– Tina Berres Filipski

Companies across North America are on a hiring binge—and that’s especially great news for distributors because many companies are welcoming new hires with branded gifts as part of their onboarding and training process. Even better, new employee gift orders are often renewed as companies continue to add team members and subsequently deplete their inventory.

Dustin Overcash, brand account specialist for distributor Nadel in Wilmington, North Carolina, recently designed a welcome-aboard gift for one of his top five clients, a local bank, who wanted something that would make its new employees feel truly valued.

Using the client’s environmental focus as a jumping off point, Overcash put together a presentation of custom kitted ideas that included a variety of eco-friendly and retail-branded products for the client’s review. He also suggested three different packaging options at various price points. At the top was a SILKEN box, PowerStick’s premium-level, white gift box with magnetic closure, available in five sizes. It can also be customized inside and out with full-color graphics. Other packaging choices were a custom-made wooden box and a full-color Kraft box with shredded tissue paper.

“The SILKEN packaging was one of the main things they wanted,” says Overcash, who was surprised his client didn’t choose the wooden box, given the company’s current environmental focus.

“They went with the SILKEN box because presentation was super important and they wanted people to feel welcome when they start out on their first day—to pop it open and feel they are in good hands and cared for. There’s no comparison to a SILKEN box with the nice cut foam where all the products are seated.”

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A charger made of recycled materials and a CamelBak® water bottle were selected and, joined by a welcome booklet provided by the client, a sample of each was shipped to PowerStick’s factory in Ottawa, Ontario, so that the foam inserts could be cut to fit each product. Later, when the boxes were at the fulfillment center ready to be kitted, it was determined that another piece of foam was needed to top off the box to prevent the contents from shifting during transit. This was likely because the charger had a curved edge that kept it from sitting securely in the foam.

The 200 finished kits were then warehoused and 70 of them were recently shipped to new employees—either at the bank’s North Carolina headquarters or drop shipped to remote workers’ homes. “What I’ve always loved about this client is that they are not generally waiting until the last minute—they actually plan ahead,” he says, adding that his client was exceptionally satisfied with the custom kits.

Overcash says he frequently buys from PowerStick because of speed, quality and dependability. “The speed you guys have is always something I think about when PowerStick comes to mind— because I always need it to be easy and speedy,” he says. “Even when we needed those extra pieces of foam, the production manager cut them the same day I called and we had a picture by the end of the day. Once we had our call with our client, we were able to give it a thumbs up.”

He adds, “As far as a custom kitting project, you can’t ask for it to be much simpler than this.”

*All branding has been changed to protect the client

PowerStick Product Used: SILKEN Premium Gift Box
https://powerstick.com/silken