What Stand-Up Comedians Teach Us About Memorable Gifting

 


Corporate gifting and stand-up comedy might seem very different at first glance, one is all about laughter and live crowds, while the other happens in offices, boardrooms, and in relationships. However, many businesses do not know how to create something that people will remember. 

Great comedians do not create their performance using lots of expensive sets or flashy visuals; instead, they use timing, relatability, surprise, and emotional connection to deliver their message. Similarly, the concepts of timing, relatability, surprise, and emotion have a direct impact on corporate gift-giving success or failure.

Corporate gift-giving is not just about handing out products; in fact, it has become a way for companies in today's competitive environment to create moments that people will remember and cherish. By using examples from stand-up comedians, brands can change normal boring gifts into powerful tools for creating and enhancing relationships.

The Core Lesson: People Remember How You Made Them Feel

If you talk to someone and ask them who their favorite comics are, you will find most people will not retell the full joke. Instead, they will usually tell you what the comic said about them:

  • "This comic understands me."
  • "I thought he was speaking about my life."
  • "I can remember him saying this line."

The way that memorable gifting works is exactly the same as this. The best corporate gifts do not impress because of their value. The best corporate gifts make you feel like you are understood, valued and surprised by the gift giver. Expensive luxury corporate gifts that do not provide you with an emotional connection to them are very quickly forgotten. In contrast, inexpensive customized corporate gifts that create a connection often last longer than expensive gifts.

Lesson 1: Timing Is Everything

Comedy relies heavily on timing, and it is the same for corporate gifting. The punchline must be delivered at just the right time in order to have maximum effect, and there are many brands that think about what they want to send but not when they want to send it. For example, if you're thinking about giving a gift, you want to make sure that you're doing it during the right occasion, during the right emotional moment, and at the right stage of the relationship. 

A well-timed corporate gift item, like a well-thought-out welcome kit for a new hire on their first day, or a personalized gift for someone who has just completed a big project successfully, will have much more of an impact than a generic festival hamper that was sent just because it was expected. When you send a customized corporate gift at the right time, that shows your recipient that you've put thought into their gift, and that it is more than just a transaction.

Lesson 2: Relatability Beats Grandeur

The best stand-up comedy comes from relatable material. People laugh the most at jokes about how challenging it is to live life as we do.

Likewise, when it comes to corporate gifting, success is more about relevance than opulence. Corporate gifts that are extravagant do not necessarily need to be ostentatious. The key components of a luxury corporate gift are:

1. It Needs to Be Useful

2. It Needs to Match the Recipient's Lifestyle

3. It Needs to Fit Seamlessly into the Recipient's Daily Life.

A beautifully crafted desk accessory (like a beautiful desk calendar), a high-end notebook, or an environmentally-friendly drink container can provide a better overall gifting experience than some of the more expensive yet impractical corporate gift items. When a recipient feels that a corporate gift is something he or she will actually be able to use, it accomplishes its goal as a corporate gifting strategy.

Lesson 3: Surprise Creates Memorability

Comedy is largely defined by unpredictability; therefore, when someone can determine how a joke will end, they will lose interest and will not laugh at it anymore.

Similarly, when it comes to giving corporate gifts, similar principles apply.

Most of the popular items that companies give as corporate gifts have all become too predictable:

  • Common diaries
  • Standardized mugs
  • Common gift baskets

While these are all acceptable items to give, they would not be considered very memorable.

Memorable Corporate Gifts add a little bit of an unexpected twist to the gift-giving experience:

  • Using an Innovative Material
  • A Unique & Creative design element
  • Adding a Personalized Note
  • Using a Clever Package

Giving a company gift that can surprise a recipient in little ways, versus all the other gifts that are so similar.

Lesson 4: Simplicity Is Powerful

Complex ideas can often be expressed more effectively if you communicate them in a simple and straightforward way. If you complicate an idea, then you dilute its message. You can often achieve the best results when using simple ideas for corporate gifts.

