We all have company swag lying at the bottom of some sad drawer in our house, whether it’s a scratched-up aluminum coffee mug or a brightly coloured t-shirt you wouldn’t be caught dead in. Within the past few years, company swag went from creative to crap.

We put together a list of three reasons why you should revamp your corporate gifting program and replace company swag with a curated gift box for your employees.

1. Company swag is impersonal

Company swag is a waste of money. There, we said it. It’s just another way of saying, “the only connection we have to you is work,” making employees feel like just another cog in the wheel.

Instead of stamping your company’s logo on a baseball cap for every employee, reward your employees with personalized corporate gifts like a Castelanotti Olive Oil Gift Box, a carefully curated collection of olive oils from Spain that employees can use to spruce up their greens for lunch or drizzle over their pasta for dinner. Find small windows during the workday to make positive impacts on employee lives.

2. Your employees are not your billboards

Free company t-shirts turn into cleaning rags and free company pens get left behind on company desks. Company swag lives a short and unmemorable life, forging a brief and transactional connection between a company and its employees.

No matter how excited you are about the clever design on them, most employees do not want to wear an “I survived X company’s fiscal close” on their day off. When a company stamps its name on an employee’s torso, employees begin to feel like walking billboards. For free. Company swag just seems like a brand new way of getting on your employees’ bad side.

Instead, give a corporate gift that shows your employees that you care for them as humans. It’s easier than it sounds. Appeal to their basic senses, like their sense of taste, with Wild Wendy's Wine Gums, a collection of tangy candies made in Canada. Though they’re not actually made with your employees’ favourite Merlot, Pinot, or Cabernet, gummies this addictive loosen up a stiff workday.

3. Company swag kills your budget

Many companies popularized company swag not because they’re budget-friendly, but because they’re easy and don’t require careful thought or personalization. Traditional company swag, whether they’re t-shirts, drawstring bags, or pens, suffer from:

• Poor quality

• Limited options

• Delivery issues

• Stock unavailability

• Incorrect final products
  
  

… so the company swag ends up in the trash.

You know your company could become a better gift-giver if it weren’t so worried about staying within a budget. More companies, like Qualifirst, understand this and look for ways to minimize your costs with bulk pricing and group discounts. Gift orders of $300 or more for employees and staff qualify for wholesale pricing and free shipping anywhere in Canada. We carry pre-curated selections like an Old-Fashioned Cocktail Kit or an Assorted Spice Rub Pack for your convenience.

If you don’t see a pre-curated selection that piques your interest, our corporate gifting specialists can help you customize your gifts to show your employees or your clients how much you care and build your basket from the ground up.

Ready to swap out that company baseball cap for something with a little more flair this year? Browse our curated corporate gifting collection now.