September 18, 2006

Theming

Perhaps catalyzed by the onslaught of customization, there seems to be a whole lot more theming going on.

For example, weddings used to be - well - weddings. Simple ceremonies followed by lovely parties celebrating the bride and groom. Now they are frequently themed with so many bells and whistles that the honored couple ends up playing only a bit part. The theme becomes the star.

Turner Classic Movies just announced a new theming initiative: a joint promotion with Architectural Digest magazine. In October, this wonderful cable movie channel will promote a collection of 19 movies relating to architecture. The series will be called Architecture in Film and feature pictures like The Fountainhead and Towering Inferno.

In London, I noticed that the Tate Gallery (the original Tate, not the new Tate Modern) has what looks like about 20 different brochures in a rack promoting a series of themed, self-guided tours through the museum. The titles are great fun: "The First Date Tour," "The Animal Lovers Tour," "The 'I'm Feeling Depressed' Tour," etc. You get the idea.

It was not only a clever way to customize visits to an attraction, but it could also work just as well in other contexts like hotels and resorts. Instead of offering only a handful of packages, a hotel or resort could use its website to offer many, many customized experiences that would require only modest tweaks in what is already easily available. And the wide range of experiences would help promote more repeat visitation. Suppose you stayed at a beach resort one year and enjoyed the "bird lovers" package...came back next time for the "photographers" package...etc.

The web provides a venue to offer so many more choices to our customers. Organized properly, a site can enable someone to explore a wide range of options and drill down into those of greatest interest. For us marketers, I see this as an opportunity to provide so much more...to be more creative in packaging, and to offer many more packages...not worrying if only a few will want one package or another, because the incremental selling cost is negligible.

Theming gives us a chance to offer more choice, more varied experiences, and more fun.