Have you seen the movie Avatar? So you’re the one who hasn’t seen it. As of this weekend, it passed 1 billion dollars worldwide in gross box office.  That represents more than a tripling of the studios original investment. I don’t know of a single business that wouldn’t take those type of returns.

Now what makes Avatar so compelling. At $13 a pop, that is a lot to ask, but people aren’t just seeing it they are seeing it multiple times. They are telling friends and family to go see it. They are writing blog posts about it. Why? You can sum it up very easily. THE EXPERIENCE. Avatar offers an experience that you don’t normally get, even at the movies. It is quite honestly amazing.

I have come up with a few things that define this experience to be. First, it is visually stunning. It stands out from almost every movie I’ve ever seen visually. The CG is amazing and they took the time to blend it with non-CG scenes very well. Next, it pays attention to detail. If you look closely, you will notice that the Avatars have human looking hands with 5 fingers while the natives have more primitive hands with 4 fingers. Finally, it tells a strong, emotional story. The love between the main characters feels real and deep. By the end of the movie, you are truly pulling for the Na’vi. This all leads to an experience that is powerful and makes this movie so successful. If you take a close look at other really successful businesses such as Apple, Coke, or many others, you will notice how many of them offer a superior experience.

So I walked out of Avatar realizing that no matter what you do, if you want to be amazingly successful with your business or your product, offer a better experience to your customer. If you do this and pair it with marketing that lets people know about this experience, you will be much more successful. It really doesn’t matter if you are a real estate agent or an iPhone developer, you need to up your game and offer a better experience. How will you offer a better experience in 2010?