Articles

What do you really know about experience and happiness?

Some people may think the concepts of experience and happiness are pedestrian. Not us! We think these mouth-watering ideas offer deep insight into human behavior – into your customers’ behavior. Check out the articles below and let us know what you think.

“Storyboard Your Strategy: Think About, Design, and Measure the Whole Experience”
by David W. Norton

Sometimes, getting a perspective on your brand is like studying an elephant – everyone sees only his or her piece of the whole. One way to coax the business consultant, accountant, ad agency exec, and product designer to see the whole animal at the same time is through storyboarding. This article details step-by-step instructions of how to storyboard a strategy.

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“Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier”
by B. Joseph Pine II

Digital technology is continually pushing the frontier of the Experience Economy. The problem is there hasn’t been a comprehensive framework to fully explore its unlimited potential…until now. In this primer on the Multiverse – the foundational model of his latest book, Infinite Possibility, Joe Pine provides businesses with a rational and enduring model to explore new offerings that blend the real and the virtual to create engaging customer experiences. 

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“Unique Experiences: Disruptive Innovations Offer Customers More ‘Time Well Spent’”
by David W. Norton and B. Joseph Pine II

When thinking about unique experiences, consider three key rules: don’t just promise an emotional need, but deliver on it; think about the sequence of events; and be intentional to close the promise-making gap. The ultimate measure of success is time well spent.

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“Mass Customization: You Never Step into the Same River Twice”
by B. Joseph Pine II

Your customers change with every interaction they have with you, your brand, and your offerings. So how do you efficiently engage individuals who no longer fall conveniently into the outmoded definitions of mass markets or even market niches? The answer: mass customize your offerings. Recognize that every customer in fact represents multiple markets -- then co-design systems and interactions that learn from those interactions over time to deliver highly personalized experiences. 

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“Will Meaningful Brand Experiences Disrupt Your Market?”
by David W. Norton

Industries as diverse as household products and travel destinations are undergoing dramatic change. Referencing fascinating examples, Dave Norton demonstrates how this shift is caused by “disruptive innovation” and driven by the market’s quest for meaningful experiential encounters. The impact is to transform businesses as well as the design of the goods, services, and experiences associated with them.

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“An Excerpt from Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier”
by B. Joseph Pine II and Kim C. Korn

The digital world offers limitless opportunities. You really can create anything you want! But where do you start in a world with no constraints? And where, exactly, are you going? In this extensive excerpt from Infinite Possibility, readers will discover that there are digital cardinal points that can help them make the most of their growing technology-enabled customer interactions.

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“Toward Meaningful Brand Experiences”
by David W. Norton

Reflecting on previous decades, Dave Norton discovers a fascinating evolution. In the 1980s, increased consumption paralleled the focus on brands and branding. We were what we bought. The cost, however, was a decline in cultural wealth. In the 1990s, brands became experiences rather than objects. Today, seeking to renew cultural capital, the challenge is to go one step further: to create brand experiences that add value and meaning to life.

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“Create Economic Value with Engaging Experiences”
by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore 

The best way to market any product is with an experience so engaging that potential customers can’t help but pay attention — and pay up as a result. Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore, co-authors of the international best-seller, The Experience Economy (link), explain how organizations can escape the commoditization trap and elevate their offerings beyond goods and services to avoid competing on price, price, price.

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“Keep it Real: Learn to Understand, Manage, and Excel at Rendering Authenticity”
by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

Consumers increasingly see the world in terms of “real” or “fake”. They want to buy the real from the genuine—not the fake from some phony. As the world becomes crowded with deliberately staged experiences, managers and markers must develop a new skillset: rendering the perception of the brand authenticity at every stage of the customer experience. In this article grounded in Authenticity (link), the book by James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II that was named one of TIME Magazine’s “10 Ideas That Are Changing The World”, readers will understand what’s driving this new consumer sensibility and business imperative.

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“Dealing Authentically With Customers”
by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

Customers interact more with machines and less with people than ever. When service breakdowns occur – and they will – businesses will be judged not just on what they do to recover, but how they do it. Trite gestures and phony scripted responses are no longer tolerated. Customers desire real interaction with businesses on an individual-by-individual basis. Companies that understand this customer desire will excel at rendering themselves more authentic and build customer relationships based on trust and mutual loyalty. 

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