One of life's less interesting, un-engaging and uneventful experiences- buying a replacement lightbulb. It is fulfilling a basic need with a commodity product made by companies that we struggle to remember the name of, with a shopping experience that I care to forget. The experience: you turn it on when it gets dark, turn it off when it gets light and it comes in an unimaginative cardboard box and costs around 1 Euro. End of story.

At least that was the norm a couple of years ago. Fast forwards back to today. A lightbulb maker is no longer a lightbulb maker.

​​​​​​​

It’s a creator of emotions and moods; I can now buy a lightbulb that I can control to emit any colour I choose. I can control the brightness of it without a dimmer switch. The dimmer switch manufacturer overnight just become a competitor.

It’s a piece of security; I can now buy a lightbulb that I can turn off/on automatically from anywhere in the world through an app. The home security manufacturer has just become a competitor, or potential partner.

It’s part of a home automation system; I can now buy a lightbulb that can connect with other devices around the home that automate a sequence of events. The light bulb maker has just become part of an ecosystem of partners.

It’s part of a software platform; I connect to it and the lightbulb maker through an app. They now know who I am, what I use my lightbulb for and they propose to me new uses and devices to connect to and make me part of a community of other users. They tell me a story.

The lightbulb maker has created a new category of product and services, a need for new partners and ecosystems, a new business model, changed how I use the product and interact with them. They created the need for a new marketing, sales and distribution model. It has created new customer experiences and a new level of Brand attachment. And what price is that experience? Approximately 15x multiplier against old lightbulbs- that’s the value of an experience. This is an example of Industry Renaissance and the experience economy. If it can transform one of the most boring products on the planet, imagine the potential.

The world has never been a more interesting experience.

Create your product experiences and stories with #3DEXCITE on the 3DEXPERIENCE PLATFORM​​​​​​​!!