The human figures (the central element of his pictures) shift time and space to locate the psychological characteristics and the principles of life.

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Gifting is essential to motivate people and build long lasting relationships with esteemed clients. It’s a practice generally followed to celebrate a festival or an occasion or to mark the company’s success. A celebration motivates people and prompts to work harder to achieve bigger goals.

Why most businesses are on a gifting spree during the festive season? What makes them shower their clients, employees and representatives with gifts? Well, the answer is ‘motivation’. Corporate entities are driven by committed employees with good job skills. But what is it that motivates them – incentives and gifts? Right! “Gifts make a person happy…”

The thought process has changed a bit, though. Corporate houses now tend to employ gifting as a hardcore marketing tool rather than as a mere motivational tool. In today’s highly competitive business world, the emphasis is on building strong corporate relationships over the longer term. In some cases, corporate gifting becomes a sheer marketing gimmick.

Whichever way you look at it, gifting is essential to motivate people in-house as well as to forge a lasting relationship with esteemed clients. Aspirational value is important too and the best gifts are those that are aspirational in nature. A foreign holiday for instance. Such gifts are usually often the result of long-term loyalty program’s and are becoming part and parcel of the marketing strategies of airlines and the retail sector.

Of course, it’s the content or the actual gift that makes the most impact. The more it is thought through and well executed, better it will work. The facets to consider are the look of a gift, the packaging and the thank you card. Imprinted cards have a better impact as they convey a thank you message and also help in the branding.

There are several innovative mix-n-match gift ideas that you may try out. For instance, you may go for a deftly designed, classic candle stand crafted out of wrought iron. Accentuate it with scented candles. To add a mystical touch to the home décor and ambience, they include fragrances that create a soothing effect.

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It’s the ultimate festive time of the year when the wealthy and even the not-so-privileged open their purse. Diwali nights are lit up by Cartier blinkers and the air is filled with swish of satin fills. Elaborate card sessions, dazzling diyas, and crackers are the flavor of the season.

The party circuit perks up irrespective of economic conditions and recession. Every host wants to exude splendor. The venue resembles literally ‘mini-wedding’ scene. The food is served on shiny silver plates, and the gifts are hand-painted for that personalized touch. Invites with glittering gold-embossed logos are sent with beautiful boxes of choco-truffles. The guests are treated to an era and aura of royalty.

From designer kaftans to gazebos by the poolside, the pomp and extravagance reaches its crescendo. A touch of flamboyance is evident in everything in Diwali from designer playing cards to handcrafted boxes filled with pearl chocolates and edible diamond. This is the occasion when everybody who matters tries to ‘make a statement’. Baskets of imported Belgium chocolates, rare honey, gourmet snacks, and oysters for gifts are imported. The jazzier the offering, the better…

In gifting, giving and partying during Diwali, signature style is considered important as it is expected to reflect one’s personality. Those with exquisite taste and money in their pockets do things in a real classy way. There are Diwali melas that offer unusual stuff including Baklavas and Swarovski-studded candles.

Amidst all the ostentatious display and pomp, there are few who harp on tradition with old world décor and authentic Indian cuisine. For them celebrating Diwali is about reviving the spirit of Indian-ness. The hosts hence try to keep everything from the food and flowers to gifts traditional. On the other hand, glitzy glitterati gifts could comprise anything from a custom-made Louis Vuitton bag to a Cartier watch.

Have money, will spend, is the mantra this Diwali!

Tags: gifting india, gifting to clients, corporate gifting for employees, Popular corporate gifts, Gifting occasions, promotional gifts, Corporate gifting, Best business gifts, business gifting, Corporate gifting India

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The gesture of gifting has now taken a whole new context and meaning. Ethical gifting seems to be the buzzword, not restricted to the corporate sector alone. The trend now encompasses a range of actions like raising funds for a noble cause or pledging your wonderful wedding gift, supporting and helping an NGO, etc.

A DNA India news report by Sanghamitra Bhowmik points out that gifting has taken on an entirely new dimension with the internet. GiveIndia’s is one among the noteworthy innovations. The site has a webpage titled ‘iGive’, which can be used by visitors to raise funds for a specific cause or mission that they support or espouse.

Amita Chauhan of GiveIndia has been quoted as saying: “We once had a couple that donated the money they had received in gift during their wedding to an NGO of their choice.” 

Gifting eco-friendly products also has caught the fancy of the socially conscious class.
The proprietor of eco-friendly gift shop Eco Corner, Urvashi Mody has been in the business for over two and a half years. They already have several repeat customers for such gifts. Mody sources these eco-friendly products from across the country, as she claims. Her shop displays a variety of them including jute items, stationary, craft products designed by the tribal people and the underprivileged.

Nyassa in the western suburbs of Mumbai is another body that has on offer its line of nourishing natural body & beauty products that it produces and distributes. It was launched in 2007 by Ishwin Anand. The products are manufactured with essential oils and entirely natural materials.

Eco-friendly packaging is also becoming popular.

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