An unusual gift travels further than a conventional one.
observation — attributed to Jonathan Steffert
When former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave Stephen Colbert a chilly bin (the New Zealand term for a cooler) packed with New Zealand beef on his late-night show, the gift did something a conventional one could not. It leaned into New Zealand humor, barbecue culture, and the grass-fed beef story. It also gave Colbert something unexpected to talk about and broadcast to millions of viewers. The reframe is that the unusual gift travels further than the conventional one because it gives the recipient a story to retell. The conventional gift is forgotten by tomorrow. The unusual one becomes content. The discipline is to design gifts that the recipient will want to share, not gifts that look expensive in a box.
For diplomatic teams, brand marketers, and any host designing gifts that need to travel beyond the room. The observation is most useful when the gift budget has been going to high-cost low-story items.
gift-design, story-amplification, colbert-chilly-bin, memorable