Logically, in the rain, cabbies would work longer to meet increased demand and make a tidy profit.
Instead, as told in the likes of Freakonomics, research suggests many drivers set daily targets for their earnings; when it’s rainy they hit that target quicker, clocking off early. On pleasant days, with low demand, they work longer hours instead of raking it in when it’s raining, and then enjoying those summer days.
This irrational myopia costs them their summer – and leaves you out in the cold all because they’re chasing targets, and not reappraising the situation.
Francis Bacon (author, not painter) had an analogy for scientists which also applies as much to marketers in this data-driven age. There are three types, corresponding to different insects:
Ants, who only collect and use without thought.
Spiders, who spin webs and make connections, but only from their own substance.
And honey bees, who gather from far and wide, then use their skill to digest and transform it into something good and useful.
Save the bees!
Dyson have consistently revolutionised the vacuum cleaner market.
They’ve done so by re-imagining, rather than refining, the weakest components. The bag loses suction, reducing capacity. Don’t improve the bag. Lose it entirely.
The wheels limit manoeuvrability. Don’t improve the wheels. Switch them out for a ball. The power cable tangles, getting in the way. Don’t improve the cable. Ditch the cable altogether.
Don’t just improve what’s already there. Take another look and create something truly fit for purpose.
An anecdote often cited among behavioural economists about Dustin Hoffman, told by a friend, neatly illustrates mental budgeting.
Hoffman asked an actor friend to lend him some money for food, but when the friend visited Hoffman’s apartment he saw multiple money-filled jars labelled: ‘rent’, ‘entertainment’, ‘phone’, ‘electric’.
The only empty jar? ‘Food’. So, why did Hoffman need to borrow money? “I can’t take money out of the other jars”.
What people choose to spend with you may be limited by unseen outside factors.
Ever visited the West African ‘Mountains of Kong’, just north of Guinea? Neither have we.
Probably because they don’t exist.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop them erroneously appearing on maps across Europe for almost 100 years after their ‘discovery’ in 1798 (and they were even included as recently as 1995) – all because nobody bothered to check.
If people can misidentify a whole mountain range, what other ‘accepted knowledge’ should be challenged?
Nature abhors a vacuum. Our brains abhor not knowing.
If you want to lodge something in someone’s head (which, as marketers, we do) wrap it in a mystery, then let the audience uncover it.
The dopamine hit for solving the riddle fuses to the advert, strengthening the memory.
Take the ‘Gueropa!’ ad for Renault. I’ve spoiled the joke by recommending it, but I still don’t think you’ll see it coming. And you’ll certainly remember it.
“Greatings, I a Nigerian prince in exole with £$4M to share you…”
Even if you’ve never received one of these emails, you know the sort.But why are they so peppered with typos and inaccuracies?
It’s audience self-selection.
They need to know you’ll fall for the scam, so if you don’t suspect something fishy from that message they’ll probably be able to reel you in. It’s not about converting everyone – it’s about appealing to the right audience.
In 1981 Roger Fisher, a Harvard professor, suggested that the launch codes for America’s nuclear arsenal be stored in the chest cavity of a volunteer. That way, in order to launch a nuclear assault, the President would need to hack open this person.
It’s an extreme example, but demonstrates the strategy of slowing our knee-jerk reactions with ‘mental speed-bump’ to avoid making rash decisions.
Sometimes we need to help people overcome their automatic behaviour to get a better outcome.
“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If, in the first chapter, there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in a later chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be there.”
Every message in your communications should be seen as a gun on the wall.
If it has no direct bearing or purpose – eliminate it.
If it has potential – see it realised.
A phrase often quoted (and, ironically, spuriously attributed) states: ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’.
Intellectual property theft is a serious accusation, so how can it be commended?
To copy something is to parrot it without giving the author credit; whereas to steal it takes ownership and imbues some creative aspect of the thief into the work, transforming it anew.
So steal away, but never copy.
