We've been toying around (again!) with drivers for consumerism, and delving (again!) into the subject of happiness. What we're starting to see the outline of-- in a very rough theoretical way-- is that at the crux of it, people seek happy experiences. Buying something can deliver that, perhaps in a short-term way. But it isn't necessarily the object bought that makes the person happy. The experience of buying something new, perhaps the packaging, or who the person went shopping with all have an impact.
What we're driving towards was neatly described on the Bobulate blog by designer and educator Liz Danzico: "Investing in experiences over objects amplifies happiness. Money, as it turns out, can’t buy happiness."
She gives mention of Walmart actively offering "staycation" products as a complete package in their stores after the onset of the economic downturn. Clever idea to sell more stuff, but we're wondering if the same idea can be applied with product-as-service models that are starting to emerge.
Take a big company like Interface for example. In many parts of the world, their products are more of a service: the company still "owns" the carpet tiles, they merely lease them to the user for a set period of time, at the end of which the worn tile can be reclaimed and recycled, and the user gets a new tile for a new set period. Big generalization of a complex process, but you get the idea.
Well, what if every product were viewed as not just a service (which we think is a good step), but also an experience, aimed at providing maximum happiness? What if the whole experience of this service were carefully managed and delivered to provide an end user not only a good feeling, but also take into account product life-cycle and supply chain issues, maximizing the business' positive impact on the communities it operates in, etc.? Could the whole value-chain be maximised for a positive "happy" experience? How could brands create and capitalise on this feel-good factor as a key point of differentiation?
Especially if you go to market with such a strategy at a time when many consumers are depressed and looking to improve their disposition, wouldn't such an approach make some great business sense-- in addition to making the world a better place if the right considerations were met (e.g. social outputs, sustainable supply chain, good company governance, etc.)?