In the last blog we considered one particular royal connection that GWD are fortunate enough to have, and whilst we’re on the subject of royals, we now turn our attention to Royal Ascot – the glamorous annual event that takes place this week. Racing enthusiasts will no doubt be licking their lips and looking forward to some exhilarating races; whilst plenty of the aristocracy will no doubt be strutting around in their finery.
Ascot is known for many different things, and one particular aspect of Ascot that I thought we’d focus on is the glorious array of hats that are on show. Not only do you see plenty of grandiose hats amongst the women (let’s see whether Beatrice and Eugenie are there!), but you also get some pretty fancy hats among the riders. The jockey cap is a great equestrian institution, and it’s the jockey cap that we’ll dwell on first of all. You may be wondering what the connection between Ascot and GWD is, so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. We make a chocolate box in the shape of a jockey cap as pictured. Ideal for hotels in close proximity to racecourses – and indeed racecourses themselves – to use during the racing season.
It’s not just jockey cap boxes that we make though: in the past we have made a variety of boxes with hat likenesses, and staying with the sartorial theme;whilst the morning suit is on the wane, it’s still not uncommon for us to make a top hat box like the one pictured. If a customer is looking for something slightly more feminine, we can offer a snazzy floral number that certainly wouldn’t look out of place at Newmarket or other racecourses.
Of course, it’s also graduation season, and another box in our repertoire is the mortarboard or graduate hat box, which can be used for chocolate or other gifts and is ideal for a graduation gift of promotion. Getting a box like that made is often the icing on the cake as far as promotion goes, and it’s certainly an eye-catching and memorable way to showcase a product. However, as well as promotion it can also be used as a gift for the graduands or can be sold commercially. One particular customer of ours is based in Oxford, and the graduate hatboxes for chocolates are used to allude to the great academic heritage present within the city.
Boxes in the shape of hats can be a great way to draw attention to a product or reference a particular theme or subject, and as such we’re often asked to make them for a variety of different clientele. If you’re looking to add something slightly debonair to your product, then a hatbox could well be the answer. We’ve made a pretty eclectic mix of hat shaped boxes in the past, so we’re more than happy to accept any new hat-related challenges.
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Noel Greenwood is the Managing Director of GWD Ltd, the designers and manufacturers of presentation and promotional packaging. You can reach him on (01279) 416093 or at the company’s website: www.gwd.ltd.uk