Phase 1: Startup (Arun)
It is early 2023. Arun wakes up and checks his Gmail inbox. He sees something different in his inbox. There is an email from A1 Books with a ‘µ’ in the Subject. Intrigued, he opens it. A1 Books has a brief explainer. The µ is a signal that the email has rewards for Arun. By opening the email and engaging with it, Arun can earn µ which can then be redeemed for various fun activities.
The email that Arun opens is interactive, coded using AMP. It allows for in-place (within the email) actions, without the need for clicking through to a landing page. The email reminds Arun of the book that he had checked out on A1 Books’ website a couple days ago. There is an accordian which expands the “Table of Contents” about the book. A carousel shows Arun some of the reviews about the book. Arun decides that he wants to buy the book. Since an AMP email is unique for every recipient, A1 Books already knows his identity and has his tokenised card info as part of their database. All Arun needs to do is to enter the OTP (one-time password) he just received in the text box in the email, and the transaction is done. No need to visit the A1 Books website; all his actions were done right in the AMP email that he received.
Arun is not yet done being delighted! He scrolls down to check out the email footer. What used to just be an “Unsubscribe” option is now a collection of AMPlets. Arun can provide an NPS rating for his experience on A1 Books (he gives it a 10) – for which he receives 3 µ. He can also do a search right in the email itself. A1 Books is keen to know if he will attend their book discussion with an author of a new thriller; he can get 5 µ for replying, and another 50 µ when he actually attends. A1 Books is keen to know more about Arun’s interests – would he mind answering a few questions in return for some µ? He likes this gamification and goes ahead and answers a couple of profiling questions.
He scrolls down further and sees his tally of µ at 13. Would he like to play roulette, bet a few µ? A few seconds later, he is at 23 µ. And what’s this? There is a cryptic crossword clue? He spends 5 µ to answer; his incorrect guess provides him a learning moment.
And right at the bottom he sees an ad from Netflix which has a promotion about their new OTT series. Is he interested? Yes! Would he like to add it to his watchlist? Yes!!
And as he exits the email, he realises he has part of something new. What a collection of experiences! He has earned and spent some µ (“Atomic Rewards”), and it was fun. His engagement (and excitement) quotient just shot up! A “delete” mindset changed into “delight”. He is now eagerly waiting for the next email from A1 Books, and hoping more brands offer the µ for his attention and data.
