The Biggest Waste in Advertising (a Case Study)
Advertising in the bigger community to draw customers to your smaller community is as futile as trying to make the water in a river defy gravity.
“Emotional” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means
“Emotional campaigns are 30% more likely than rational campaigns to show large profit effects" — Binet & Field, The Long and Short of It
They wanna lock up Big Don
Donny is so popular in his town folks set up a Facebook page in his honor. The old woman next door doesn’t like him. Actually, she hates him.
The birth of Play-doh. A cleaning agent becomes a toy.
Observing how your customer is using your products can lead to new product ideas and maybe even save your company.
Persuading Individuals vs. Persuading the Crowd — Why Not Both?
We are social creatures, and what others think and believe profoundly affects what we think and believe.
Get rid of all the bells and whistles. The Birth of the Sony Walkman
It lacked all the things people wanted but gave them one thing they had not thought about. And a star is born.
Zen and the Art of Persuasion. Part 3 of 3
People avoid risk on three levels. The biggest risk is that they’ll purchase the wrong solution – that they’ll have spent the money and still have the problem.
Customers Of The Month gave me something I never expected
After six months, employees were recognizing each other with little compliments. Staff retention was rising. Sales were up 43% at the end of the year.
Retailers Beware!
This is a departure. In this episode, Stephen Semple shares trends that he is seeing that are being embraced by retailers. Trends that are dangerously wrong.
How to Steal Your Competitor’s Customers. Part 2 of 3
Is this a good ad? Does it make you want to buy a can of John’s Tomato Juice? A good ad would.
7 Modern Marketing Myths & Why They’re Dangerous Even When You’re Not Falling for Them
Following the zeitgeist is easy. Good branding is hard.
How Does One Educate a Customer? Part 1 of 3
“Everyone needs our product,” said Bob. “All we need to do is to tell them about it.” He thinks advertising problems in the water supply is an excellent way to attract potential customers to his business.
Occam, Wizards, and something to believe in…
36 people were in the room with 21 laptops. The laptops were all Macs. Apple holds 12% of the world market in laptop computers. Yet 100% of the laptops in that room were Macs. Why?
Higher Profits Through Testing of Every Variable
Let's say we increase the response rate on your offer from 1.5% to 1.85%. That’s enough to get marketers excited. “You’re kidding,” I can almost hear you say. I'll explain why.
Two Marketing Lessons From William Shatner and Blue Origin
Hell, before this event I hadn’t even heard of Blue Origin. I knew Bezos had a private space program, but never knew the name.