What Men Want?

Every time I want to buy a gift for a man, I am so lost. Be it for my dad, or bro or a friend I just cant decide what’s that perfect gift that I can buy for him. It always feels that it’s so much easier to buy a gift for a woman (you have got so many things to choose from!) and it’s so difficult to think of a gift for a man (you just kind buy him a bunch of roses for his birthday!)
I was not sure if I was the only person (err woman) to think like this. So I got together with a few other women for a brainstorming session – after all gifting was an important part of life and we wanted to feel good at the end of each gifting session. However, more we talked, more we understood that we are not at all helping each other. So “why not ask men directly?” was what came out of our brainstorming.

Smart iDeAS (www.thesmartideas.in), a Market Research & Marketing Consulting Company, has conducted a research, well, just on this subject. They have asked men within the age group of 26 to 44 years in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Colombo, Singapore, London & Sydney (pretty international, huh!) on what they would like to get as gifts. And they got some startling responses. Also, the responses seemed to be quite similar across all the cities making us to believe that men mostly think alike (so, if you are dating a guy from London or Italy, don’t freak out, you can still use this info).
Here is a summary of the research and the gifting ideas from the horses’ (oppss!) mouth:

If you are planning to gift something to The Man in your life and it’s his birthday, this is what he wants – Books, CDs, wrist watch, Scotch, Dinner cooked by you, a holiday planned by you, pen, perfume, i-Pod, or bean bag! So pick your choice… if you wanna laze around at home on his birthday and cuddle up buy him a bean bag, else go by your budget.
Interestingly, for weddings, most of the men said they don’t want anything from their wives. Some said it’s enough if she promises a long life together. But some responses were Books of poems, or articles of emotional value. Now, you can build it up from there.
If it’s an anniversary, most men prefer (from their wife / partner) a bottle of spirits - beer, wine, whisky – you name it. The other popular choices were electronics gadgets or a surprise holiday.

From his friends, he mostly wants books, sports gear, music, party, scotch, chocolate (!), guitar & aftershave for his birthday. So if you are gifting to your male friend, chose a gift based on his hobbies and passions. But of course, a whole night party is always welcome.
For his wedding, be prepared to buy him some home appliances like crockery or electronics kitchen appliances or even home furnishing. See, he is getting ready for new life!
If it’s his anniversary, buy him some computer accessories. Even books, music and spirits are welcome.

There are some other special occasions like say a house warming, or promotion etc. In such cases you can buy him some wall hangings, special collectables like knives or paintings, camera, digital photo frames, etc. Looks like the men has got real good taste.

Between gifts with emotional or utility value, there were almost 50% responses on either side. 70% of the men said they will never want to have cash in place of gifts. 64% said they don’t want the purchase bill in case they need to exchange the gifts later, and only 7% of the respondents said they would prefer to get the bill. When asked, if they would like to be asked by a gifter before hand about what he wants, 68% said that they wouldn’t like that – its much fun with that surprise element in a gift.

So, I guess that gives a fair idea about what men want. So next time onwards if you have problem finding a gift suitable for a man, you know where to look for. Go, make those special moments even more special for him.

Corporate Dressing - Do we understand it?

There is an age –old saying” man is judged by the boots he wear”. But is it only the boots? Well if you ask the corporate, then boots are not enough. The employee has to be “presentable” and should dress “right”.The dressing protocol is not limited to any single industry but has spread its wings all over. Different sectors have different set of rules for their employees to dress. The reasons given for the same may be ranging from culture, atmosphere to ethics. So what is the right dressing code? It is true that the dressing style vary according to the industry to reflect the culture and work ethics of the workplace. Since the atmosphere within certain business communities, for e.g. an ad agency tends to be informal, the attire of the employees reflects this outlook. On the other hand, protocol of corporate dressing in sectors such as hospitality, IT, banking etc, is more conservative as it reflects directly on employee professionalism.

Mind it that the attire of an employee of a particular industry speaks volume about the company’s work ethic, image and culture. It adds an impression of professionalism, intelligence and commitment that enhances the overall credibility of the company. Similarly, non –adherence to a dress code can send out a message of discredit and incompetence.

But now, many organizations have now realized the fact that younger employee of today is more fashion conscious and experiment a lot with style even with his formal wears. The companies are also waking up to this fact and are flooding the market with formal yet fashionable attire.

So, keep in mind that your attire reflects your inner self, and helps you to see confident. So, while you dress according to your corporate dress code, style it up in a way that gives you confidence with embarassing the others around you. Also, dress should be worn depending on the occassion - dressing right for interview is as important as your personal performance. Also, if you are meeting with a Japanese client, its not a good idea to wear balck tie as that represents mouring.

Along with dressing, personal hygiene is also very important. Use after-shave if you are a man, and definitely use a soothing deo. If you are a women, apart from deo, if you are using any perfume, pls keep it mild and subdued.

Shoes needs to be polished and clean. No white color socks for men, use lighter shade if you want to, but brown or black is always the preferred colors. Buy a few pairs of expensive socks, which will not lose its elasticity and will climb down your legs. Fresh socks daily a must.

Please rememeber that you as a representative to the company, is actually a brand ambassador for it. Therefore, how you dress, behave or carry yourself influences your customers / clients impression about you and your company; and am sure you dont want to lose that million dollar order just because you cared less how you dress!