πππ π ππππ ππππ.
I suspect most of us download our club's app for a handful of things (tickets, news, scores), but the rest of the app, all that painstaking design-and-build work that someone lovingly put in, it all just sits there in the dark.
Simply because nobody ever gave us a really good reason to go poke around.
You can't lecture someone into exploring. What you can do is to make it irresistibly fun to explore. You can hide something, and then tell people to go find it. And, from the age of 3, everyone knows how hide-and-seek works.
I give you π
π’π§π ππ¨π. Poe is the Baltimore Ravens' mascot, named for Edgar Allan Poe, the legendary writer who lived and died in Baltimore. A raven, in spirit, if there ever was one. Every week, Poe hides somewhere new inside the Ravens app. Your job is to find him before the clock runs out. Find him in time, and you're in the running for treasure: a game-worn Kyle Hamilton jersey, a private tour of the team's performance center, a hat, a poster.
Lots of people can hide a mascot once. The Ravens refused to make it a one-and-done. This is a season-long, hide-and-seek-from-week-to-week treasure hunt. Poe quietly shifts his hiding location every week, for that week's matchup. New week, new hiding place, same Poe, same app.
ππ°, πΈπ©πΊ π₯π° π ππ°π·π¦ π΅π©πͺπ΄?
From the club's side, sure, it's repeat engagement. It keeps fans coming back, week after week. But, from the fan's side, that's the real difference, in my mind. It makes me go exploring. Every week, like clockwork. It turns the Ravens app into a game. It turns me into a kid looking for a hidden bird.
Find Poe reminds me why little things like this bring me joy. The best experiences aren't the ones that shout, they are the ones that make you lose yourself as a curious kid again.
So, go on. Download the Ravens app.
Feel like a kid again. Play hide-and-seek. Play week to week.
π A heartfelt thank-you to the labor of love that went into this, from Julianna Morraye, Dave Lang, Michelle Andres, and the entire Baltimore Ravens digital team. You design everything with so much intention, care, and craft, and it shows. You make every page and every pixel unmistakably yours. Your app is an endless source of joy for Ravens fans. It's an endless source of joy for me, too. You've made our platform better. You've made us better. You've made me better.
Image credit: Ana Baskinger.