EXPERIENCE IS THE ONLY STRATEGY FOR ENCHANTING SUPPORTERS
The future of audience participation with nonprofits is experience-driven for one simple reason: Humans are wired for experience.
That's why experience is the strategy that always wins. In every sector. In every era.
But because there can be confusion around what we mean by "audience experience" (AX), we've created the SUBLIMITY AX Schema.
This newsletter will be the first installment of that schema.
(So if you aren't a subscriber, you're going to miss out on the rest. Just sayin'…you might want to just click this button right here…)
Introducing the SUBLIMITY AX Schema
I developed the SUBLIMITY AX Schema (with Tracey Werre's generous and insightful input*) to help you be more imaginative in developing fresh, new experience concepts for your audience members.
Creativity matters more than ever, driving anywhere from 47% to 56%** of marketing efforts' successful impact.
Our sector is cluttered with so. much. advertising. And a lot of it, while well intended by smart people, simply promises the same old thing in largely the same old way.
The future belongs to the organizations that create amazing experiences for their audiences and then promote those remarkable opportunities in imaginative ways that the audience doesn't see coming.
It's that simple. And that hard. Thus, this small contribution to the tool chest we should all have available to us.
OK, here's how it works.
We start with types of defining moments you'll want a new experience to provide.
As much as I absolutely do believe in reinventing the wheel, I for one can't improve upon Dan and Chip Heath's E.P.I.C. framework in The Power of Moments.
They provide these four types of defining moments:
Elevation: Moments that rise above the routine. They make us feel engaged, joyful, surprised, motivated. Designers: build peaks and break scripts.
Pride: Commemorate people’s achievements, capturing us at our best. They are moments of recognition. Designers: Recognize others, multiply milestones, and practice courage.
Insight: Moments that deliver realizations and transformations that rewire our understanding of our world. Epiphanies, sudden realizations that we didn’t see coming. Designers: Trip over the truth and stretch for insight.
Connection: Create shared meaning. People unite when they struggle together on something meaningful. Designers: Create shared meaning and deepen ties.
Now, while The Power of Moments is a must-read for its categorization and storytelling, it doesn't provide any instruction on how to actually develop these kinds of experiences. To that end, we've created Wonder Camp, which you will absolutely love.
But back to the schema…
Next, we list locations where those moments can take place.
Understanding the opportunities by location or channel categories is important, because that's how we answer the question, "Where might this experience be provided?"
The schema identifies these three categories:
Advertising Media: Paid placements in any of the various promotion networks, like digital/CTV, TV/DRTV, mail, radio, print, phone, and out of home.
Popular Media: Purchased consumer products, whether for entertainment or learning, both online and offline. Think books, magazines, wearables, movies, music, games, artwork, and educational courses.
In Real Life (IRL) Experiences: The possibilities here are nearly endless, but some of the most obvious examples include entertainment events, sports and recreation activities, social communities and cultural encounters, travel and dining, retail and celebrations, and even wellness activities.
Now, no attempt to synthesize experience locations into just three categories is going to be comprehensive (e.g., ChatGPT has scolded me for leaving out cryptocurrency experiences, but I don't feel bad at all about that omission). But if you think I've left out a major category that strategic designers in our sector ought to be thinking about, I hope you'll let me know.
Four defining moments x three location categories = twelve experience types.
Yep, that leaves us with twelve experience types in the SUBLIMITY AX Schema.
We've given them fun names like "High-Five Factory," "Live At Red Rocks," and "IYKYK."
To access the single-page view of the schema, simply go here to subscribe and download the pdf.
Next newsletter, I'll be diving into "Sowing Machine," which is where Moments of Elevation intersects with Advertising Media and results in awesome, experience-driven sustainer programs.
See you then (but only if you subscribe 🙂).
Allen
allen@sublimity.co
571.283.8283
Various & Sundry
*Tracey Werre at Mission Aviation Fellowship knows what's what about AX. Her team and mine imagined, developed, and launched their successful Flight Crew sustainer program together, complete with a chatbot storytelling experience for awareness and an in-home VR experience for affirmation. Tracey and I will share our perspectives in our talk at the July 31 Faith & Fundraising Day at Bridge Conference: "It Takes Responsible Fearlessness to Create Amazing Audience Experiences." Join us for a great session together (and how about lunch afterward?).
At a private annual gathering in April with some of the best capacity generation professionals in the country, I asked each of them for the most remarkable audience experience their organization offers. One that stood out was a large, very well known organization that helps married couples fix their broken marriages. Couples stay in cabins and keep a public journal about their time. After the conference, the major donor funders go to the cabin, read the journal and pray for the couple. The emotional and spiritual experience is absolutely profound. Two thoughts: First, major donor fundraisers need to think beyond relational 1-1 tactics and disciplined operations, though both are crucial. Intentional major donor experience development is the next frontier. Second, we need to know and care about general donors much more than we do.
We are currently helping an awesome nonprofit for Native American children develop a fresh, new, experience-driven sustainer program. Based upon first-round audience insights, we developed ten concepts. One of those was called "Stations of Heritage," which imagined a new IRL spiritual experience at the campus with a year of in-home experiences for those who cannot attend in person. While we knew it might struggle in second-round concept interviews (and it did), it provided crucial insights for amping up the winner concept design. That's a good illustration of why developing remarkable but low-probability experience concepts is so important early in a project.
**I always worry a bit about quoting stats without putting eyeballs on the actual analysis, but I get the 47% number from this and the 56% number from this. A lot of people source the 70% stat from Google, but they seem to be specifically referring to brand campaign research done by Dynamic Logic. I'm not sure that applies as broadly as its quoting typically indicates.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wonder Camp
October 16-17 | Carefree, AZ
Your chance to get responsibly fearless about new creative strategies for your organization. Oh, and soak up the rejuvenating ambiance of CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa along the way. You don't want to miss this!
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Illumination Community
4th Thursday, Monthly | Zoom
Illumination Community is a chance to gather with like-minded innovative thinkers across organizations. This highly interactive community has been exploring topics together, since the spring of 2018, to gain insights and creative ideas from one another.
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