Luxury corporate gifts do not require:

  • Too many logos/pictures
  • Excessive amounts of packaging
  • Too much in hampers

A well-curated corporate gift collection consisting of 2-3 quality items with a clean design and thoughtful customisation will project an image of professionalism and confidence.

Corporate gifts that are simple, elegant and have been custom designed often provide a premium feeling when compared with other corporate gifts that are excessively ornate and extravagant.

Lesson 5: Authenticity Builds Trust

An audience will quickly recognize a comedian who is trying to be fake. When a comedian is authentic, it helps the audience feel a connection with him or her as well.

Corporate gifts work on the same principle. Corporate gifting with items not representative of the company and/or its mission may often cause a greater negative effect than their intended positive effect.

Corporate gifting is effective if and when it reflects the following:

Luxury Corporate Gifts should only be used to create connections between a luxury company and its brand values. Luxury companies who utilize luxury corporate gifts will create lasting trust and loyalty among their customers and clientele by providing customers with a true reflection of their luxury brand image.

Lesson 6: Repetition Builds Recall

Professional comedians refine and reinforce their unique voice by repeating themes across shows, developing themes and styles specific to professional comedians, these professional comedians have refined their unique voice by using the same themes across multiple shows.

In addition to the fact that when companies give a gift the recipient builds familiarity with the company and therefore will have better recall when they see or hear about that company, using a corporate gift consistently over time is very effective for building familiarity with that company.

Corporate gifting is a collective experience, one that creates a "signature" experience rather than just a single event (or occasion).

Lesson 7: The Ending Matters Most

When it comes to comedy, the final punchline is the one that's most remembered by the audience. When giving gifts, the most remembered part is the unboxing and the first time using it.

Corporate luxury gifts should impress when they arrive, however when you actually receive and try out the gift and see how underwhelming it actually is versus how impressive it looks, people tend to be disappointed by corporate gifts. Custom corporate gifts need to give the recipients satisfaction at three different opportunities:

1. When they open it

2. When they come in contact with it for the first time

3. When they use it repeatedly

Ultimately, the impression that a corporate gift leaves on someone will last a long time depending on the final outcome.

Business gifting as Performance, Not Just Procurement

business gifting serves as an extension of the brand while honouring the values of the recipient. The objectives for the corporate gift include: Engaging with your audience (the recipient).  Pay attention to the message and content of your gift.  Provide your audience with a positive experience.  Create a lasting impression of your brand.

When done correctly, corporate gifts will create memorable experiences that serve as a means to connect and develop relationships with the recipient.  Gifts create conversation starters, products, and assets that will help develop a positive impression of your brand.

Why Customized Corporate Gifts Are the Future

business gifting has been transformed from a mass gifting to a meaningful engagement through customisation. A customised corporate gift: Shows the recipient's needs Value perception is increased Usage levels will be increased Emotional connection has been strengthened Luxury corporate gifts that contain subtle customisation convey an individualised nature, as opposed to a promotional nature. It is this equilibrium that exists between luxury corporate gifts and modern day business gifting.

Where Dausto Fits In

With corporate gifts evolving into a more experiential gift method, companies need platforms to encompass quality while providing scale and customization at the same time.

Dausto has proved to be an unparalleled source of corporate gifts for companies.

At Dausto, businesses can:

  • Buy bulk corporate gift items.
  • Browse through a plethora of luxury corporate gifts.
  • Create custom corporate gift items that adhere to a company's brand's identity.
  • Manage and administer their business gifting needs efficiently and professionally.

As a result, Dausto provides companies with the opportunity to create memorable, uniform, scalable, employee gifts, client appreciation gifts, holiday gift baskets, and new hire onboarding kits.

Final Thought

Connection provides stand-up comedians with memorable moments, just as it does for corporate gifts. Connection over quantity is the foundation for building memories.

The best gifts for corporations are:

  •     Relevant
  •     Timely
  •     A gentle surprise
  •     Reflect authenticity
  •     Leave the recipient with a smile long after the gift has been opened

When you have the right mindset and use the right platform, such as Dausto, corporate gift-giving can be one of the strongest vehicles for storytelling that a brand has at its disposal.

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