Thinkin’ about…
A cheat-sheet way to stay on top of the world of market research.
✋ Warning: The100 newsletter is not for those of a fixed opinion. Or ostriches.
Here’s your latest kicked sandcastles:
- The100: Marketing bubbles, Bud Light and Cockney accents
The reaction to the reaction that created more reaction It wouldn’t be an issue of The100 without Ritson’s recent ruminations (apologies for the excessive alliteration). He’s written about the US backlash to a Bud Light ad and how it shows the complexity of mass marketing: “Watching the full interview with Heinerscheid [VP, Bud Light] is … - The100: Jobs to be done, efficiency reloaded & the Lucas/Spielberg bromance
The real event in London last week Last week we were lucky enough to welcome 200 of you lovely readers to our event in London on liars and lying. There were no crowns, 12th century spoons or grim reapers (ummm, what was that please?), but we did have 11 brilliant speakers and a few scoops …
“Well done on the 100 email; it’s by far and away the best thing I get in my inbox every week and allows me to shamelessly pass off your horizon scanning as my own.“
-
The100: The disruption myth, strategic ideas and airport views
“Computers and society are out on a 1st date” There’s a metric tonne of gold dust in The Steve Jobs Archive. It’s stacked with memos, emails and interviews. Including this, from circa 1976 – 85: “Apple’s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is put an incredibly great computer in a book that you carry …
-
The100: Removing friction, fundamental attribution errors and sea urchin hats
What we can learn from priests in a hurry Richard Shotton has delivered many a wise word over the past couple of weeks. First, he was in the hot seat on the Uncensored CMO podcast and made a particularly good point around how removing even the tiniest bit of friction can have outsized effects on …
-
The100: The age of average, Brandolini’s Law and Ameriga
Averagers Assemble Alex Murrell’s piece on the age of average is spot on. Since when did everything start looking the same? However depressing that is, it does present a huge opportunity to stand out: “when every category abides by the same conventions, when every industry has converged on its own singular style, bold brands and …
-
The100: Personas, Netflix thumbnails and Kuchisabishii
Can you handle the truth? At our event in May on avoiding lies in Market Research, I’ll be talking about how to get closer to the truth. As a little amuse-bouche: There’s been a lot of conversation about survey design, with one polster using the word ‘illegal’ when asking voters about immigration. Most people support …
-
The100: Strategic BOGOFs, predictive optimisation and Angostura Bitters
An event on Pork Pies? Got your ticket for our event on May 4th yet? We’ve got some superb speakers lined up, from Behavioural Scientists, to Strategists to House of Common(ists). Want to come, but can’t get the budget? Email me. Here’s Mark Earls doing his thing at our last event, 2020: “The ultimate strategic …
-
The100: Group cohesion scores, gatekeepers and MM/DD/YY formats
Fancy a day of truth hacking? I’m running an in-person event in London on May the 4th (yes, may the force be with you too). It’s all about liars, lying and uncovering truths. Some may even posit that that’s quite important in our line of work 🙂 Plus it’s incredibly good value, working out at …
-
The100: Presentation structure, innovation constraints and arm swinging
Recidivism in a Recession As the whiff of recession continues to float through economies, Mark Ritson’s 9 steps marketers should take to avoid the dark times ahead are, in modern parlance, pretty flipping useful. “The companies that maintained ad spend, or even increased it, during a recession saw little advantage during the hard months of …
-
The100: Cynicism, Value and Häagen-Daz
Tips from Uncle Les This 30 min talk from Les Binet about how to tweak your marketing plans in these uncertain times is a must watch. Not only does it provide a magnificent summary of where we find ourselves today, it also examines multiple factors that everyone should be aware of: The stoical cynic Martin …
-
The100: Trends, lists & the Namib Desert
Welcome back! Anyone else relate to this? Anyway… An AI experiment from the Bali tourist board Whilst machines like ChatGPT are learning to be human, Ian Leslie argues that the problem is humans are becoming like machines. It’s a marvellous piece, stuffed full of examples. He says: “We should refuse, in whatever game we’re playing, …
-
The100: The Best of 2022
Well, well, well, that’s another trip around the sun completed. Which also means our annual Watch Me Think tradition to mark the occasion: The top 10 most clicked articles from The100 this year. Strap in – keep your arms, legs, feet and antlers inside the vehicle, and enjoy the ride. In 10th McDonald’s Famous Orders …
-
The100: Critical ignoring, subject lines and supportive penguins
The best of the best Jeremy Bullmore is the mother, father and extended family of all advertising legends. And, luckily for us, he’s released his archive. In amongst the tanzanite is a speech Bullmore gave whilst President of the Market Research Society: Research, of one kind or another, provides the basis for most of the …
-
The100: Performance plateaus, the demise of nudges and horses ruling the world
Horses run the world Ever wondered why the distance between US train rails is 4 feet, 8.5 inches? In short – because that’s how they were built in England, because that was the width of tramways, because that was the width of wagons, because that was the width of Roman roads, because that was the …
-
The100: Taglines gone wrong, forgotten P’s and common misconceptions
Product Gets Me Every Time A reminder from Mark Ritson to ensure that product isn’t the forgotten P of marketing. He makes his case using Heinz’s Pasta Sauces and Shania Twain (obviously): Its crap launch won’t do it any favours […] But the fact that it was in Tesco. That it was only two quid. …