MSCHF Continues to Make Mischief

WRITTEN BY: PETER KLAYMAN, VP, BUSINESS STRATEGY, BOTTLE ROCKET

TURNS OUT MSCHF IS A LABORATORY OF VIRALITY THAT WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM.

Most of you are asking yourself, MSCHF, what is that? For those in the know, you may be wondering, what lessons can be learned from a company that created a jamming device for Alexa using ultrasonic speakers and collaborated with Lil Nas X to create shoes with human blood in them that resulted in getting sued by Nike (yes you read that right)?

Turns out MSCHF is a laboratory of virality that we can all learn from. What’s the premise of their business? Well, it’s complicated and at the same time entirely simple. Every two weeks they release a new “product.” If you ask MSCHF’s CEO, he will say “We’re trying to do stuff that the world can’t even define.” (Business Insider). I’d say they are succeeding.

As you can imagine, I was instantly intrigued. By downloading the MSCHF app, I’ve been able to stay in the know about all their newest drops.

After two years of following the business, I’m still not entirely sure how they make money; however, I’ve learned a lot from them. Here’s a few key learnings that can apply to pretty much any business.

1. MSCHF is great at building MVPs, truly boiling down experiences to their most essential parts. No more, no less.

2. Not every MSCHF product is a hit, but the sheer volume of experiences keeps me coming back. Users will allow for experimentation if there is a demonstrated history of value exchange.

3. MSCHF masters engagement channels. They leverage push notifications, SMS, and in-app messaging well, and they know exactly which to use and when.

For me, this is how it all began. A few years ago, I was sucked into the dark hole that is MSCHF when a friend sent me a cryptic Reddit post.

4. Both Bottle Rocket and industry research shows that friends are a great driver of new user acquisition. MSCHF knows this and consistently creates “share worthy” content, thus constantly growing their user base.

5. The future of experiences span physical and digital. Whether we look at Spots Revenge or Eight Tlve, MSCHF knows cross-channel physical and digital engagement is key.

Rebels always point out important things, although their tactics might not always be the most socially appropriate. MSCHF is no different. If your organization wants to implement iterative solutions that drive virality and brand love, there’s a lot that can be learned from this rebel called MSCHF.