Nexstar Network Case Study

Client

Nexstar Network

Objective

Each year, Nexstar sends a gift to their member companies to spark inspiration for their own client gift-giving that season. This year, they decided to combine the gift with a virtual summit they were hosting, and we saw it as a perfect opportunity to send a unique, highly impactful gift tied to the company event.

Approach

The first obstacle we had to overcome was organizing for multiple countries, specifically with shipping gifts to Canada and Australia. We have always had a poor experience shipping internationally - things get caught up in customs, usually due to the snack items we include in the gifts creating a hiccup. To avoid this and be mindful of the USPS working in overdrive right now as is, we decided to partner with a couple gifting companies in these countries that share similar missions and values.

• Grey Willow Gifts: we combined forces with Victoria-Rose and her team to provide sustainably-sourced local goods to Canadian recipients

• Say It With a Box: spinning the globe, this Sydney-based company founded by Shani Brightwell wonderfully curated gift sets for Australian attendees

Once we got that out of the way, we began sourcing the products. Since we work with small batch, artisan makers, we needed to verify each one could meet a few important requirements before including them in our quote to Nexstar. For this custom order, we had to ensure that each maker could deliver nearly 700 units and also do so in the client’s tight turnaround. While we were nervous this would be too big of a challenge for some partners, we were thrilled to have so many express confidence that they could handle it.

We put together a variety of themes for Nexstar to review, from coffee lover to work from home vibes. Ultimately, they did a little mixing and matching to land on their ideal gift. One element that we especially loved were the state tea towels from our next door neighbor in the Northrup King Building, Vestiges. Designed by students from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), each towel came in a unique, vibrant hue and included custom imagery for that state’s bird, important monuments, iconic foods, and other fun details. This highly-personalized touch made the assembly even more fun for our team; we enjoyed packing state by state until all 50 were checked off.

Branded Collateral

This client wanted the works when it came to branding options. For packaging, we customized belly bands and stickers for sealing the tissue, plus included a few pieces of print collateral specific to their digital summit within the gift boxes. We also kept their brand colors top of mind while curating the goods, selecting the ‘Gratitude’ blend from an assortment of teas to match their orange for a subtle touch of Nexstar.

We are so happy to have gotten to partner with Nexstar Network on this highly-personalized project. Thank you to our makers for flawlessly meeting the narrow timeline, and to both Grey Willow Gifts and Say It With a Box for collaborating with us on the international front. We are so humbled to get to help brighten people’s days all across the globe.