Companies are doubling their gift recipients’ pleasure by giving them a physical gift and creating a memorable experience at the same time. Most often, this is done at corporate retreats, group incentive travel events and other offsites that bring workers together.
The energy and excitement that is generated when a group of coworkers assemble to create their own gift can’t be replicated with any other group activity, says Dorothy Wolden, head of marketing for Cultivate, a provider of on-site gifting services at meetings, group incentive travel experiences and other corporate events.
Cultivate’s founder, Tom Romine, cut his teeth on offsite gifting events for Maui Jim and Callaway before founding his business in 2012. Seiko, Bulova and other name brands also offer gifting services at corporate offsites.
A gifting station is created where participants are invited to select their gift from an inventory of choices and often customize it. In addition to watches and sunglasses, tennis shoes, jeans, hats and other wearables are common gifts provided at these events. Wolden said sponsoring companies sometimes tie into the location of the offsite by sourcing a product locally.
“Coworkers engage with colleagues and their leaders, which makes it more memorable,” Wolden said.
In this sense, the gifting experience is as important as the gift itself.
