You Do.

When people hear the word “branding,” many think about big companies, logos (BIG ones), cool product identification and eye-catching packaging. I wonder how many consider another, probably more critical, brand… their own.

Allow me to illustrate (literally)…

Let’s set up an imaginary, yet plausible, scenario. A friend’s child, living and working out of state, has just become engaged to the person of their dreams (fiiiinally!). In response to the news, your friend invites several people to a private, low-key house gathering to celebrate what most would consider a major accomplishment in the Universal Parental Milestones Evaluation Report (UPMER). No kids at this one – just a group of empathetic parents and friends.

Your friend enjoys wine, and you purchase a nice bottle in the $40 range as a congratulatory gift.

How do you present it? After all, the real gift is what’s inside the bottle, no?

Do you…

1. Hand your friend the bottle in the bag from the store you bought it at…

2. Hand your friend the bottle sans bag…

3. Hand your friend the bottle with a ribbon and tag attached…

4. Hand your friend a Hallmark-esque colorful bag with festive tissue, tag and bottle enclosed…

5. Hand your friend a creatively hand-wrapped box, with bottle, note and festive stuffing inside?

The difference between option 1 and option 5 is maybe five bucks, and about 20 minutes of your time. Which do you think will most likely give your friend the impression that you thought they were special enough to get something a little out of the ordinary?

And whose brand image just quietly went up a few notches?

That can’t be bad in any way.