For decades, room gifts or gifts at check-in were a staple of corporate events. Elegantly presented, perhaps with a note from the CEO or other executive, these tokens of appreciation may have been politely commented about among program participants over breakfast or lunch the next day.
Many companies are turning things up a notch. At today’s annual sales meetings or other offsites, gifting experiences are becoming an event within the event — a high-energy affair in which colleagues “shop” together in pop-up stores or cheer each other on as they dash through portable warehouses of merchandise stocked with electronics, sporting goods, wearables and more.
Instead of tucking a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses or OluKai sandals into a welcome bag, program sponsors are opting to turn gifting into a social affair. “If I just throw a gift in your room, the connection is just not that emotional,” says Brett Hatch, senior director of global corporate gifts for Maui Jim. Hatch and his team helped pioneer the concept of gifting experiences nearly two decades ago. Maui Jim employees would set up at an event, bring six or more styles of sunglasses, create a pop-up retail environment and the program participants and their spouses were invited to pick a pair that suits them. The takeaway is always much more than a pair of sunglasses, Hatch says. Colleagues who may only see each other at these annual incentive trips swap stories, laugh and enjoy the camaraderie. The gift is now the means of making lasting memories. When they are worn months later, many participants will have the memories all over again.
Hinda Incentives has created traditional recognition programs for companies for decades. More recently, it has packaged its Warehouse Dash, in which award winners come to Hinda HQ and scurry through aisles of merchandise grabbing as much as they can in 60 seconds, into a traveling show. The offering is called Dash to Go, and Hinda Director of Marketing Alisa Schafer says it is wildly popular. Hinda brings the warehouse to the client’s event and the excitement ensues.
“It’s not uncommon to hear participants talk about having been on lots of different trips, sat on beaches and been to luxury locations around the world, and they will compliment what an experience their dash through the warehouse was — that it beats everything they’ve ever done in all of their years in sales,” says Schafer.
The thrill of nabbing such a nice haul is relived when the pallet full of goodies is delivered all at once to the participant’s home a few weeks later. Hinda has an alternative on-site offering called Shopping Spree in which six different pop-up stores are created and program attendees are given a set amount of currency to spend in the makeshift mall.
“It’s a great time for management and executives to join them in the experience,” Schafer adds. “Especially in a sales situation, these people may not get to be together often. It really becomes not just an opportunity to redeem points, but a memorable experience.”
Providing choice
Not only do gifting experiences add energy to events, they take the pesky problem of picking a room gift out of program sponsors’ hands and provide choice to the participants. “If you give 300 people who are coming from across the county one item and expect them to walk away thrilled with it, it doesn’t make common sense,” says Tom Romine, founder and president of Cultivate, a provider of premium brand gift experiences.
Romine was initially groomed on creating memorable gifting experiences as the manager of the corporate sales and tournament gift division of Callaway Golf, and then as a member of Hatch’s team at Maui Jim. He founded Cultivate in 2010. The company stages more than 500 on-site gifting events around the world each year. Romine and his team travel to corporate meetings at high-end resorts. The Cultivate team stocks their pop-up stores with four to six different styles in two to three different product categories (think sunglasses, sandals and handbags).
“We’re always looking to curate a mix that represents the latest retail styles, but also focusing on having something for everybody,” Romine says. Average group size for events Cultivate serves is 300, but they have supplied events with as many as 4,000 guests and as few as 50. “The experience component — where guests get to interact with our team and actually select from a variety of items — creates the best chance they will walk away with something they love and use after the event.”
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