A brand is also a Gift…
In this amazing, spirit lifting holiday times, we are prompt to the wonderful act of sharing called:
Gifting! It is one of the most natural and joyful sharing practices of all; at least when it’s done both ways. I was going to talk about some of the coolest gifts out there for this holiday season, but I decided not to. Not because it’s a boring issue, it’s actually quite fun but because I want to talk about another type of gifts: brand gifts. Personal lingo for… the meaning of a gift’s brand. A brand has untangible qualities that are transmitted from giver-reciver at the moment of the gifting. So I’ll try to rant on some of todays top brands and analyze what they would bring to the gifting moment.
Let’s go on and start now.
- iPod’s Apple. Sorry to overuse this brand, but I simply had to do it. Apple has trascended into a culture of its own. The iPod isn’t the coolest mp3 player on the market anymore, it is a membership card for the Apple club. The real gift is the freedom to belong to the apple-heads.
- Nintendo’s Wii. Nintendo is alive and kicking with the new Wii console. Kids all over the world are desperate to get their hands on one of these. The twist here is, not only kids want this gaming system; teens and adults are flocking to stores to get on waiting lists to pick up the latest Nintendo Gadget. With the unusual positioning the Wii is striving for, the real gift in a Nintendo Wii can easily be the exclusivity for kids deal; going against the gaming standards by recapturing Nintendo’s lost vibe.
- Bottle of Expensive Wine. A much more adult-oriented gift (hopefully). Most adults enjoy a good glass of wine, especially if they know its expensive. The real gift in an expensive bottle of wine is the exclusiviness the brand provides. Enjoying a sip of a long-lost French original wine will never be the same as having a $9.99 dollar version of it.
- A Hummer Truck. On to the luxury brands. Although the functionality of the Hummer is unignorable, the Hummer brand is perhaps the attention graber for today’s market. The brand has been offering incomparable emotional adventures for audiences everywhere, that the real gift on a Hummer truck is nothing related to how fast and steady you can drive, but the emotion of power and strength the driver acquires. She/He will never be the same.
- A Tiffany’s diamond ring. We all know diamonds have a high value, both materially as well as emotionally in our minds. Tiffany is perhaps one of the companies with the best branding efforts all along their existance; they’ve consistantly managed to increase their brand value through detailed strategy. The real gift in a Tiffany’s diamond ring is… well, both the ring and the experience. The ring will delight any woman on the surface of this planet; but the thought that her partner (or whoever did) went all the way to make this extraordinary gift will be even more mind-blowing for her.
I guess my point here is, a gift isn’t a great gift just because of its material nature. A gift’s emotional character and personality gives just as much (if not more) value to the reciever than the physical character of it. Brands are a great way to make this emotional character more important and with true significance.
Not to sound cheesy, but I hope you all find great emotional gifts to give to your loved ones in this holiday season. I wish you all the best! Give the gift of a true brand, you’ll connect in a deeper lever with your reciever.
3 opinions for A brand is also a Gift…
Pimp Your Work - Our first Biz Channel Theme Day … Holilday gifts
Dec 12, 2006 at 5:32 pm
[…] Ron at Brand Curve reminds us that part of the gift is the brand. Like a lamp with a stained glass lampshade … which is better Wal-Mart or Tiffany? Yeah, thought so. […]
Rachel
Dec 13, 2006 at 12:48 am
I agree with you overall, but I think what’s more interesting than the brand behind the expensive bottle of wine are the brands that have elevated themselves among the $10-20 price range and become part of a certain 20-something semi-hipster lifestyle.
Young, just starting out, not a ton of cash, but wine is one of those good ‘grown up’ gifts or things to bring to dinner…Yellow Tail, The Little Penguin, and one of my NZ favorites (with the always memorable whilst still unreasonably lengthy name), Cat’s Pee On A Gooseberry Bush.
Affordable, soomething to talk about, and it tastes good? That takes the affluence barrier to feeling lost in either prices you can’t afford or bottles that all seem to look the same.
And yes, Tiffany’s definitely has the best brand — it was our first stop in checking out engagement rings…but one look at what THAT much money was actually getting us…it didn’t take much for us to walk down the street to Birks instead (Where they had different but equally as nice blue boxes). :-)
ron
Dec 13, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Hey there Rachel, thanks for visiting BrandCurve and for posting.
I very much agree with the point you make on how wine brands have positioned themselves in rather outlying (even exotic) ways to attract certain markets.
I also think this relates to another important issue that marketers around the globe are encountering; the decline of price as a manner of elite differentiation.
You are talking about an elite group, (that is very influential to the rest of society by the way), but that it’s differentiated factor isn’t hard cash. Many brands are having to work around this issue to better understand their market and offer something that lures them in.
I’m way out of topic now (haha), but it just reminded me of it; I’ll probably extend myself in a further post.
So…anyway, I agree with you, especially with the Tiffany’s part; although I don’t think you or any other human being can deny tha attractiveness factor of Tiffany’s..
Ciao,
Ron.
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