Among our 10 Trends for 2010, Delighting Consumers with Hidden Surprises was, admittedly, the longshot. It seemed reasonable to predict that many brands and retailers would tire of going bigger and brighter in order to break through marketing clutter, and would instead look to deliver small happiness in unexpected ways. However, we recognized that this is always a risky strategy, motivated by the hope that they will be justified by forging truly one-of-a-kind relationships with consumers.
Whew. It seems we were right.
Take Australia’s Hidden Pizza restaurant (pictured above). The pie provider opened up two weeks ago at an undisclosed location, offering free pizzas to anyone who could track down the storefront. Searchers were sent to a website that provided no form of contact information other than advising them to “just look it up like you would any other business.” Would that riddle have sent you to the Yellow Pages’ website? If so, you would have found a listing for Hidden Pizza with the phone number for placing your order.
Yes, Yellow Pages was behind the entire campaign. And yes, this hidden surprise created an awful lot of delight, especially for a product that’s more commonly considered an afterthought than a tool for a mystery scavenger hunt.
On the other hand, some surprises are motivated by the fact that it’s too easy to find exactly what you want. A German t-shirt website called Hipstery has made a name for itself by not showing any of their shirts on the site. Instead, buyers answer a series of questions about themselves and Hipstery sends them a shirt that they think will be most appealing. Surprise! The shirts often come from the out-of-print stashes of small suppliers, and yes, you can return any shirt you absolutely hate. (Way to ruin the fun, whiner.) The appeal (or “delight,” if you will) of the site comes from the fact that the endless reach of web shopping has largely eliminated the element of surprise from shopping. If you want an obscure item, search long enough on the web and you’ll probably find it. Don’t get us wrong: we prefer it that way. But Hipstery fills another type of emotional need that has been lost, and brings some fun back to a shopping experience that’s often defined solely by efficacy.
The benefits of hidden surprises aren’t strictly limited to shopping, either. A recent article from the fine folks at the Hartman Group lamented that most loyalty programs don’t actually generate a whole lot of “loyalty.” Members are generally rewarded with routine (i.e. 5% cash back) or incremental (i.e. airline miles) economic incentives, so most consumers will simply follow whichever brand offers the largest incentives. Instead, the Hartman Group argues that building legitimate loyalty comes from “innovative methods of surprise and delight,” ranging from an unexpected upgrade for a hotel guest to an unanticipated deal to encourage a frequent customer to try something new. (And of course, we’re delighted and surprised at their choice of terminology!)
And, in the end, this long-term loyalty is the point of all of these surprises. These transactions are memorable, connecting with the consumer in a way that simply doesn’t in other brand interactions. Maybe this isn’t life-changing happiness, but it certainly can be day-changing, and that’s often good enough to change the way consumers think about your brand.
