With this welcome gift pack we helped Sage transmit a message of true appreciation for members of their Partner Programme.

Background

The Sage Partner Programme offers a comprehensive range of cloud solutions that in turn help Partners’ customers transform their businesses. For the last three decades, Sage’s Partner Programme has been supporting 3 million small and medium-sized businesses all over the world, through a range of benefits including financial incentives, expert technical support and a whole host of marketing resources.

Challenge

Following the success of a welcome pack project we had worked on with Sage a few months before, we were commissioned by another Sage team to design, procure and fulfil two different welcome gift packs aimed at Sage Partners in the UK and abroad.

One of the packs was targeted at senior stakeholders within the Sage Partner Programme, and the other at Partners from the Sage Foundation – a time, money, expertise and technology initiative that creates sustainable economic, social and entrepreneurial opportunities in local communities worldwide.

With different price points, both packs had to transmit the importance Sage places on its Partner Programme.

Solution

Inspired by the concept of true partnership and connection between Sage and members of its Partner Programme, the senior Partners gift pack includes a series of devices that hint at the concept of connectivity, whilst also nodding at the key role technology plays for Sage. Despite the strict budget we had to adhere to, the gift pack delivers a true sense of excitement, uniqueness and well thought-out ideas that make the experience feel considered and personal.

We provided our client with CGI renders of the welcome gift pack to allow them to approve the design and contents prior to production.

Protected by Sage-branded shredded paper, the pack includes a wireless charging pad, a mobile power bank and a set of BEATS headphones. All components are concealed in Sage-branded sleeves that slip over the original packaging, not only ensuring visual consistency for the whole kit, but also adding an extra layer of surprise to the reveal experience.

The outer box, which we designed and manufactured, is sturdy enough to be shipped worldwide and maintain its quality appearance in transit to its destination. Inside, the box is lined with a simple yet striking canvas of slate tones and brand icons in Sage’s fluorescent green, which, with all kit components neatly packed up, transmit the message that this is a premium gift experience.

Half of the packs contained over-ear BEATS headphones; the other half in-ear Powerbeats.

In total, we procured and delivered 50 welcome gift packs for senior Partners, with half distributed across the UK and the other half sent to Canada.

We also produced 200 gift packs aimed at Sage Foundation Partners, which, despite a lower budget, still offered recipients a premium experience that shows Sage’s true appreciation of its Partners.

The theme for this gift pack revolves around the energy coffee provides, with an added twist: instead of just including a generic coffee brand, the welcome pack includes a bag of coffee beans provided by the Coffee Collective. Founded by Army Veteran Alex Henderson, the Coffee Collective is one of Sage Foundation’s ‘entrepreneur heroes’.

The outer box is lined with the same Sage-branded liner for a full Sage hit as soon as the box is opened, while Sage-branded shredded paper protects contents during transit to destinations across the UK, Europe, and as far as the US, India and South Africa.

To complement the coffee beans, we included a Chilly’s thermo mug that we laser-engraved with Sage branding.

We kept the Chilly’s cardboard tube for the sustainability kudos attached to the Chilly’s brand, but we also added a Sage-branded sleeve and a sticker on the top of the tube for visual consistency with other items in the pack, and to add to the Sage hit.

We retained the original Coffee Collective labelling on the coffee pouches but also reinforced the Sage branding through the addition of a printed sticker.

As with the packs aimed at senior Sage Partners, prior to production we provided our client with CGI renders of the pack and contents to seek approval beforehand.