The enjoyment of friction
Most brands are committed to creating customer experiences that are as simple and smooth as possible. Still, argues Wayne Deakin, ECD, EMEA at Huge, sometimes a little friction is a good thing
There is a growing cult in marketing. I'm talking about the cult of brand experiences that are seamless and barrier-free. Brands that do best in a post-pandemic world will give us back our time with smooth customer journeys, so it is widely believed. However, popular wisdom can be misdirected.
Check out Amazon for its seamless user experience, as well oiled and meticulously choreographed as North Korean marches every time. This is the level of frictionless experience a growing number of brands seem to be striving for.
Now think of Ikea, which has two major roadblocks when it comes to its branding experiences. The first thing you can think of all the way back to pre-Covid-19 store closings and closings is the physical bottlenecks built into its tangled problems of in-store travel. The second – and perhaps the more obvious – is that as soon as you bring it home, you'll have to assemble the furniture you buy.
True, Amazon is an online company that has recently operated at least seven different types of physical stores and plans to open more than 30 brick and mortar stores in the UK, while Ikea is a retailer that started in the real world before expanding online . At its core, however, Amazon is a delivery mechanism, while Ikea is a brand where certain frictions enrich the customer experience.