I brought my girlfriend to a bouncy castle event in Bangkok today.

At first, it was kinda boring... but by the end, it drained my energy more than leg day ever did. And that only happened because we added one simple element...

...An element you cannot forget in your marketing, or you'd risk the chance people will lose interest in your product or service.

Here's the story:

​

At first, we plan to visit the Bangkok National Museum.

But somehow, the staff told us it was closing early and asked us to leave.

Which was weird... the official page said it closed at 4 PM.
​

Now it was only 2 PM.

We were so disappointed we didn’t even bother asking why.

Anyway...

​

So, we went to a bouncy castle event nearby.

I thought it’d be so much fun that we’d forget about the museum.

But nah.

We climbed in, bounced around a bit… and after about five minutes, it felt BORING.

It was just the two of us.

Even though there were other people, my girlfriend isn’t comfortable playing with strangers.

I actually started thinking, “Okayyy... is this all?”

Then...

​

We decided to play tag.

Suddenly, it was a whole different game.

The bouncy castle that was “meh” five minutes earlier became a battlefield. (It was my first time being scared when my girlfriend chased me.)

By the end, I was drenched in sweat, gasping for air, and more exhausted than I usually am after a heavy leg day at the gym.

And here’s the thing:

The castle itself didn’t change... The only thing we added was one element... stakes.

Once there was something to chase, everything came alive.

​

Now, think about this in the context of your business or marketing.

What's the stake there for your customer?

What's in it for them?

Why should they care?

If you have no reason for the customer to care... people lose interest... and what happens when people lose interest?

You lose sales.

If there’s no stake… no reason for people to care… it’s just a bouncy castle. People might poke around for a few minutes, then get bored and walk away.

But once you add a stake — something to win, something to lose, something that actually matters to them — suddenly, the exact same product becomes a whole different game.

That’s when people lean in.

That’s when they get hooked.

That’s when they buy.

So here’s the basic question to ask yourself:

• What’s really at stake for my customer?
• What's the consequence of not taking action?
• What's the benefit of taking action?

Because if you forget that part, you risk the same thing I felt in that castle five minutes in:

“Okayyy… is this all?”

And trust me, you don’t want your customers thinking that.

— Chayanon Sangkhamfan