Brian Wong, barely legal, shares the ten pillars of emotional engagement

Brian Wong. A 21-year-old whiz kid; a little cocky, a bit of witty, and to me the highlight of Echelon 2012, and probably the most tweeted about keynote speaker. Even, someone was tweeting each time he says “Fuck”. He probably weighs around 100 pounds; but definitely fills the stage.

I was there to listen to the CEO & Founder of Kiip, and I didn’t pay attention to his age initially. But when he showed up, myself being at the ‘tender’ age of 28, I felt old. Yes the world is changing so rapidly, and he is claimed to be one of the youngest entrepreneur to raise venture capital, from True Ventures; at US$4.4 M. Yes it is true.

Brian talked about the shift in how brands can create an emotional connection with consumers, especially when it comes to mobile gaming.

There’s a difference between companies that succeed in connecting with people emotionally instead of simply being a function in their lives. These are the companies that change our experiences and as a result truly excel in the mobile space.

There is a potent need in the ecosystem to enable companies to feel. How do you tap into the natural psychological tendencies of your user and to build true affinity? How do you help your company become almost human?

Well, honestly speaking I really enjoyed his speech, and his 10 pillars of Emotional Brands. Here we go:

1) Moments instead of touchpoints

The best time to engage consumers would be to find them in moments of joy. For Kiip, which gives mobile gamers tangible, redeemable rewards, that moment comes when they win an achievement in a game.

2) Play

Taking what is a part of our everyday life and gamify it.

3) Create serendipity

Surprise and delight. Brian is against letting players know what in-app rewards they’ll get initially, as doing so might detract users from using the app for its sake.

4) Acknowledging and validating users

Speaks for itself.

5) Perceived choice and care

At least make users feel they have a choice and are in control of their destiny. Users also want to feel like people are paying attention to them. Travel sites like Kayak tap into this with what Brian claims to be fake loading bars, which gives the illusion that much effort is put into generating individual search results.

6) Gifting and rewarding users

That’s where Brian makes money.

7) Humanization of the process

Organizational emotion in experiences.

8) Inception

Not the movie, but like the movie ‘make the consumer feel familiar with the concept’. To ensure that your company lasts a hundred years, make sure you address the ‘why’ and not the ‘how’. He adds that Apple used to do that really well, but since Steve Job’s passing, they slipped. At the recent WWDC, they talked about ‘Asymmetrically placed impeller blades’, which Brian says is irrelevant to users.

9) Build a story

Like I do now.

10) Feel or die

No comment.

Last word: I’m keen to watch him grow. He seems like a good blend of what makes a good entrepreneur: Dropped out — not from college but Digg, traveled to Asia and enlightened a crowd, wears grey T-shirt and sneakers, and know his shit.

(Read “Startups: No kids allowed“)

Organized by tech blog e27 for the third year running, Echelon 2012 is a key startup launchpad in Asia with over 1,100 delegates in attendance and 50 startups exhibiting in the Marketplace. Check out SGE’s coverage of the event.

Comments