The mere sight of it makes your heart beat faster.
Everyone knows about the blue box. Tiffany & Co.'s iconic blue gift boxes have permeated so far into the popular imagination that you know exactly what shade we're talking about when we say 'Tiffany Blue'. But the thing is, those boxes are the one thing that even money cannot buy. Founder Charles Lewis Tiffany mandated that the coveted boxes could only be acquired with a Tiffany purchase. According to the New York Sun in 1906, "Tiffany has one thing in stock that you cannot buy of him for as much money as you may offer, he will only give it to you. And that is one of his boxes."
(Related: There's Only One Tiffany & Co.)
More to the point, however, some research has suggested that some subliminal marketing tools have become so effective that even seeing a signifier of a particular brand (the blue boxes for Tiffany, in this case) actually causes an involuntary physiological response in the body—a sort of Pavlovian response to shopping, if you will. This 'neuromarketing', as coined by marketing expert Martin Lindstom (who advises the likes of McDonald's, Microsoft, and The Walt Disney Co.), applies to products that appeal to consumers on a sensory level. This could include the distinctive smell of Playdoh and Lush stores, the tune of a particularly catchy tagline or musical jingle ("Maybe it's Maybelline"), or even the colour of a Tiffany & Co. gift box. According to Lindstrom, a woman's heart rate will increase by 22 percent when she is exposed to Tiffany Blue. How's that for body hacking?
(Related: A Tiffany Holiday)