How CDW Canada Made Sustainable Corporate Gifting Part of Its Brand Promise
- Client:
- CDW Canada
- Use case:
- Sustainable gifting across events, activations, and targeted initiatives
- Services:
- Curated sustainable gifting
For CDW Canada, corporate gifting has never been just branded merchandise. It's how they build relationships and make people feel appreciated. But the gesture couldn't come at the planet's expense. Working together, we built gifting around what CDW stands for: sustainable materials, items people reach for daily, and products sourced from businesses owned by women, minorities, and underrepresented groups. Hundreds of clients, partners, and event attendees have received gifts chosen with care, and every one carries the same message: the appreciation is real, and so is the commitment behind it.
What challenge was CDW Canada trying to solve?
CDW Canada wanted to engage customers and partners with thoughtful gifts, and needed sustainable corporate gifting that wouldn't compromise its commitments to sustainability and inclusivity. That's a harder brief than it sounds. Traditional swag leans on disposable, single-use items, which meant the easy path was off the table. CDW needed a partner who could help them eliminate wasteful products, align gifting with their ESG goals and commitment to diversity, and provide items recipients would truly use and appreciate. Three requirements, one standard: every gift had to hold up as a gesture and as a choice.
“Sustainability and inclusivity are core to our values. We wanted thoughtful tokens of appreciation that reflected environmental responsibility while also supporting businesses owned by women, minorities, and underrepresented groups.”
The CDW Canada team
What makes a corporate gift actually work?
A corporate gift works when it keeps working: something the recipient reaches for daily, made well enough to last, with a story behind it worth repeating. That's a different starting point than most swag orders, which begin with quantity and end at the logo. CDW Canada started with the recipient instead. What would clients and partners genuinely use? What would they feel good about receiving? And what would the gift say about the company giving it? When the answers drive the selection, the gift does more than mark a moment. It extends it, every time the item gets used. The difference isn't budget. Useful, responsibly made items sit in the same price range as the usual grab bag. The difference is intention, and recipients can tell.
How did CDW Canada build a gifting program around its values?
It started with a clear first step: choose high-quality, functional items people would actually use. From there, the approach matured into something more intentional. Working together, CDW built selection criteria that did three jobs at once. Products were chosen for eco-friendly materials and durability. Sourcing prioritized businesses owned by women, minorities, and underrepresented groups, so the gifts carried CDW's commitment to inclusivity in a tangible way. And every item came with clear details on its sustainability credentials and supplier ownership, which meant CDW could tell the story behind each gift to stakeholders with specifics, not generalities. The process stayed simple through all of it, including on rush orders, with an intuitive ordering experience backed by hands-on support. Those gifts now show up at CDW's key touchpoints: customer appreciation events, large-scale brand activations, and targeted gifting initiatives.
“Ethical Swag made the entire process simple, clear, and impactful.”
The CDW Canada team
What did recipients say about the gifts?
The response has been consistently positive, and consistently specific. Hundreds of clients, partners, and event attendees have received items chosen with care, and the feedback keeps landing on the same three things: the gifts are practical, they're well made, and there's clearly thought behind them. Recipients told CDW how refreshing it was to receive something they could use every day that also told a story of sustainability and inclusivity. That's the part worth sitting with. The gift did its job as a gift, and then it did a second job: it let people see what CDW stands for, in an object they kept.
“It made them feel part of something bigger than just a transaction.”
The CDW Canada team
What can other teams take from this?
CDW Canada's own advice to companies thinking about a more intentional approach comes down to three things.
- 1Step 1
Define your why
Start with the objective, not the product. Do you want to reduce waste, support supplier diversity, highlight innovation, or all three? The goal shapes every decision that follows, and it's a lot harder to choose well without it.
- 2Step 2
Demand transparency from your partner
Ask for the details: sustainability credentials and supplier ownership on every item. When you have those specifics, you can tell the story behind each gift to your own stakeholders with confidence, instead of hoping the claim holds up.
- 3Step 3
Think about the ripple effect
A well-chosen gift does more than land well in the moment. It signals to clients, partners, and employees that your company's commitments are real and operational. The impact travels further than the item itself.
Questions about sustainable corporate gifting
What is sustainable corporate gifting?
Sustainable corporate gifting is the practice of choosing branded gifts for their environmental and social credentials as well as their usefulness, so the gift reflects a company's values instead of working against them. In practice that means durable, functional items made from responsible materials, sourced with attention to who made them, and backed by clear information on both. CDW Canada is a working example: every gift was selected to hold up as a gesture and as a statement of what the company stands for.
How do you choose corporate gifts people will actually use?
Start with the recipient, not the logo. The gifts people keep are the ones that earn a place in daily life: well made, genuinely useful, and something they'd choose for themselves. That usually means fewer, better items over a large volume of novelty pieces. A gift that gets used every day keeps the brand impression alive far longer than one that ends up in a drawer, which makes quality the more effective choice, not just the nicer one.
How does supplier diversity fit into corporate gifting?
Supplier diversity means sourcing gifts from businesses owned by women, minorities, and underrepresented groups, so the commitment to inclusion is built into the gift itself rather than just stated on a website. It carries weight when you can back it up: knowing who made each item, and being able to share that with the people receiving it, turns a value into something specific and verifiable. For CDW Canada, that transparency let them tell a fuller story about every gift.