Not Always So Obvious
In the military and law enforcement, challenge coins come with set traditions and longstanding ceremonies. For example, graduating from boot camp or basic training is an event that is often coupled with the presentation of a challenge coin. Because the coins are such an innate part of the identity of these organizations, occasions for them being awarded are numerous. Things aren’t always so straight forward in the corporate world.For the most part, companies have figured out how to make use of the coins and the overall effects they’ll have on their employees. Companies, for example, are no strangers to the ways customs coins can help increase engagement amongst their freelancers. But because the inner workings of a company can be more complicated and varied, sometimes the reasons or opportunities for granting challenge coins can be less obvious than they are in the military. If you’re ever unsure about whether the creation of a custom company challenge coin is the right way to go, here are eight situations that always lend themselves to the presentation of challenge coins.
1) Workplace Safety Coins
Signs recording how long a workplace has gone without sustaining an employee injury are a common sight in certain industries. While a number of jobs don’t have more to worry about than the occasional papercut or someone getting frustrated and kicking the printer, other workplaces put up with the threat of a lot worse.
While a lot of these spaces make due with a sign featuring an ever increasing number of days, certain companies take it a step farther and issue custom challenge coins in honor of longstanding safety runs. Coca-Cola is a company that contacts us often for these types of coins.
Workplace safety coins can either be a general perspective on a company’s dedication to safety, or they can be in recognition of a specific safety milestone.
2) Coins Celebrating a Milestone or Accomplishment
The 15 years coin is also an example of a corporate coin celebrating a particular milestone. Often, these coins mark moments like major anniversaries within a company. Ten or more years in service are occasions we often see commemorated. Companies can set their own milestones based on anything they value. A certain sales threshold or a certain number of customers are great milestone moments to create custom coins around.
But milestones don’t have to be specific to the company as a whole to be recognized. Individual employee moments can also serve as great moments for commemoration. A lot of companies commission coins in honor of new hires, promotions, retirements and other occasions like high performance awards.
3) Business Card Challenge Coins
One use of challenge coins that’s steadily growing is custom coins as business cards. These coins turn heads whenever they’re used. How best to stand out with your business card is a question businesses have considered for quite some time. When those cards are actually coins, that problem takes care of itself.We’ve posted a lot about the questions and concerns surrounding business card challenge coins already, but if you have other questions that aren’t covered in that page, feel free to reach out and let our sales team know. They’re more than ready to address any question or concern you might have.
4) Identity and Mission Statement Coins
One of the more common types of company challenge coins that get made aren’t in reaction to any given, specific commemorated moment; they’re general coins that embody some innate aspect of who the company is and what they stand for. These coins often carry the company’s mission statement or some other kind of quote to deliver the needed information.These coins can be issued to new hires as a way to welcome them to the team, or they can be distributed to customers to reaffirm what you stand for and what services you offer.
5) Years of Service Company Coins
Years of service coins can be simple to create as they often contain little more than the company’s logo or other insignia and some indication of how many years are being celebrated. These coins also lend themselves to being created in a series. Brand/Safway recently ordered a series of coins like this.
6) Project Specific Challenge Coins
NASA is one agency that’s great at creating challenge coins in honor of specific missions and the completion of particular projects. Honoring their scientists and employees for incremental success is something they value. The same ideology is easily adopted by other companies in the manner of project completion challenge coins.Employees get together in teams and work tirelessly to complete big projects or land important contracts. When they’re successful, those efforts can be recorded with custom coins. The design elements of these coins can often be fun as they can combine elements of the company, the specific team members responsible for the success, and traits of the project itself.
7) New Location Opening Coins
Experiencing growth and success is reason enough to celebrate with the creation of custom challenge coins, but when that growth is accompanied by a change of location or the addition of new offices, that’s even better. But location changes don’t have to be tied to expansion to be worth commemorating. If your company is moving for any reason, custom coins are well suited to mark the occasion.8) Merger/Acquisition Company Coins
Speaking of major changes that a company can go through, mergers and acquisitions are some of the biggest events a company can experience. Two or more companies combining to create something new is a situation that comes with new marketing opportunities and rebranding needs. Meanwhile, whether you’re the company being acquired or doing the acquiring, an acquisition is the sort of event that leaves a lot of people in a company feeling very uncertain.Both situations lead to new teams being formed, titles and positions being shifted, and a new landscape employees will be left to navigate. These transitions are smoothed out with the presentation of custom company coins. A merger or acquisition is the kind of situation where both employees and customers can benefit from being presented challenge coins and reminded that the future looks bright.
Of course these eight situations only scratch the surface of reasons company challenge coins might be ordered. The only limits to reasons why you should commission coins are those of your own imagination. But if you do find yourself and your company in one of these situations, why not commemorate the moment with custom coins? Every company’s challenge coin tradition has to start somewhere; we hope yours can start with one of these moments.
