Karma Reinvents Gifting

Karma, a new app for iOS and Android, completely rethinks the gift-giving experience. Office developed the visual identity, voice and packaging for the brand, which publicly launched last week.

“What we’re trying to do here is get rid of that ugly-sweater problem,” Karma co-founder and CEO Lee Linden said. “It cuts down on the waste.”

Karma connects to Facebook and reminds you of the important moments and days in your friends’ lives — and allows you to do something a bit more meaningful than a “Happy Birthday” wall post. From your phone, you can choose from curated products and cards, and Karma instantly notifies the recipient via email or text. To make it even easier, the recipient gets to choose the size, flavor, color or style they’d prefer. They also have the option to swap the gift for something else — or donate the value of the gift to charity.

This innovative take on gift-giving is generating positive buzz:

“They’re extracting emotional intensity from the social graph and allowing consumers to act on it in ways they want to,” said Kleiner Perkins partner Chi-Hua Chien. “It feels like magic because you get that feedback immediately from the recipient.” — Wall Street Journal, Lizette Chapman

“And there’s something mildly addictive to the experience. You instantly think: Who else should I be congratulating?” — Forbes, Victoria Barret“

In fact, with its deep social-network ties, addictive browsability and radical reinvention of an existing category, Karma strikes me as a spiritual cousin of Flipboard. When I first saw that app, I smacked my forehead and wondered why no big-name media company had invented it; with Karma, I wonder why an outfit such as 1-800-Flowers didn’t think of all this.” — TIME Techland, Harry McCracken