5 Innovative Tips for Seasonal Gifting
As 2019 flies by, many brands are already looking at seasonal opportunities that the second half of the year can bring, particularly in the gifting space with so many festivities coming up. Instead of repeating what’s been done before, here are five innovative touches you can feature in your gifting this year for better branding and marketing performance.
Brand: Marriott International
Year: 2018
📸: Icicle Group
1. Incorporate Connected Packaging
Connected packaging means packaging with information (usually through a custom QR code or even AR technology) that allows customers to easily land back into a brand’s website or a product video. In the festive season, this can lead to seasonal greeting videos that can enhance brand communications. Connected packaging is a powerful offline/online approach to optimise customer engagement and create a seamless user journey.
Brand: Zappar Labs
Year: 2015
2. Keep in mind: KOLs First
With brands now creating elaborately designed seasonal gifts, from mooncake boxes, Christmas hampers, red packets to an Instagram-worthy standard, products are packaged with the goal of getting onto influencer platforms. By including relevant KOLs on your lists, brands earn enormous exposure as these influencers post about the gifts they receive, displaying their status of being on the top of a brand’s VIP list, and thus amplifying the desirability of the brand to their followers.
Brand: Salvatore Ferragamo
Year: 2018
📸: @maxiaohuis
Brand: Salvatore Ferragamo
Year: 2018
3. Always relate to your Brand Story
Don’t pass up an opportunity to talk about your brand story and illustrate the connection of the gift to your brand. Customising the look of your gift based on your brand story (ie. coming out with notebooks that include snapshots and photos of brand milestones) keeps your communications clear and streamlined.
Brand: Rosewood Hong Kong
Year: 2019
📸: Icicle Group
4. Give gifts that ADD value
A desk calendar with monthly tear-away discount or promotional coupons (which can apply to any kind of business) gamifies a utilitarian tool and in turn, captures consumers attention regularly, gives them something to look forward to every month, and keeps your brand in the forefront of their minds. It also makes clients think twice about discarding a gift.
Brand: Givenchy
Year: 2019
📸: Icicle Group
5. Associate with trending delicacies
During Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas or Chinese New Year, a brand can get lost in a sea of sugar and red packets. Instead of generic sweets, source interesting and unexpected treats native to your brand’s history. This type of gift delights, informs and entertains receivers and is a fun-filled way to keep a brand in the forefront of your client’s minds and increases the chance for clients to pick up the phone and call you.
Brand: Duddell’s
Year: 2018
📸: Duddell's
About the authors
Josephine Cheung is the Senior Director, Business and Project Management at Icicle. She knows just about anything and everything there is to know about marketing production.
Masahiro Watanabe is Icicle's Brand Strategist. With a curious mind and enthusiasm for creativity, he is always on the lookout for fresh ideas and unique perspectives.