If you’ve ever wondered why so many prices end in 0.99, you can blame the left-digit effect. The left-digit effect is a cognitive bias which causes people to focus more on the first digit of a number than the rest of the value. Because most people read numbers from left to right, the brain processes…
A few weeks ago, I got an SMS message from a former colleague saying “Did you know that disguising brands is the new flex in marketing?” He linked to this nameless billboard with a red swirling background and the words ‘It Has To Be Fries.’ Color me confused. After a closer look, I realized the…
People drink more wine when larger wineglasses are used. In fact, research finds wine sales increase almost 10% with larger glasses. It’s well known larger plates increase food consumption. Plate sizes have nearly doubled over the past 100 years, likely contributing to the prevalence of obesity. An even more pronounced effect has happened to stemware:…
“Now you’re cooking with gas.” On the surface, it was an odd thing for my friend to exclaim during a recent Memorial Day BBQ as I pulled some filets and corn off of my decidedly wood-fueled Big Green Egg. But I instantly understood the phrase – he was being appreciative of my cooking. The modern…
Have you ever heard of Nordstrom’s? It’s a trick question. The name of the store is actually Nordstrom. There is no letter ‘s’ in the name. The same is true with Kroger and JCPenney. Even the president made the mistake with supermarket chain Meijer. So why do people add ‘s’ to store names? The most…
In the 50 years since 1970, the world’s population has doubled while the number of chickens we eat has increased nearly 7-fold, from 11 billion to 74 billion. So, why do we eat so much chicken? According to the National Chicken Council, it started with a mistake in 1923. Like many rural Americans, Cecile Steele…
Would you eat an Antarctic toothfish? Probably not. It’s an ugly-looking human-sized fish with an unappetizing sounding name. But chances are you have eaten it. That’s because the seafood industry has mastered the art of rebranding. In the 1970s, American seafood entrepreneur Lee Lantz realized a fish with buttery white flesh and a mild, non-fishy…
Shrinkflation happens when companies keep the price of an overall package the same while reducing the size or quantity of the items in the package. The word is a portmanteau of the words shrink and inflation. The first use of the term is often attributed to Pippa Malmgren. Shrinkflation is a sneaky way to combat…
When I was a marketer, I enjoyed poking fun at my own profession. While marketing is often criticized, my humor was based on pride. There’s even evidence that self-deprecation is linked to wellbeing. With that in mind, here are 10 humorous riddles for marketers. In fact, maybe marketers are the only ones who will truly…
With the U.S presidential election imminent, not surprisingly politics are dominating everyone’s conversations. Last week I had an on-going discussion with a work colleague on whether brands have political connotations. We decided to try to figure out the politics of brand. The conversation started with my colleague’s observation about cars in our office parking lot: more…