In 2015, the bike company VanMoof had a massive problem.
They were finally shipping their electric bikes to the US, but they kept arriving at customers' doors broken and beaten up.
They tried everything.
They put "Handle with Care" and "Fragile" stickers all over the boxes.
It did nothing. To the delivery drivers, it was just another heavy box to move as fast as possible.
Then, out of the blue, the co-founder Ties Carlier came up with a brilliant idea.
He realized their bike boxes were almost exactly the same size as a massive flat-screen TV.
And nobody drops a TV.
So, they didn't get tougher boxes or more expensive shipping.
They just printed a picture of a flat-screen TV on the side of the box.
VanMoof
Overnight, shipping damages dropped by 70–80%.
In behavioral science, we call this Choice Architecture.
We don’t change the options in the situation; we just change how those options are presented.
In this case, they just used a visual cue to help the drivers do their jobs better.
And we call this Visual Cue, a “Nudge.” You see these everywhere once you start looking:
- Placing fruit at eye level in a cafeteria so kids pick it over junk food.
- Adding "progress bars" to apps because we hate leaving things unfinished.
- "We are watching you" signals (like a mirror or a picture of eyes), because people behave better when they feel observed.
In this story, nobody was forced to do anything.
The driver could still toss the box if they really wanted to.
The job didn't get harder or more expensive. The only thing that changed was that the customer finally got their bike in one piece.
That is what makes a nudge good.
Some of you may think marketing is about making people do what you want.
But the best brands make sure nobody gets hurt while everyone gets what they need.
If you’re just nudging to trick people into spending more, you’ll lose that brand trust we talked about. Period.
How to apply this in 3 steps:
Find where your customer is making a "lazy" or bad decision.
Think of something they already respect or handle with care.
Use a symbol or a word that borrows that respect.
When you look for "small things" to change in your business, don't worry about being a "master manipulator."
As long as your customer can easily ignore you and isn't harmed by the change, you are just using better Choice Architecture to help your business grow.
If you found this useful, nudge a friend and share this. If not, feel free to ignore—no harm done.
Until next time,
With love ❤️,
Thusharika.
