GumGum is a global advertising technology company that powers contextual intelligence and creative ad solutions. Headquartered in Santa Monica with offices across the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Australia, and more, GumGum employs over 490 people around the world.
As the company grew, especially after acquiring two firms in 2021, GumGum needed a scalable way to create equitable employee experiences across regions.
For Sheena Deans, Senior Employee Experience Specialist, the challenges were close to home – literally. “During the pandemic, with everyone remote, I had company swag in my hallway closet. That wasn’t sustainable.” That’s where Goody came in.
The Challenge: Global Growing Pains
When Sheena joined GumGum in 2021, she was manually packing new hire kits and sending them out. In addition, GumGum had different swag vendors by region, which led to inconsistent gift quality and rising costs.
“We had new hires in the U.S. getting Yeti mugs, while in EMEA, employees were receiving glass mugs due to the lack of comparable inventory in the region, which sometimes arrived broken,” Sheena said.
Shipping milestone anniversary gifts internationally was quite challenging due to high shipping costs/duties, and taxes. The team needed a solution that automated the process, ensured consistency, and worked globally.
Why GumGum Chose Goody
Sheena and her team evaluated three corporate gifting platforms. Goody stood out for several reasons:
- Available in every country where GumGum operates
- Flexible gifts with a high-quality catalog of brands to choose from
- Global shipping with a flat $50 maximum fee
- Seamless integration with their HR system, ADP
- Custom branding, digital cards, and personal messages
“We wanted to make sure that people, no matter where they were, had the opportunity to access the same quality of gifts and offerings globally,” Sheena says.
How GumGum Uses Goody
Automated Onboarding Gifts
Each new hire receives a branded kit that includes a Yeti mug, notebook, bento box, branded t-shirt, and pen. It’s fully automated and consistent across locations.
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Milestone Anniversaries
Using HRIS data from ADP, GumGum leverages Goody’s autogifting feature to send gifts for work anniversary milestones:
- 1 year: GumGum-branded hoodie
- 3 years: $150 Gift of Choice
- 5 years: $250 Gift of Choice
- 10 years: $500 Gift of Choice
Employees love being able to choose what they want, and Goody’s ever-evolving catalog keeps things exciting. “People are like, ‘My anniversary’s coming up, I can’t wait to see what’s on Goody now!’”
For her own three-year anniversary gift, Sheena chose gifts from Tatcha skincare, Hedley & Bennett kitchenware, FarmSteady at-home baking kits, and more.
Contests and Surprise-and-Delight Moments
From commuter challenges to hackathons, GumGum rewards participation with Goody gifts. Their annual Hackathon winners have used their gifts to select items like PlayStations, and trivia winners during heritage months select from custom-curated stores.
Cultural Heritage Programming
Custom Collections highlight Hispanic-owned, Black-owned, and LGBTQ+ brands during heritage months, helping GumGum amplify its DEIB efforts.
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Easy, equitable global gifts
Goody supports international shipping to all the countries where GumGum operates, with a $50-per-gift cap on global shipping costs.
The Results
- Saved over 15 hours per month by automating gift logistics
- Cut global shipping costs by more than 75%
- Eliminated storage and inventory needs for swag
- Boosted employee engagement and cultural alignment
- Enabled remote and hybrid teams to feel celebrated and connected
“People love the opportunity to be able to go and choose what they want. Instead of just getting, ‘Oh, happy anniversary, here’s a GumGum T-shirt,’” Sheena says.
Another perk? Being able to read heartfelt thank-you notes, all in one place inside the Goody app. “Nine times out of ten, everyone sends a thank-you message when they receive their gift.”
What’s Next
Sheena is transitioning into a marketing role at GumGum and plans to use Goody for client gifting and campaign support. With unlimited seats and Workspaces, GumGum can now empower teams like engineering, marketing, and sales to manage their own gifting programs.
“Now that I’m joining the marketing team, I’m excited to use Goody for experiential gifting and client moments too,” Sheena says.
“Goody started as an employee gifting tool for us, and now it’s growing into a company-wide solution.”
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