Corporate christmas gift idea

Byline: Brian Anderson and Jeff Rundles

Promotional products distributors and suppliers alike spend most of the year thinking about product niches: how to sell more women's wear, for example, or more orders in outerwear, or they are looking to specialize their knowledge and efforts at the particular industries they serve.

But there is one niche that every end-user has in common: the holiday gift-giving season.

Whether it is to recognize outstanding employees for a job well done throughout the year, or to honor certain customers for their loyalty, to breed goodwill among prospective clients, or just to spread good cheer at the happiest time of the year, gift giving at the holidays can be one of the most strategic promotions a company does all year.

For PPDs, the holidays can also be one of the most lucrative selling seasons, as end-users are often motivated - or can be motivated - to buy, and also quite often price is less of an issue. While not complete by any means, Wearables Business has rounded up some examples of popular holiday gift-giving ideas from a variety of industry suppliers with just enough time left for PPDs to be helpful to their clients during the all-important season.

And, of course, a successful year-end can make any PPD's holiday a happy one.

The busy time

The holiday season is the busiest time of year for many suppliers with lines that lend themselves well to holiday gift-giving.

"It's definitely the strongest time of year for our business," says Norm Bishop, principal of Bishop - The Garment Company, a custom manufacturer of corporate outerwear based out of Vancouver, B.C. "We offer a lot of things that are appropriate for that time of year."

Neil Cooper, president of supplier Neil Cooper, LLC, an Irvington, N.J. manufacturer with an emphasis on leather flight jackets, says overall business is shaping up in a very positive way this season.

"Retail seems to be buying, distributors seem to be buying, and end users seem to be buying actively," Cooper says. "And another good thing is we haven't had a lot of price resistance."

At Baltimore-based supplier Towel Specialties, Director of Marketing Murray Siegel says the volume of this year's holiday gift business is "too early to call.

"However, we did begin showing our new 180s Ear Warmers and Fleece Gloves at several of the trade shows this year and got a very good response. If sample orders are an indicator, these will be very popular this holiday season," Siegel says.

The 180s brand ear warmers and gloves were extremely popular last Christmas when they were introduced on a retail level. Siegel says Towel Specialties is the exclusive supplier for these products in the promotional products market, and they sell them decorated for about the same price or even less than they were sold blank at Nordstrom or Lord & Taylor.

While ear warmers and gloves may not be the first types of items that come to mind in the usually high-end holiday gift category, don't forget that usefulness and uniqueness are two important traits end users appreciate in a holiday gift.

Those same traits also apply to another type of product Towel Specialties sells a lot of as holiday gifts: robes.

"Our robes are often used by business-to-business accounts who are looking for something distinguishable and lasting that they can give to their top clients," Siegel says.

He continues that financial institutions, insurance agencies, and real estate brokers looking to make a quality impression make good potential customers. "We also find many sales organizations (for both tangible and intangible goods) will provide robes at end-of-year sales meetings held off-premises. While food gift baskets are nice - I love getting them - our robes last for many years. They are also not the kind of gift that everyone gets," Siegel says.

At Colorado Trading & Clothing Co., a recently introduced super-soft fabric called Divinity Micro Chenille has proven very successful in blankets and robes, and will soon be available in sweaters silhouettes.

"The micro chenille has been the hottest thing we've done in a long time. It's just been amazing," says Colorado Trading's Tina Schmitt.

While true chenille is made of acrylic, the Divinity Micro Chenille is made of polyester. "It has all the softness of chenille and cotton, but all the benefits of polyester," Schmitt says. "It doesn't shrink or stretch and it's easy to wash."

As it is selling well as a holiday gift, Schmitt says it has also done very well in the resort market because it is something fresh in the blanket and robe category.

For bigger gift programs, one might consider Colorado Trading's fleece blankets. Schmitt says the price has come way down on the fleece blankets, which they sell a half-million of annually. They are available embroidered, with a strap and all packaged up for "an unbelievable price," Schmitt says.

The last minute

"In some ways the holidays are kind of frustrating," says Doug Burkett, president of Burk's Bay, the leather outerwear supplier that is part of the broader PremiumWear stable of sportswear, outerwear and accessories based in Minnetonka, Minn. "It's kind of a last-minute business for me. People are working on programs for promotions that are kicking off now.

"I know that when the (holiday) season arrives," he adds, "they'll be thinking about leather. (The holidays are) the most important time of the year; a major part of our business is done between October and December."

Burkett says the importance of the holiday season for PPDs is in reward programs, as many end-user clients use the holiday time to thank key accounts and top-producing employees for all the business during the year.

"The incentive programs for employees," Burkett notes, "are definitely bigger during the holiday season. We don't know if they are new incentive programs or more redemptions for programs run earlier, but my guess is that it's more of both."

Burkett says that it is important for him - and other suppliers - to work with sales people and PPDs to remind customers how the products can be used. He instructs his own sales people to go out on PPD calls to end-users and, at this time of the year, keep the idea of gift-giving up front in the thinking.

For Burk's Bay, the items that most often end up in gift programs, says Burkett, are two jacket styles. The Drum-Dyed Bomber, style 108, is a cowhide bomber with a zip-in/zip-out Thermolite liner that is very popular this time of year. The style sells to PPDs for around $150. Also, the Lamb Driving Jacket, style 802, is popular, and Burkett says it is more of a "James Dean-type jacket," featuring an open bottom and leather cuffs. It goes wholesale for around $115.

"What makes leather so special," he says, "is that leather is a completely unique material. It is warm in winter, cool to wear in the summer, it is reasonably light-weight and it absorbs moisture."

Making a statement

A few stalwart suppliers in the business have come to see the holiday season as paramount to annual sales and, as such, go the extra mile for the gift-giving season.

Such a supplier is Leed's, the bag and accessories manufacturer based in New Kensington, Penn., the 10th largest supplier in all of the promotional field as measured by ASI.

Last fall, according to Steve Gelernter, national sales manager for corporate sales at Leed's, the company produced a flier brochure specific to the holiday season and the response was so great that for 2002 Leed's has produced an entire Gifts catalog. The company is using the 24-page holiday gift guide to launch a new line of business executive accessories and is reporting a tremendous response.

"Obviously, a bag can be a gift," says Gelernter. "But we've shifted to try and put together sets. Our PPD customers are definitely looking for ways to create a lasting impression for gifts, and award, recognition. We've had a great response to this."

Gelernter says the new sets include desk padfolios, coordinated business cases and duffle bags, calculators, desk clocks and writing instrument sets.

Gelernter says that Leed's this year has 30 pens in the gift guide, up from five last year, in a move he describes as a natural extension to the company's padfolio business. And he points out that the new gift set business comes at very good price points, citing the example of a $25 set including a calculator, desk clock and matching pen "that an established supplier has out for $36.

"The sets come in one complete, easy-to-sell set," he adds. "Packaging is very important."

In addition to the new accessories and sets, Leed's has also recently come out with a line of Cutter & Buck logoed items, including business cases, luggage tags, writing pads, amenities kits and other items.