You open the small box to reveal a guitar pick.

“Great. Just what I wanted”

I can tell you are lying, but I appreciate your vague attempt at gratitude.

So I start to explain that this is no ordinary pick. Oh, no. Far from it in fact.

This is the pick that Jimmy Page threw into the crowd during the recent Led Zeppelin reunion gig.

Enlightened with this knowledge you’re now viewing your gift in a whole different light. But it’s still the same nondescript pick you dismissed 2 minutes ago. So what’s changed?

It’s simple. This small, flat piece of plastic now has a story. It has been given a character. It’s become far more than the object itself.

And because of that, you won’t forget about it. You won’t leave it to gather dust at the back of a shelf. You won’t let your kids play with it. It’s also highly likely you will tell your friends all about it.

By giving an object a story you will, in turn, give it a character and people would much rather buy stories and characters over objects any day.

So what stories do your products have?

Photo credit to Aidan Jones