2009 | Qua

For 2009

17
Dec

Subtle Corporate Gifts

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Company logos are just about the first things that people notice. It is even more challenging when your logo is a very unique one. So how do you score that first impression without shoving your logo all over the place?

Simple. Personalise a gift – a lacquered gift from Qua. As shown in the photograph, logos should always be subtle and discreet. Always remember it’s not your company logo that should take centre stage but rather the thought, the message and the impression that you would like to convey.

Next, try getting gifts that are unique to your country or company. As seen in the photograph, the company decides to make an impression by focusing on their company’s flower. By doing this, they ensure the impression is subtle without any vulgar logo displays.

Remember the point is personalised gifts are great, but personalising everything is not. It’s really how you would like your first impression to be made and not “let’s do it because its cheap.”

Posted in:
Corporate Gifts & Premiums » Ettiquette

09
Dec

Gift Wrapping

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This morning, I was just arranging the presents under the Christmas tree in my brother’s home. It is quite funny how my niece & nephew seem to be eyeing the ones that seem to provide the highest “satisfaction” level for presentation. It just shows that however we say not to judge the book by its cover, we all can be fooled by the external presentation.

Presentation can make the gift. I have identified 4 levels of satisfaction for presentation:

Ugly – You quickly rip the paper away so that no one sees what it looked like wrapped
Ho-hum – they made an effort, barely
Nice – the package looks good by itself, but soon blends in to the pile
Jaw Dropping – so good you don’t even want to open it, you stick it on the top of the pile so that every one can admire all the pretty ribbons

However, not all of us are blessed with skilful hands. At Qua, all our gifts come in beautiful handcrafted boxes in silk material. This way, our customers can be saved from the headache of gift-wrapping.

In fact, for our corporate customers, we have a further service where they can choose from a variety of fabric swatches that matches to their corporate colours or the gift.

Also, these presentation boxes are so beautiful that many of our customers are using them to store their little treasures. Talk about a gift within a gift!

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Posted in:
Corporate Gifts & Premiums » Ettiquette » Personal Gifts

25
Nov

Hello World!

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The last time I wrote anything that is not on email was at school in my diary. The truth is, I am not a good writer. But, I have been advised by my marketing & web consultant that blogging is the way to go to reach out to my global customers. I also realized that the blog can also help me record the trials & tribulations of being an entrepreneur. So, here I am, launching my blog.

My business, Brex International was started in 2002. Then, it was a spur of inspiration when my hubby & I was in Vietnam and saw our first piece of lacquerware. During that same trip, I visited my family friend’s lacquerware factory. I was dumbfounded by the entire process on how lacquerware is made. For a really beautiful and high quality piece, it goes through an extremely tedious process. I watched as the craftsman painstakingly apply and polish lacquer onto the product layer after layer.

I decided to bring back to a bunch of products to see if I can sell them. If I can’t, then, my friends will get them as gifts for their next few Christmas, Birthdays, wedding(s), housewarming etc etc!

Thus Brex International is borned and Qua (the Vietnamese word for “gift”) is the name of my baby. Today, I am proud to say that Qua offers different assortments of lacquer ware, table accessories, jewellery, beauty and decorative home products, collectors items. It is distributed through 11 retails outlets in Singapore, and we made some headway to Malaysia and UK

The brand “Qua” is synonymous with quality. Our customers can tell the difference when they see our products and our competitors! Qua products were conceptualised as a refinement to lifestyles, featuring exquisite designs and lacquer of a very high quality. It has since become the hallmark of Qua Products, adopted by world class brand name hotels as their range and merchandise. We also have the opportunity to work with many corporates on their corporate gift items when they want something really special, exquisite or customized.

Enough story about us – I would like to hear from you, so that I can learn and grow the company, our products and people. We hope to see you soon in the internet space or at our stockists.

Posted in:
About Brex International » Brex News

20
Nov

Our Recent Clients

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Corporates

Amadeus
American Club
AMO Advanced Medical Optics
Banyan Tree Gallery
Bank Julius Baer
Citibank
Club 21
Cornell Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management
Creazione
Duty Free Shop
Hagley & Hoyle for White House
Happy Marketing & Services
Hewlett Packard
Miele
National Heart Centre
National Research Foundation
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Port Authority of Singapore (PSA)
RBS ABN AMRO Bank N.V
Republic Polytechnic
Sing See Soon
Spark Planners for Business Objects
Tangs at Pavilion in KL Malaysia
Trivec Pte Ltd

Hospitality

Four Seasons Mumbai Hotel
Fraser Suites
Fullerton Hotel
Genting Hotel
Orchard Hotel
Pan Pacific Hotel
Park Avenue Suites
Regent Hotel

Posted in:
Case Studies

20
Nov

Anonymous Retail Customer

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A customer wanted to give her sister a special gift – a lacquered portrait of her niece. To surprise her sister, she got hold of a photograph of her niece. Our artist painted the portrait and the sister loved it and had it hung on her wall!

Posted in:
Case Studies » Case Studies » Retail customer

20
Nov

Mr JHHH

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A gentleman wanted to celebrate his 25 years in business with his business associates and colleagues. Having seen and liked our boxes, he wanted them to be specially customised by having quirky messages written on them. The end product was simple enough, a box with a message on it.

Posted in:
Case Studies » Personal Gifts

20
Nov

Esplanade

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The Esplanade had commissioned some photographs of their iconic building. The photos were incorporated into a series of products. These were used for gifts when they have visitors as well as for sale in their gift shop.

Posted in:
Case Studies » Case Studies » Retail Outlets

20
Nov

Singapore Flyer

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The Singapore Flyer requires a set of gift mementos to be sold at the gift shop. We designed a collection of items inspired by the Flyer. They made perfect gift for the passengers of the Flyer.

Posted in:
Case Studies » Case Studies » Retail Outlets

20
Nov

Ho Printing

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Ho Printing has a modest budget but still will like to impress his customers. A exclusively designed notelet holder was produced. What was so unique about this gift was that they personalized the paper to the receipient’s individual name to make it even more special.

Posted in:
Case Studies » Case Studies » Other Corporates

20
Nov

SIA

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For the PPS club members, SIA had a celebratory cocktail party and required a door gift for the party. A coaster set inlaid with mother of pearl was produced. The calligraphy was specially done, and a message thanking the customer was included as part of the gift.