Corporate Gifting and Custom Packaging
My Role: Sr. Head of Creative // Creative Director, Art Director, Illustrator, Digital Photographer, Vendor Management, Swag Management, Project Management, Process Improvement and Implementation
When I first arrived at Propeller in the summer of 2016, I was informed that the firm liked to send client appreciation gifts every December to clients that had bought work that year. However, typical corporate gifting wouldn’t suffice: the gift boxes had to be expertly curated, tell a brand-relevant story, keep client relationships warm for more work, and dazzle the recipient.
During my 6.5 years at Propeller, I created and streamlined the process for gathering and confirming names and addresses to send gifts to clients. I also sourced, purchased, and thoughtfully customized the items that went into the gift boxes, working directly with vendors to make sure we had the number of items we needed when we needed them in order to send gifts out at the right time. In total, I’ve successfully completed seven client gifting campaigns, each with an 85+% response rate along with overwhelmingly positive feedback from recipients.
In addition to the logistics of it all, I came up with the concept every year, designed and procured all of the external packaging designs, the internal packing materials (sustainable fill material and custom inserts to hold items), greeting cards with personalized notes from leadership team members to the recipients, insert cards that described the items inside, and, when appropriate, custom labels for select gift box items.
Below is a sample of the work I’ve done for this recurring, annual project.
Concept Strategy and Design | Corporate Gifting (Including Personalized Gifts, Greeting Cards, Gift Boxes / Packaging, and Labels) | Stickers and Magnets | Apparel | Process Improvement and Implementation
Propeller Client Gift Box Campaign – 2019
Title: Adventure Awaits
Concept: Celebrating our expansion from the west coast to the central timezone with a new office in Denver, Colorado, the box contained a curated collection of items that captured the feeling of embarking on exciting journeys while still staying cozy enough for a holiday, year-end gift. Each item was sourced locally from vendors that existed in or near each of our office locations: The California Bay Area, Portland, OR, and Denver, CO.
Gift items included:
A bandana printed with gameboard graphics that could accomodate games of checkers, tic-tac-toe, marbles, or dots and boxes
A handmade ceramic mug
Drinking chocolate
A “Rocky Mountain” scented candle
Savory banana trail mix
A wooden slingshot (which came with steel ball bearings, but we provided mini marshmallows for both the drinking chocolate and as a safer ammo alternative)
Propeller Client Gift Box Campaign – 2018
Title: Flourish
Concept: We commemorated a year of tremendous growth with gifts that celebrated the journey onward and upward. All items had a theme of growing, climbing, or iteration and evolution.
Gift items included:
A glass teapot
A sampler of flowering tea that “blooms” when put in hot water
Wooden coasters with topographical map data of Oregon’s Mt. Hood
A concrete vessel that acts as both a pen holder and succulent planter
Seed money: 50 paper coins embedded with seeds that grow flowers, herbs, and vegetables
Reusable whiteboard notebook by Wipebook
Propeller Client Gift Box Campaign – 2017
Title: Gifting Back
Concept: We decided to celebrate the year following the tumultuous 2016 election by giving back: all of the items in the box were fair trade goods and products that give back to communities in need.
Gift items included:
An infinity scarf from Krochet Kids Intl. – trains and employs women in poverty-stricken regions of the world; each scarf is made by one of the women they worked with
Wooden earbuds from LSTN Sound Co – proceeds from every sale go towards giving hearing aids to people in need, worldwide
Artisanal chocolate bars from Nuubia San Francisco – Nuubia SF is the world’s first confectioner to commit to sourcing Wildlife Friendly® ingredients
Tea from Smith Teamaker – Smith Teamaker partners with Mercy Corps Northwest as well as donates funds to SERP, an education program that provides coaching to tea garden workers
Winter Warmer Brew from Ex Novo Brewing Co. – Ex Novo donates their profits to the following partners: Friends of the Children, International Justice Mission (IJM), Impact NW, and Mercy Corps Northwest
