Chapter 4 Emotion Engagement

I liked the example about surprise at the very beginning of the chapter. When it asked about our favorite songs coming on the radio there were a couple of occasions that immediately came to mind, and I definitely think there is more happiness that comes with the element of surprise. The line “brings the extraordinary into focus” is just such a cool way to explain what is kind of a basic idea. I had never considered the idea of using the element of surprise to attract users to sign up for or buy a service, it seems like something that could actually work very well (even if it does sound a little shady).

Honestly the Photojojo example given in the book sounds very obnoxious. I would be turned off by the very obvious, in your face marketing approach   and would probably not buy anything because of it. I did like the Wufoo example though. Writing personalized letters to your customers just adds such a personal touch, and obviously its working if they eliminated their marketing budget. Thats insane!!

Anticipation seems like a smart marketing idea. By making something more exclusive, you therefore make it more desirable. I thought the new twitter idea was brilliant. A lot of the time when websites and social media apps change something about their layout or format people are quick to jump on its flaws and things they do not like, but by making the new version of Twitter exclusive and special, people were begging for the update rather than dreading it.

I was also not a fan of the mail chimp example. I never take kindly to the animated characters on websites that insist on butting into whatever you’re doing. I feel like I am usually on a mission to do something and very rarely just perusing the internet (unless its netflix or Facebook of course) and I would be annoyed by any kind of distraction that slows me down. I would probably stop using mail chimp just because of that honestly.