When I think back on my visit to Portugal, I can’t help but think about sardines.

Okay, that’s not the only thing I think about. Portugal was a wonderful place: vibrant cities, beautiful scenery, and a culture built around enjoying life. Yet I do often think back on an experience I had in a store in Lisbon called the Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines.

I was hesitant to go. Sardines, after all, are as well known for their claustrophobic packaging as they are for their taste. Plus, going to the dead-fish store while on vacation seemed less than exciting.

As soon I walked in the door of Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines, though, I was enthralled. The store was bustling, colorful, and brimming with energy. A carnival theme pervaded the scene: A model Ferris wheel filled with sardine tins was positioned in one corner, a charming miniature carousel in another, and circus-style music filled the space. There was even a Sardine Throne perfect for capturing campy, keepsake photos.

Lining the walls were vibrantly colorful sardine tins all featuring years on them – from 1916 to today. Each had the names of a couple of people who were born that year, as well as an event that took place at that point in time. Smiling employees wore red jackets with golden epaulettes that cascaded down their shoulders.

This place was all in on sardines. The passion was palpable, and they made a forgettable food into something personal and fun and amazing. So guess who walked out with sardine tins of various years to give away as gifts? Me!

By creating a memorable experience, this store had created a demand for their product (not just sardines, but the colorful quirkiness of the store as well). I now associate them with irreverence and with the smile I had on my face as I walked around the store. I connect sardines with fun. And there’s more  where that came from!

The Power of Personalization

I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to a souvenir shop while on vacation and seen those small, personalized bicycle license plates. I’m sure you’ve seen them as well: They each feature the name of the place you’re visiting (Coney Island, for example, or the Statue of Liberty) and a wealth of different popular names, ranging from Amy to Zachary. The reasons these are so ubiquitous?  Simple: They are inexpensive, specific to the destination, and are personalized. Kids especially like seeing their names, not to mention getting a cool vanity plate for their bikes! Fun and personalization win again.

Speaking of names: Remember the “Share a Coke” campaign of a few years ago? It was one of Coca-Cola’s most successful marketing campaigns ever and was based on a decidedly simple concept: The company replaced its own iconic logo on cans and bottles with 250 of the most popular names in the United States, and then invited consumers to share one with friends and family.

By adding to their recognizable logo with the names of people the company pulled off an impressive feat: They connected people’s names (and the emotional pleasure of seeing them) with their brand.  In fact, by inviting consumers to share their experiences online, they had others promoting the Coke brand while feeling good about doing it. In fact, now people are paying to customize their own Cokes!

Getting Creative: Speakeasies, a Pirate Supply Store & Plush Goats by Mail

There are so many examples of success coming from creating a unique and fun environment or brand. When you’re in New York’s East Village, you can walk into a non-descript hot dog shop, go into the phone booth here, and watch as the wall opens to a high-end cocktail bar. This speakeasy (cleverly named Please Don’t Tell) is one of the few places where hot dogs and impeccably crafted martinis come together perfectly. In Miami, a taco shop called Bodega is built on a similar concept: The restaurant has a blue porta-potty door that seems misplaced in a corner of the patio next to a food truck. Open it, and it leads to a funky, fashionable, and expansive bar serving up excellent drinks and great music. The place is just cool…. And it’s a good reminder to not necessarily judge a bar by its door!

It’s not just bars, either. An esteemed sneaker shop in Boston shares the same name (Bodega) and idea. Tucked away in a Boston convenience store behind a fake Snapple machine, this “sneakeasy” offers an array of shoes and streetwear cloistered behind an otherwise unremarkable facade.

What about if you have a non-profit? Best-selling author Dave Eggers had a brilliantly offbeat way to build awareness – and increase financial support – of his 826 Valencia Center in San Francisco. The organization was founded to create a place where children from under-resourced communities could gain access to writing programs and tutoring. The problem was that the one space they could find for the center was reserved specifically for a retail space. So, they opened one: A pirate supply store!

The store offered hooks, flags, message bottles, peg legs, and tongue-in-cheek humor around every corner. This amusing concept helped build awareness of 826 Valencia and eventually led to the expansion of 826 programs to seven other cities in the country!

You can even create a product that’s based on fun. Consider You Goat Mail.  You may have noticed that, in the age of memes and Instagram, goats have become a quirky staple of online culture. So why not have fun with this phenomenon? That’s the concept behind this business. Their model is simple: They will send plush goats to people anonymously. That’s it. Does anyone need a plush goat? Of course not. But people rarely get mail anymore… and they definitely don’t get goats in the mail! It’s a whimsical gift you’d likely be talking about long after you received it.

Why does this work?

Which brings me to the fundamental question about why fun ideas like these work. In part, it comes down to tenets of behavioral psychology, specifically the effectiveness of PIC (Positive, Immediate, and Certain) consequences versus NFU (Negative, Future, and Uncertain) consequences.

The sardines, the license plates, and the Coke cans, clearly, are PIC all the way. They feel positive, immediately and without any doubt. In other words, they are slam-dunk, feel-good opportunities. It’s easy to see why they are successful.

It’s the same with the rest of the examples, too, though in slightly different ways. You gain an instant jolt of this-is-so-cool joy. Granted, not all people, behaviors, and consequences are so straightforward. I go into the how to use the PIC vs NFU and the behavioral psychology framework in my book Elevate (in the chapter entitled Motivate and Get What You Want).

As human beings, we are attracted to pleasure and instinctively shrink from pain. People don’t want to be serious all the time; They gravitate towards fun, out-of-the-ordinary things. So, whether you’re selling a product, creating a company culture, or trying to improve personally, it makes sense to make the process as fulfilling, easy, and unique as possible. In short: the more you’re making people (including yourself) happy, the better off you’ll be!