Digital Experiences: Curated and Niche Content

Now more than ever, brands with large followings are streamlining communication with their communities through the curation and delivery of relevant, niche digital content.

Whether this is through a single digital initiative or an app-turned-content-network, these experiences could possibly drive further engagement or simply enhance mobile user loyalty.

Square Dreams Initiative

Digital money transfer service Square puts a face to its proverbial mission of innovating business with the first installment of its Dreams short film initiative. Users are guided through a timely story of a Syrian refugee who started a small restaurant business from the ground up in Knoxville. “Yassin Falafel,” as he is so lovingly called by his supportive community, uses Square to enhance his business offering, which is subtly mentioned throughout the process of learning about the Dreams campaign. This curated content keeps the brand’s product in context while humanizing the domestic repercussions of political turmoil abroad.

From a user experience perspective, this first installment of Dreams’ digital experience is limited; it is only offered on Square’s website via desktop and mobile web with no links out. Because this initiative furthers Square’s message forward strategically, there is an opportunity to spread awareness and push public dialogue by featuring it within the native Square app or further through social media, as promotion is currently light.

Golf Media App

Tyler the Creator, an influencer and rapper spawned from Tumblr’s underground community, has built an impassioned fan base with unapologetic and refreshing content. In an interview with Re/Code in 2015, Tyler alluded to building a network in collaboration with Whalerock Industries, which resulted in a Zine style content consumption experience similar to that of Snapchat Discover. With different channels to filter and primarily vertical native content, the hub serves as an all access point for Tyler’s loyal niche fan base.

One important factor to note is the monetization strategy through subscriptions. Aside from promoting the benefits of subscribing to the Golf Media app, the entire experience is ad-free, seamless and avoids over-promotional content. The main focuses are the content at hand and enveloping the user entirely in a curated consumption experience. However, the element lacking from this (and may be intentional) is integrations to further social conversation outside of the app, which limits the platform to being a content hub instead of a social network in and of itself.