Yesterday I enjoyed another great article from one of my favorite marketing bloggers, Steve Smith. This time, Steve wrote about the phenomenon of Zippo lighters at concerts, and the life cycle of the Virtual Zippo Lighter app for the iPhone.
Watch this video to see the Virtual Zippo Lighter app in action (my favorite part is the flicking it open and closed!):
The Virtual Zippo Lighter app has been downloaded more than five million times since its release a year ago, making it the 13th most popular iPhone app, according to ComScore.
The beauty of the app lies in two things: its simplicity, and its connection to a cultural classic.
Simplicity: The Virtual Zippo Lighter has one single purpose - to look like and act like a virtual Zippo lighter. That's it. Nothing else. The Virtual Zippo Lighter flicks open like a Zippo lighter, lights like a Zippo lighter, and its flame moves and flickers with movement like the flame of a Zippo lighter. It's the beloved concert toy, without the fire hazard or lighter fluid smell.
Connection to a Cultural Classic: Had that first brilliant concert-goer never had the inspired idea to hold his Zippo lighter aloft and sway back and forth to a rock-and-roll hit, the Virtual Zippo Lighter would be pointless. A fire-starter that doesn't start fires? Please. But because this cultural phenomenon did happen with the ubiquitous pocket-sized object of the 20th century, Zippo was able to recreate this "Zippo Encore Moment" with the 21st century's own ubiquitous pocket-sized object: the smartphone.
Simplicity and connection to a cultural classic (and the ultra-low cost: the app is free!) created a fan-base 5-million-strong for the Virtual Zippo Lighter app. And now, Zippo and its mobile marketing partner Moderati are planning ways to re-launch the app into the growth phase of its life cycle.
Simplicity built the application's popularity; the next generation of the Virtual Zippo Lighter will inhabit the opposite end of the iPhone app spectrum: a full-media package, allowing users to customize their lighters and, possibly, to find music and information on the concerts that are happening near them. Brilliant, right? Add value to customers and allow them to find venues in which use of their app is logical and "cool".
As Steve Smith points out, it is difficult for a smartphone application to survive in the space between ultra-simplicity and ultra-complexity. Zippo and Moderati will be avoiding that "no-man's-land" and occupying both extremes. Customers will be able to choose either the free original app, or the 99-cent customizable, concert-finding version.
Zippo and Moderati used simplicity to attract fans, and will use complexity to build deeper relationships with those fans. Good move. Can we do the same?
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