The Hindu Business Line : Gifting, it’s official

The best of crystal ware, vintage wines from French vineyards, cigars and designer accessories are being readied for important friends, old clients and the inner circle. Even the good old mithai boxes wrapped in shimmery vermillionand gold nets are making way for handmade Lebanese or Swiss chocolates.

The annual season that has consumers driving up business sales, is also the time for corporates to thank old friends, and make new ones. Generating all that goodwill in business circles and amongst those who matter, including ministries, dealers, however, doesn’t come as spontaneously as one might believe. Much thought and planning goes behind these gifts, says a senior corporate communication official. Gifting is now an official part of the list of his responsibilities, and one that’s serious enough to require two months of planning.

For gifting solutions companies and others like Swarovski or the silverware maker Frazer and Haws, this is the best time of the year. For Swarovski, the third quarter, marked with festivals like Eid, Dusshera and Diwali and followed by the wedding and holiday season, is the largest in terms of sales.

It’s only natural for Swarovski to make the biggest fuss over its autumn-winter collection of crystal and fashion accessories. Business has been growing 40-50 per cent year-on-year, says Shiv Kumar, Country Manager of the world’s best known crystals. Clients are spending more per piece every year.

Archana Singh, President of Frazer & Haws India, which is making silver-adorned terracotta Ganeshas and Hanumans, and other delightfully ‘crafty’ presents in silver, has identified gifting attitudes. Idols which can go up to Rs 50,000, depending on their size, work well in the corridors of powers and with the file pushers. It’s not in-your-face (read not an obvious bribe) and can still be flatteringly expensive, she explains.

There is a city perspective too. Delhites like their gifts to look as expensive as they are, “big bang for your money, in your face” , Bangaloreans are more subdued and art oriented; “they appreciate line and curve”, while Mumbaikars are a balanced lot, she adds. The company’s gold-plated nimbu and chilli, the evil eye removers, continues to be a huge hit with real-estate players two years after they were launched.

Ad-man Prahlad Kakkar, whose cigar business once sold a few hundreds of personalised cigars with names of the elite clients of a five-star hotel inscribed on the binders, cautions against over-indulgent gifting. “Look what happened when the Prime Ministers cautioned about wealth disparity, people took offence. The opportunity could also be used to raise awareness on issues, be it AIDS, or global warming,” he suggests. Designer Hemant Sagar too scoffs at the less imaginative who make do with inscribed pens and gilted cardholders.

“A ballpoint is after all a ballpoint. Unfortunately, most gifts do not reflect a company’s soul and don’t enhance its image,” says the designer who packed off Swarovski tattoos, similar to the ones flashed by the models at the first showing of his collection in India.

There are a few corporate houses consciously choosing gifts that are loaded with good taste of a more cerebral kind. An IT giant commissioned from Tara publishers a few hundred handcrafted, hand-bound books illustrated by some of India’s best-known tribal artists, for its key clients last year.

Chennai-based Polaris Software Lab also avoids “off-the-shelf stuff”. Relationship has been a strong theme for Polaris, says Senior Vice President - Corporate Communication Padmini Sharath Kumar, adding that the Polaris CEO has been sending out personalised gifts to employees on their wedding anniversaries over the past ten years. This year, Polaris’ corporate gift is HUM, a family workbook designed by an in-house team.

Kakkar has an interesting take on how the purse-strings are bound to get opened after a period of abstinence. “The monsoons don’t allow people to paint their houses, and also forces them to stay at home. Then comes the shrad month, when most of north India avoids meat; also there is Ramzan, the month of fasting. So, basically, after months of having been thrifty, you naturally want to splurge.”

However, the season is here once again to do it in style. Think out of the box or think environment friendly.

And make sure it’s personalised.