How some breakthrough leisure brands hook users with vast catalogs of content and dynamic, unpredictable experiences
The worlds top leisure brands, such as CrossFit, Pok矇mon Go and Tinder, have built empires by creating sticky journeys that keep customers as addicted as possible. Athletes dont just work out at CrossFit, theyre obsessed with it. Gamers dont just play Pok矇mon Go for a little while, theyre hooked for hours on end. Singles on Tinder dont just hunt for new partners, theyre addicted to the hunt itself. And from Netflix to Spotify to TikTok, a new generation of media companies has completely transformed the television, radio and video industry. Audiences are no longer willing to sit through formulaic shows such as NBCs Law & Order. They want Game of Thrones-like dramacompelling, polarizing, hard-to-pull-away-from serials that shock, delight and frequently enrage their viewers.
The secret to the success of these breakthrough leisure brands is creating an insanely sticky journey that defies all the usual hyperrational rules of marketing. Its not about creating consistently good customer experiences, but about creating intentionally chaotic, maddening and unpredictable ones. Its also not about making services convenient, easy or satisfying, but instead about making them challenging, suspenseful and thrilling. The resulting customer journeys are exhilarating. We call these journeys sticky to emphasize that customers cant seem to pull away. At the heart of these sticky journeys is an involvement spirala roller coaster ride of intensely good and bad experiences that keep customers riveted.
How Do These Leisure Brands Create Such Sticky Journeys?
The first step is providing customers with rapid entry. That means giving customers free, quick and easy access to the service as soon as they express interest, whether in person or online. These brands dont bore customers with a lot of information or ask too many questions. And they dont pressure customers to sign up for a monthly subscriptionat least not at the beginning. Tinder does this first step particularly well. Unlike traditional matchmaking websites that begin with extensive compatibility questionnaires, the Tinder app asks customers for no more than their age, gender and distance preferences. Customers can also import their photos from Facebook, so they can dive into the Tinder dating pool immediately.
The second step is providing customers with endless variation along the user experience journey. Whether were talking about dating, gaming, working out or something else, the only way to keep customers excited is by creating unpredictable experiences. Companies create such endless variation using a trio of techniques:
- Opening the service system to a massive number of service elements (e.g., the hundreds of possible exercises at CrossFit, virtual creatures in Pok矇mon Go or user profiles on Tinder).
- Making frequent additions, subtractions and changes to those elements.
- Offering unique configurations of those elements at each service encounter.
For instance, CrossFit changes workouts daily and makes them extraordinarily challenging. Drawing on various sports, fitness regimens and military drills, no two workouts are ever the same. Once customers are swept up in the endlessly varied customer journey, they are more eager to sign up for monthly memberships.
The third step is sparking new customer journeys as soon as the current ones begin to run out of steam. Leisure brands recognize that all journeys come to an end. Even the most exciting adventures can become familiar, exhausting or boring after a while. Eventually, brands must offer their customers new journeys. For example, Nintendo, the parent company behind the Animal Crossing game franchise, has launched an entirely new generation of the game every few years. CrossFit coaches invite advanced athletes to Barbell Clubs and CrossFit competitions. And recently, Tinder launched offshoots such as Swipe Night, an event that matches users based on their responses to an interactive movie.
Wondering how to get un-hooked? Some customers can keep their recreational addictions in check, but many others cannot. Maintaining daily self-discipline is just too difficult. For compulsive users, theres only one answer: Cancel your subscription, delete the app and call a friend.
Most customers wont do that, and leisure brands are counting on it.
Anton Siebert is a doctoral student at Newcastle University London.
Ahir Gopaldas is an assistant professor of marketing in the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University.
Andrew Lindridge is a reader in marketing at Newcastle University London.
Cl獺udia Sim繭es is a professor in management, marketing area, in the School of Economics and Management at the University of Minho, Portugal.