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Cash App, culture, design

on product design, pop culture
last updated 4/17/20

Thoughtful design drives a great customer experience.

This is critical in the tech world where, as Ben Thompson explains with Aggregation Theory:

The most important factor determining success is the user experience.

In case you don't want to read his whole explanation (which you really really should), the internet has fundamentally changed how companies compete.

Giants like Uber and Airbnb rose to power not by forging special relationships with car or apartment owners, but by offering customers a better way to connect with them.

Because of the internet, most of us now have access to the same information. Companies that aggregate it in a useful manner, win.

More broadly, McKinsey found that across medical technology, consumer goods, and retail banking, a company's design chops map closely to overall performance. Those that scored high on McKinsey's design index grew revenue and shareholder returns faster. Why is this?

I think effective design unlocks huge advantages because there's never been more noise for customers to sift through.

Every day, we're served thousands of ads which fight for a piece of our ever-shorter attention spans. There are literally buttons we can press for food, music, clothing, and every other form of distraction imaginable.

And so we choose what's immediately interesting. Products need to cut through this mess and consistently satisfy us, or we'll quickly turn elsewhere.

Brian Norgard likes the concept of "no mind" — designing products which anybody can instantly understand and use without thinking.

Easier said than done. Startups (consumer especially) need to avoid a Silicon Valley echo chamber and consider what resonates with the masses, instead of only building for friends. They're increasingly turning to pop culture for inspiration.

Corporate partnerships with hip-hop moguls walk a fine line between edgy and out of touch. Watching Chance pitch Doritos in a Super Bowl spot last year made me cringe — it ran directly counter to his authentic brand.

Square has nailed this type of collab in marketing Cash App.

Like Venmo, Square initially targeted higher-end customers after launching their mobile payments app back in 2013. But early traction with the rap community, along with a stronghold of users clustered in the south and midwest, shifted their focus younger and more mainstream.

Cash App adoption map
Source: Max Friedrich (ARK Invest)

Since then, Square has partnered with giants like Travis Scott and Lil B for internet-breaking #cashappfriday giveaways. One of the top esports teams in the world, 100 Thieves, recently opened a Cash App-sponsored LA headquarters. You'll even hear Cash app plugs sprinkled throughout Joe Rogan and Barstool-hosted podcasts.

It's a bold strategy that's paid off. At a fraction of what banks pay to acquire customers, Square multiplied Cash App's active users from 7 million in 2017, to 15 million in 2018, to 24 million in 2019 (more here).

Even crazier is how quickly the product has immersed itself in hip-hop lexicon — just search 'cash app' on Spotify for evidence.

As Dan Runcie explains:

Cash App achieved the modern brand’s dream: to become part of the culture. No appropriation. No cringe-worthy attempts to sound like a 23-year-old hypebeast. All genuine.

MSCHF is another case study in culture-hacking.

The NYC-based company (agency? studio??) releases small quantities of their uniquely ridiculous products like branded books and pirated streaming service, twice per month.

Though erratic at first glance, this approach was born as a calculated reaction to the army of eCommerce brands invading our timelines.

As founder Gabe Whaley describes in this podcast, their brutalist design (see the MSCHF website as an example) stands out because it directly contrasts the minimalist aesthetic worn by Allbirds, Away, and many other trendy DTC startups.

Young people see through this fake sincerity. Instead of trying to blend into Instagram feeds, MSCHF has built an attention machine, by shouting.

All of this is to say, design matters a bit more than we think. It fuels both customer acquisition and retention. It can feel invisible, like with Tinder. It can also surprise us in an endearing way, like with MSCHF.

Creating a new market altogether is incredibly rare. Fine. Square didn't invent peer-to-peer payments, Southwest didn't invent commercial air travel.

But in order to survive, companies must differentiate themselves through the user experience. This experience begins and ends, with thoughtful design.


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