Their ads refer to their popularity, not among drinkers, but coffee lovers. This ensures the ad resonates with those who class themselves as connoisseurs. For example Brand Purpose — there is ‘evidence’ on both sides for and against Brand Purpose. Shotton does not support Brand Purpose so goes to great lengths to discredit the evidence from one source (Jim Stengel’s book, ‘Grow’). However, since this isn’t explicitly stated, the brain’s capability isn’t activated. Instead, the beautiful strains of the Flower Duet insinuate luxury by association. It’s your task to pinpoint these moments of inattention. When targeting rejecters, brands should prioritise media such as radio, which tend to be consumed while people are doing something else.

Admitting weakness is a tangible demonstration of honesty and, therefore, makes other claims more believable. Further to that, the best straplines harness the trade-off effect. We know from bitter experience that we don’t get anything for free in life. By admitting a weakness, a brand credibly establishes a related positive attribute. A study found recall jumped from 25% to 45% when viewing time increased from less than a second to between 1-2 seconds. Find out if your audience are maximisers or satisficers. – Maximisers want to know that their product is perfect; satisificers want reassurance it won’t be rubbish. In 2021 Richard was made an honorary lifetime fellow of the IPA and an associate of the Moller Institute, Churchill College, Cambridge University.The psychologists’ hypothesis was that the brain is adept at generating counter-arguments that maintain its existing opinions, but when the brain is distracted that ability is hampered. We’re more easily persuaded when focusing on more than one thing at a time. Consumer behavior is a fascinating area of research. While people like to think they make objective decisions about what to buy or not buy, there are a lot of factors that influence those decisions such as description, price, ease of use and many more. And they influence you in ways that are not so obvious.… Read more »

Meanwhile The Pratfall Effect was a memorable chapter (flaws increase the appeal of a brand), brought to life through some good old-fashioned 1960s dry copy: “WE HAVE A RATHER REPULSIVE OLD MAN who with his child-wife, are looking for an elegant town res. Pref Belgravia… price not important but must be realistic as he has, at least, his head screwed on the right way… Oh advertising, how you've grown(?) When a large number of people are invited to guess something, their average is often very close to reality. Likewise in an auction where the price is not known. It must therefore mean that the person who wins is bidding over what the rest of the bidders think is the right price. Likewise programmatic media auctioning means marketers are paying over the odds. There’s an argument to be made that the book could cut down the number of chapters and focus a bit more deeply on some of the more significant – the Mood chapter’s ‘Consumers are more likely to be in a better mood at the cinema than commuting’ felt a bit light touch and 'word count fillery' for instance.

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Allow room for discretion — We need to use data to help make better decisions but not be blinkered and blinded by the data. For example, consider using radio as it is typically a support medium when they are doing something else. On TV it is best to target programmes where there is a lot of 2nd screening (e.g. Love Island). In a recent study, Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University created an experiment which gave out 175 brownies each with the same ingredients, even with the same powdery topping. The brownies were served in one of three ways, snow-white china, a paper plate and a napkin. The brownies rated “ok” when served on a napkin, those on a paper plate as “good” and those served on a white china paper plate as “excellent”. Even more interestingly, consumers were willing to pay twice as much for brownies served on a china plate. Context is everything.

Two examples illustrate the resulting issues. First is the experience of Terry Leahy who, when he was head of marketing at Tesco, analysed the performance of their gluten-free products. The sales data hinted it was an under-performing section – those that bought gluten-free goods only spent a few pounds on these items each shopping trip. A naive interpretation suggested de-listing them to free up valuable shelf space. It’s better to base marketing decisions on experiments of Nobel Laureates than on the opinion of the most eloquent person in the board room. But Richard is keen to suggest that Behavioural Economics is not a magic elixir for brand health. Different biases create different levels of impact, so test your success and remain sceptical over the findings. Richard Shotton's application of behavioural economics is bang on the button. This book is timely, insightful, fascinating and entertaining." --Dominic Mills, ex-editor ofCampaignTech giant Uber's success with the application of psychological principles...and where it might fail due to the consumer's inherent bias towards 'punishing unfairness' In a cacophony of overstatement, Richard Shotton possesses a melodious and balanced voice. In this short but powerful tome you can learn about how marketing actually does influence consumers. Or, for the more prosaic among us, how to get people to re-use towels, buy wine when German Oompah music is playing and select a broadband supplier by mentioning Charing Cross Station. The book also mentions me (all too briefly) which I also find enticing. Consumers believe that products involve a trade-off: improved eco-friendliness entails corresponding loss in cleaning efficacy. – You need to investigate the set of expectations associated with your positioning. The ubiquity of digital measures is leading to the same result. Ill-thought through digital targets means people aim to hit these targets and forget the real task at hand.