Corporate gifting in the UAE: what to give, and when
A practical calendar and a short set of rules for corporate gifts that people keep, from end of year hampers to executive pieces.
A corporate gift is the only piece of marketing that someone chooses to keep on their desk. That makes it unusually powerful and unusually easy to get wrong. Here is what works, and when.
The gifting calendar
End of year
The busiest season and the one that rewards planning. Hampers for clients and partners, a consistent piece for the wider team, something more considered for senior stakeholders. Start in September. The good items and the good packaging go first.
Ramadan and Eid
Dates, hampers and considered packaging. Tone matters more than spend. Keep it respectful and understated.
Onboarding
A welcome kit on day one does more for retention than most of what follows. Something to use, something to wear, something to keep.
Client appreciation
Not tied to a season, which is exactly why it lands. A considered piece sent in an ordinary month is remembered.
Awards and recognition
Custom trophies and engraved pieces for the moments worth marking. See corporate gifts and awards.
Four rules for gifts people keep
- Useful beats clever. A good bottle outlives a novelty every time
- Brand it discreetly. A logo the size of the gift turns a present into an advert
- Spend on the packaging. The box is the first thing they see and often what they remember
- Buy fewer, better. Twenty people receiving something good beats two hundred receiving something forgettable
Budget per head, not per item
Decide what each recipient is worth to the business and work backwards. A single tier for everyone is simple but wasteful at the top and thin at the bottom. Three tiers usually covers it: team, clients, key stakeholders.
Tell us who the gift is for, how many, the budget per head and the date. We come back with options at that number rather than a catalogue.
