🧠Psychology Sunday: How to Make Your Brand as Addicting as a Casino

Hey there, 

Welcome back to the 28th edition of Brandish, 

Your guide to crafting an iconic brand.

I spent longer than I should thinking about what I wanted to write about this week. 

I wanted this one to be fun for you, interesting, 

And a little controversial. 

So without further ado, 

Kick back, 

Grab your Brez, 

And get ready to learn how you can “ethically” make your brand as addicting as a casino. 

The Art of Casino Design: A Blueprint for Engagement

If you’ve ever been inside a casino, you’ll know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. 

The flashy setups,

Intricate designs,

And captivating atmosphere, 

It’s all done on purpose.

Casinos are some of the BEST in history at capturing someone’s attention, 

And once they have their hooks in you…

You know the rest. 

Now I’m not saying you should copy everything they do, 

A lot of it is borderline unethical. 

But they have literally laid the blueprint for engagement,

And you should be taking notes. 

Winning Hearts, Minds, And Money

Casinos excel in building emotional connections.

They can turn every visit into a rollercoaster of an experience that their customers never want to stop riding,

Strategically using psychological triggers to ever so subtly influence customer behavior.  

If you weren’t aware of their tactics, you would never even notice. 

Doing this effectively takes a deep understanding of your audience, 

Their instincts, 

And their deepest desires.

It’s not easy to replicate, but it is very possible. 

Let me break down how:

Gamify EVERYTHING

A large part of their success is because everything is gamified. 

And I mean EVERYTHING. 

So to an extent, you need to be doing the same thing.

Why not move that theme over to your branding?

Think of your website as a casino,

If you walked in and the walls were gray, there wasn’t any music, and the dealer looked sad…

You’d take yourself (and your wallet) right on out of there. 

So do the opposite. 

Make your branding FUN. 

Your personality should be addicting,

And shopping with you should feel like a game where your customer wins every single time.

Take your rewards program. 

By adding a certain level of gamification you’d be instilling a similar amount of adrenaline and emotional response as gambling. 

(Ethically, of course.) 

Starbucks: The Pioneer In Gamification

Love them or hate them, Starbucks was one of the true pioneers of gamifying their rewards programs,

And now it makes up nearly 40-50% of their revenue. 

Absolutely wild. 

Their loyalty app is where the real magic is. 

It does the usual stuff (Each purchase earns points for discounts, blah blah, blah)

BUT 

They’ve personalized their promotions to each customer,

Setting challenges to complete, time-sensitive offers, literal double XP weekends,

The whole shebang. 

See much of a difference?

I don’t. 

They didn’t ‘copy’ the casino’s strategies, 

They’re just replicating what works to grab ahold of your customers' emotions, actions, and wallets,

In the most ‘ethical’ way possible. 

Look at the similarities in design:

• Smooth and simple

• Highlights rewards, countdowns, etc. 

• Easy to navigate and PERSONALIZED

Again, I’m not advocating that you emotionally manipulate your customers into giving you the deed to their house, 

BUT

There are plenty of things that casinos do right that you can start to implement into your branding, 

Like your rewards system. 

Start there and work your way up, 

Turn your brand into a fun, emotionally mesmerizing experience, 

And your customers will basically throw their money at you. 

That’s a Wrap

That’s all I had for this week. 

I hope you enjoyed learning about a little ‘ethical’ emotional manipulation!

Just kidding

We’re not monsters. 

Anyways, 

I hope you learned something new this week, and I hope you take what you’ve learned and apply it to your branding!

See you next time, 

Ankit