Pinball wizardry
I love pinball machines and that’s partly because they remind me of those halcyon days (and nights) cruising to games arcades, milk bars and making a play for pinball wizardry.
Apart from the nostalgia trip, they’re also works of engineering, design and art crammed into a wooden cabinet. They’re things of beauty and have way more character than a PlayStation or Xbox, in my opinion.
Most of all though, I simply love the challenge of playing them because no two games are ever the same.
Ever.
As I played a couple of games recently on my own machine, I got thinking about insights to be drawn from pinball and applied to marketing or business planning (particularly in the context of a more strategic, longer run view).
My first score was phenomenal and the game was smooth (humility prevents me bragging further), but the second game was as abysmal a game as I’ve ever played. And this was all despite the basic conditions being exactly the same. It was my execution that was different
So, considering the playfield as the market and the balls as your shot at it, ponder these points and tell me if they don’t ring a chord with what happens as you plan and roll out strategy:
The aim of the game is to achieve a high score. No surprise there though paraphrase that as maximising results. Consider too that when multiple players compete on a single machine, each faces elements of a perfect competition scenario. That is, the opportunities and available assets are completely level, all other things being equal
Sounds, flashing lights, colour and movement, while important to the overall experience can distract you from your core goal. Focusing too much on the easy distractions (insert wasteful tactic here) adds less value than getting the customer experience, service design and efficiencies right that will return the best outcomes
Many machines offer more than one way to launch a ball into play. Usually you can at least drop the ball into some shortcut with a half stroke of the shooter or fire a full stroke shot around the orbit. Bit of lingo there, so think of the half stroke as a soft launch and the full-stroke orbit (right around back of the cabinet) as a hard launch. Both are valid but have different purposes, outcomes, and it’s an important decision to make in how you launch your play into the market
Most machines have a central game that’s achieved via a sequential process (a big scorer). All have mini games that are either played during that process or are separate scoring opportunities (smaller scores but the cumulative can be huge). With things happening pretty quickly, decisions become an exercise in sacrifice and focus. There’s an opportunity cost of playing a certain game or not. That is, what action will net the best balance between short and longer run gain?
Also, many of the mini games will start as an unintended consequence of playing other games, so the decision whether to pursue it or not may come up unexpectedly. Same as in business, where interruptions, distractions or competitor actions can either conspire to take you away from your main strategy or present a leverage opportunity to enhance it
Mis-queued shots, shots that miss the target, low-scoring or non-scoring executions, while not so clear to start with are everywhere and present great opportunities to de-value your strategy and introduce waste. Thankfully though, along with those bad shots come opportunities to recover, regroup, re-gain control and get back on track.
Different machines play in widely varied ways and there are hundreds. The basic foundations are the same, however some are a relatively simple, single level field while others are more complex with ramps going everywhere, traps, multiple levels and games. Once you get to know a game though (what games score what, the angles needed to hit the targets, what games to play when, etc) you’ll start to see better results. Think of each different machine as a different market or segment. It’s rare to walk right on up to a game for the first time and succeed (though it can happen). Generally, you need to understand the dynamics of the market first
If you’re in a multi-player game, you’re in competition with other players and the best score wins. Simple enough, but there are 2 aspects to success. With the available assets you must not only play for maximum effect, you also need to maximise efficiency. That means eliminating waste and getting the most value out of every play and when the opportunity to gain extra inputs (like an extra ball) comes up then you must take it. Think of your score as ROI, with each ball as a unit of leveraged asset, and you’ll start to see what I mean
Just as in business and marketing, there’s often a perceived level of bad luck i.e. things you think are out of your control (like a ball draining down the valley between the flippers or the sides, with no possibility of reaching them). Usually though, it’s the unintended consequence of a previous action that could be controlled (such as a ball struck slightly off target and bumping away). This can happen though maybe there was something wrong with your strategy, tactic or execution a few steps back
If you ever get the chance to look under the playfield or in the backbox of a pinball, you’ll realise how well the infrastructure (connections, boards and switches) comes together to deliver the experience. Just like your brand, your customers’ positive experiences (what they see, hear, feel and engage with) are the result of a well-thought out and executed effort. If not, the game falters and so does your brand
Eventually the game ends when the balls run out and the current cycle is leveraged to its fullest. In the context of strategy or a business that can be viewed as the life-cycle running its course. Time to chart a new strategy or find a way to harvest your investment and move on.
At first glance and to the uninitiated, a pinball game may be viewed as random, aimless shots (tactics) and hoping for a good score (sales, marketing or business result).
Once you realise that approaching the game (your market) with clear goals and a strategy, the parallels make more sense.
Yes, inspiration and insight can come from the most unlikely of sources.