Branding Up

Photo Copyright: Rhona Hartley I’m always surprised when people say to me “But I thought corporate gifts died after the Millennium!” I smile and tell them that branded gifts are very much alive and well. There will always be a time, in the life-cycle of every organisation, when it suddenly finds a need for branded merchandise or requires personalised incentives to reward staff achievements. Often the next statement I hear is “But we can just go online to find what we need.” True. You can. But ask yourself will the items you select be original, appropriate and have longevity? Probably not. That’s why my clients come to Branding Up . They recognise my ability to think creatively, value my wealth of product knowledge, and rely on me to deliver to their time and budget constraints. To demonstrate all these points, here’s a little example of what I’m talking about. I noticed that a UK high street retailer - the one that’s all magic and sparkle - is promoting its corporate gifts th...

I don't know about you, but things are starting to feel very festive down here at Redside. Advent calendar doors are being opened, the "Sleeps 'til Santa" list has several nights crossed off of it, and preparations around the steading for the big day are well underway. At this time of year my artistic temperament really comes to its fore. I just can't contain it! The abundance of natural materials from the surrounding woodlands, combined with found objects during walks with my pooches along the shoreline, are perfect for creating homemade Yuletide decorations. Something else that I like to hand make are Christmas crackers. These are relatively easy to put together, especially if you download and print out one of hundreds of templates that can be found online! The fab thing about making Christmas Crackers yourself is that you can stuff them full of your own festive goodies. I think it’s much nicer to put in bespoke gifts, rather than receive cheap offerings whi...