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: 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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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The100: Syllogistic reasoning, better briefs and the Burlap King
Machines need paths With apologies to many out there hanging their proverbial hat on AI, we have read an argument that states AI Is No Match for the quirks of Human Intelligence. Insight problems generally cannot be solved by a step-by-step procedure, like an algorithm, or if they can, the process is extremely tedious. I …
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The100: Uncertainty testing, impressing strangers & brown sauce
Nice egg, Mr Fabergé, but… Rory Sutherland (does it again) on how looking at the parts can destroy the value of the whole: While more use of data, quantification and comparison is always good in theory, it is not always good in practice. For one thing, too much data drives people towards analytical thinking — …
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The100: Sonic extinguishers, supply chains and cheese (of course)
Imposter imposters As Tim Minchin said of imposter syndrome: I know we’ve all got it but it’s a bit boring now […] I don’t know if it’s the most interesting way to describe it […] Get over it and stop being a w*%ker […] Because you have plenty of evidence that you are good at …
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The100: Hedonic adaptation, the curse of knowledge & plastic cheese
Contrast, not constant Certainly we are evolutionarily wired to notice contrasts, not constants. Been lucky enough to go on holiday this year? Wanted to stay there forever? Well, apparently, that’s not advised. Without any contrast you won’t savour it as much, because you will adapt to the hedonism. Rory Sutherland (via one Mr D Kahneman, …
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The100: Brand purpose, how to remember, and Miami Vice
“The Danger of a Single Story” The copywriter who just keeps on giving: Dave Trott again with a brilliant piece directly related to empathy: We are not the target market. It’s a simple trap to fall into, and that’s perhaps why so many of us do. We are a consumer, but we are not the …
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The100: Productive arguments, lingering fatigue and trailercore
In praise of terrific arguments We shouldn’t avoid robust, passionate, biased argument. In fact, under the right conditions, it can be the fastest route to truth. A good scrap can turn our cognitive flaws into collective virtues. Disagreement is vital to advancing human understanding, argues Ian Leslie (see what I did there). As the Wright …
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The100: Timing with toasters, the illusion of certainty & Peppa Pig
Expressed user need This 101 on user needs is excellent. It contains (and links to) all you need to know. The test to see if you’ve found a valid user need? If you showed it to a user, would they recognise it as their need? Is it written with words real users use? Does it …
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The100: saying vs doing, video essays and barking for yourself
Are you a hanger or a dumper? Richard Shotton features on The Day One podcast. He’s discussing his 3 worst insight industry pet peeves (the myth of the public trust crisis, complex jargon, and the over-reliance on claimed data). On the last one, Richard uses Cialdini et al’s famous hotel towel experiment as an illustration, …
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The100: Visual thinking, Hotelling’s law and perfectionist narratives
Painting with numbers Hannah Fry discusses visual thinking. It’s fascinating how it can reveal what would otherwise remain invisible, how it can have a profound effect on the way we approach problems, and indeed how it can sometimes mean the difference between life or death. In there, she quotes the quote: “Only a graph speaks …
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The100: Smorgasbords of blandness, jingles & a helping of “I don’t care”
The pig in the python is passing through You’re no doubt aware that we’re all ignoring “the most valuable generation in the history of marketing”? So which of these do you think is a banal excuse for not including the over-50s in most marketing strategies: Brand loyalty won early will last a lifetime? Everyone aspires …