An "E" Ticket

People will pay for experiences.  They'll pay a lot.  They'll pay more for a memorable experience than they will for straight content, or straight product.  

In 1999, Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore wrote what I consider to be one of the modern classics of business thinking literature: The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage.  This book does a great job of explaining why Starbucks can charge so much for a cup of coffee.  You're not just paying for the coffee, you're paying for the ambiance, you're paying for the cool music, you're paying for the "free" wi-fi.  It also explains why in this age of high-quality, instantly downloadable feature films, people are still shelling out a premium price to sit in a theater, and watch a newly released movie at a scheduled time.  OK the film is in a massive 3-D IMAX format shown in a theater equipped with a 6 channel Dolby Sound system and a screen 72 feet high and 53 feet wide.  You're paying for the experience.

But not all great experiences cost an arm and a leg. Some of the scariest stories I've ever heard were told around a campfire, on a dark night, out in the middle of the woods.  The crackle of the fire, the hiss of the sap coming off the burning wood, the night wind blowing through the high tree-tops.  Atmosphere.

I think more companies should be creating atmosphere in the user experiences they deliver to their customers (or clients).  I think more companies should be looking for cost-effective means of staging and implementing those experiences. I think more employees of those companies should be practicing, learning, and rehearsing their "roles" in these user experiences.