Coffee at Tiffany's

Via ClassyInTheCity

You learn something new everyday. Not only does Tiffany's serve coffee, they do it in these lovely blue cups. You know, for breakfast...

Top 10 Gift Boxes

In honor of the holiday season (think of this as our ode to consumerism and designer labels no one can currently afford) we thought we'd do sort of a reverse gift list. Not what do you want, but what does it come in? Any among us willing to admit making purchases because of the packaging? Does it sway your purchasing power? I mean, it should. Look at all the money and research companies pour into marketing and visuals. Below, we take a light-hearted look at companies whose packaging has come to mean just as much, if not more, than the actual product. Companies whose marketing departments deserve a raise.

10. Nike

The Nike Inc. company is worth somewhere around $14 billion and it all started with a shoe.  In its heyday Nike was such a powerhouse status symbol that people were being violently robbed, even killed for their Air Jordans (yeah, remember that?). Having that shoe box, with that swoosh, was the penultimate in fashion meets sport. That was a meeting of the minds that ushered in a new wave of celebrity athlete endorsements that continues to this day. The largest: Tiger Woods earned $100 million over 10 years in 2000 for sporting Nike gear (“I am Tiger Woods”). Nike was a pioneer in marketing sporting goods to the masses as must-have fashion, athlete or not. And walking out of the mall with that shoe box was as close to a retail therapy shoe fetish as most men and boys will ever enjoy.

9. Ralph Lauren

The internet, in all its glorious accessibility, has made online shopping a boon for retailers and given high end designers one more facet for luxury interface with clientele.  Ralph Lauren has capitalized on this and sends out its packages in signature navy boxes embossed with gold lettering and navy ribbon, contents carefully wrapped in tissue and sealed with a gold foil stamp featuring the company’s ubiquitous polo pony.  The best part? Polo.com offers free gift wrapping on most purchases! And if that doesn’t make you feel special, nothing will. 

8. J. Crew

There is something so clean and fresh and reassuringly limitless about those plain brown boxes.  They’re the packaging equivalent of a fresh piece of construction paper.  You can impose upon them any sort of sparkly, cashmere dream.  It’s casual and understated elegance, which is exactly what J. Crew is all about.

 

7. Victoria’s Secret

It’s pink.  It’s shiny.  It’s girly.  And by virtue of the company alone, you know whatever is inside is most likely…exciting, let’s call it.  Brand recognition for VS has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade and Limited Brands has grown the lingerie retailer into a sort of Disneyland of sex appeal and bombshell angels.  Victoria’s Secret and the color pink have pretty much become synonymous.

 

6. Veuve Clicquot

What’s more luxurious than a fancy champagne? Champagne that comes in a box, of course! Champagne itself is a luxury holdover from the French aristocracy.  We all love those bubbles.  And beyond that, we all love those yellow boxes!  Just by virtue of there being a box pushes this brand above and beyond.  How many bottles of wine do you regularly buy that come in their own box? And we’re not talking Franzia.  Established waaaay back in 1772, Veuve Clicquot markets a lifestyle and just this past year that lifestyle became more focused on sustainability with an “out of the box” campaign that features more eco-friendly paper, ink and solvents for their beloved packaging.