Remember the days when birthday gifts were just about socks, bottles of wine, or, god forbid, book vouchers? The wave of disappointment that one experiences when tearing the wrapping paper off a huge box only to discover that a deck chair or something equally practical lies beneath is familiar for many. Even more prestigious gifts such as aftershave, CD’s or computer games are predictably run of the mill, things you could have just brought yourself on any high street. Some years back the ‘gift experience’ was pioneered, a token for an organised activity rather than a tangible product, it was intended for alternative birthday or Christmas gifts and it enjoyed a great level of success initially, taking off like a rocket.

Typical gift packages included supercar driving days where the recipient would be given the opportunity to go wild in a selection of exotic motors within the relatively safe confines of a race track, or extreme sports experiences such as skydiving or bungee jumping, both regarded as great gifts for him. Gifts or her on the other hand centered around slightly more reserved passtimes such as therapy days, hair dressing and dancing lessons. As these kind of gifts became more and more popular the market grew to the point of saturation, many different companies were offering the same products and the red letter day almost became a clich©, a Ferrari driving experience was no longer a surprise for the guy that had everything.

Innovation was needed, and it came! The gift experience market had to diversify in order to stay fresh and attract new consumers as well as offering variety to existing ones. Many specialist businesses began to offer a product range akin to that of a retail outlet, as well as the traditional driving and ‘days out’ gifts all manner of outlandish goodies were added such as spy training days, wilderness survival courses and dolphin watching. Imagine the look on the face of your loved ones when they receive one of those on Christmas morning! This year think outside the box, instead of taking the safe option with a new tie, send them hurtling down the side of the mountain in the middle of a huge inflatable ball!