How Føtex's animal card concept leaves all data-analysing marketers behind - and what it teaches us about intrinsic motivation, flow theory, and why the best marketing makes people forget there's any marketing happening at all.
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Case study: Animal Cards*
We have gone through vertical thinking and AI with IBM’s Watson and BIG DATA. And theoretical mainstream marketing concepts such as omnichannel marketing and other tools to ensure a calm and stable ROI without deeper thoughts about what customers feel.
The reason we need to talk about animal cards is that Føtex, in collaboration with Animal Planet, has created a concept based on a simple and old game mechanic around collectibles. It is a concept that has been brought into real life with a vague bridge to the digital. We will not discuss the digital, as it could have been executed better. But we will talk about the concept of the cards themselves.
One thing is that the concept works, financially. People buy more and they do it with joy**. But if we return to the soft values, feel-good, and content marketing, Føtex has found the big gold vein in their animal cards. A simple yet brilliant concept that gives all the data-analyzing marketers a run for their money. This is not just about motivating the individual consumer; Føtex has dug a shovel deeper and tapped into some of the most important values in life. Our children. For as everyone in the industry knows, children play a large part in our purchasing behavior in both the decision-making phase and the purchasing phase.
Intrinsic Motivation versus Extrinsic Motivation
For several years, we have seen Føtex use the gold stickers. This is a perfect example of attempts at upselling through Extrinsic Motivation. As people are bribed with things of real value. Whereas animal cards have no value in themselves, other than what the user makes of it. One can then discuss which method has the greatest effect. The problem with Intrinsic motivation is that it must be done correctly before it works. Whereas extrinsic motivation usually has an effect regardless of how you execute it, as the consumer blindly goes after the carrot, and to some extent will not pick up messages or branding at all. The strength of intrinsic motivation is that the user themselves wants to “play along” and often continues for a long time. Whereas with extrinsic motivation, interest often completely ceases when the user receives their “reward.” How long you can entice users to stay in the loop in both models is a delicate balance that we will return to.
It is not just about a free raisin bun in the wolf hour, or a lollipop in the hair salon. But where Føtex has the upper hand is that they have created a hidden loyalty program that operates with hidden social spreading and intrinsic motivation, which through the children's joy and experiences of collecting and trading cards gives parents the “joy of giving.” So we end up in a “wheel of happiness” of happy parents and happy children. Some may certainly say that their children come home from school crying due to lost cards, or nagging for more. But with immersion and attachment come both joy, sorrow, and anger – it is hard to avoid. This is a natural emotional pattern we also recognize from films and games, and although both aspects are to be experienced, the exit feeling is usually always very positive.
I have even heard of customers who enjoy being able to pass their cards on to other customers' children, so it is not just a social cycle that occurs within the family and in the schoolyard, but also between customers at Føtex.
The best marketing aspect of this concept is that upselling happens completely automatically; some would say it is extrinsic motivation using external incentives. Which does not apply in this context as the cards themselves do not constitute any value for the buyer. We are talking about simple game mechanics that get children to collect, share, and most of all, the desire to reach the goal. Children do not collect because they love fish. They collect because they want to be part of the community and are driven by the inner desire to fill the entire book. When the book is filled, the goal is reached, and the cards will no longer have any value for the user as there can no longer be trading and collecting. It is the progression that is fun. One wants to reach the goal at all costs, and here the same exit feeling arises as one would achieve by completing a video game. Some will play again, while most move away from the medium once everything is completed. In other words, the cards have a virtual value and are therefore within what is considered intrinsic motivation.
So a small suggestion for parents who think it will make their children happy to fill the book as quickly as possible. Stop and consider whether you are doing the children a favor or if you are just shortening their joy of the concept. Therein lies the flow theory, which is also the key to keeping the user engaged for longer periods.
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
If a game is too easy, one stops playing as there is no challenge. And it does not hurt that children are challenged by collecting the rare cards. It is the small healthy frustrations of the difficulty level that keep one in flow.
Thank you, Føtex, for daring. Thank you for proving that there is still a long way to go before Watson can invade the advertising industry and for creating a concept that is so transparent that there is no trace of ROI ulterior motive to be found for the objective observer.
I am sure this is not the last we have seen of the “joy of giving” concept.
It is now time for students to go out and write theses and dissertations on this. Wrap it up in a nice buzzword and take it out to the ROI theorists out there who are eagerly waiting to read and understand what, how, and WHY…
listen to the heart and not just to data…
*I have not been involved in the fishing card concept nor do I unfortunately know the masterminds behind the idea and/or execution.
**while many have complained to the Consumer Ombudsman regarding the law about children who “persuade” their parents to buy – there are simultaneously far more than double who have commented positively on this issue on social media and support that the campaign is not failing. And it is well known that there is a shorter path to complaints than to praise, so this is just the tip of the iceberg…
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