In other words, get people hooked and wanting more and when the more comes, it is unexpected and “surprises and delights”.

Loyalty 2.0 must therefore be proactive. Instead of the traditional model where you get rewarded for an action, you have to “be ahead of your users ahead of time” and “surprise and delight” them.

Wong, who raised US$4 million for Kiip last year, making him the youngest person ever to have received VC funding, was speaking at Echelon and sharing tips on how to capture emotion in the commoditized world of the web.

He says that today, attention is a commodity and to differentiate, we have to “humanize technology”.

Think of moments instead of touchpoints, he said. He noted that since the passing of Steve Jobs, Apple’s promotions have become more about functionality, less about moments.

“Big brands spend a lot of money to make us feel good about them,” he said.

You should also play with your customers. The best businesses augment themselves into everyday life and existing behaviour.

“Playing games is an everyday activity, especially in Singapore and Hong Kong. You have cellular towers in subway tunnels – amazing.”

The idea of Kiip came to him after he did an “iPad creep” at everyone’s iPads while walking down an aisle on a plane. He saw that everyone was playing games but that game ads basically took up a piece of the screen without adding any value. 

Why not provide real life rewards? He thought, “There has to be a reset button here, we have to try something new … We have to build a company with the DNA of being in mobile.”

Within the play framework, moments are when the action is performed, achievements are acknowledged and validated and rewards are “serendipity, gifts and rewards”.

“A badge is not a reward, it’s an achievement,” he said, referring to badges earned in some games or networks like Foursquare.

He said technology today allows us to “surprise and delight” customers. “I view every building as a pile of information and how do I access the information embedded in the building? Or find a fun way to find people nearby?”

It’s also about offering choice or, let’s be honest, he said, “perceived choice” or “perceived effort” – in other words, making users think there’s something magical at work behind the scenes through smart customability.

For instance, travel search sites like Kayak or Hipmunk show a loading bar to create a perception that “it’s working hard to deliver results for you”.

“Play mind tricks,” he said.

Another approach is to use a mascot – it humanizes the process and shows the character of the organization. “It’s easier to forgive a company if you like it.”

His favourite tip is “inception” – as in the movie, create a dream within a dream within a dream. “Make them feel like they have come up with it before – explain the problem before the solution, explain the why before the how.”