Wednesday, March 30, 2011
With package sizes getting smaller, why are we still getting larger?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Weekly Book Reviews - Everything you need to know about children to ruin their lives
Leaning how kids learn is important for two reasons. The first is direct and obvious; if you know how they mentally develop, you should be able to help guide them through their mental growth. You may not make them that much smarter, but you can easily prevent them from staying dumb or getting dumber. The second is a selfish reason; if you know how kid's mentally develop, you can better understand why you do all those dumb things that you do. You might just be able to prevent yourself from continuing to make those dumb mistakes (and getting dumber).
This is my all-time favorite book about child-rearing and developmental psychology. I will warn you; it is a completely difficult read. It is written by a neuroscientist, and she doesn't water things down that much or pull her punches. I still don't think I completely understand the beginning. It starts with conception (actually I think it starts even before conception) and explains all the hormonal reactions that take place in a women's body. These, it ends up, are important, because they can affect early fetal development. It then walks you through what develops throughout gestation - and I was never good at biology, so I got a little lost. I then goes on to talk about all aspects of the brain and mind development for the first five years of life (including developing motor skills, language, sensory perceptions, etc). Not only is it good to know this stuff - but knowing it allows you to better understand all the other stuff you read about development. And it will help you to understand what advice/information is truly important from a developmental standpoint and what is likely to be more trivial. This book is worth the effort.
OK, this book is an easier introduction about the mind. Like the first book, it is written by scientists; so you know they aren't just making stuff up. This one is written by developmental psychologists and is a much easier read. In fact, even thought this book takes place slightly later in the chronological development of a child (it really isn't as concerned about pre-birth) this book might help ease you into the topic and provide some frameworks for the book above. The authors do a great job really explaining not only what and when and why a child learns stuff, but also how scientists figured these things out. Usually, a clever experiment has to be designed to test for all this stuff since if you ask an infant a question, they don't tend to provide a comprehensible answer (and their tiny fingers aren't that good at holding the pencils required to fill out surveys).
By this point, you're probably worried that there is so much to know and so much you should be doing that you are guaranteed to f**k up the life of any small child you come in contact with. That is where this book steps in. This book makes you feel better by realizing that children are hardwired to learn (and we are hardwired to teach them) and the best thing we can do is just get out of our own way and play with them. And it uses science to back this up. And it gives you reasons why you should hate Baby Einstein and all those early educational toys. It's a win-win.
This is my all-time favorite book about child-rearing and developmental psychology. I will warn you; it is a completely difficult read. It is written by a neuroscientist, and she doesn't water things down that much or pull her punches. I still don't think I completely understand the beginning. It starts with conception (actually I think it starts even before conception) and explains all the hormonal reactions that take place in a women's body. These, it ends up, are important, because they can affect early fetal development. It then walks you through what develops throughout gestation - and I was never good at biology, so I got a little lost. I then goes on to talk about all aspects of the brain and mind development for the first five years of life (including developing motor skills, language, sensory perceptions, etc). Not only is it good to know this stuff - but knowing it allows you to better understand all the other stuff you read about development. And it will help you to understand what advice/information is truly important from a developmental standpoint and what is likely to be more trivial. This book is worth the effort.
OK, this book is an easier introduction about the mind. Like the first book, it is written by scientists; so you know they aren't just making stuff up. This one is written by developmental psychologists and is a much easier read. In fact, even thought this book takes place slightly later in the chronological development of a child (it really isn't as concerned about pre-birth) this book might help ease you into the topic and provide some frameworks for the book above. The authors do a great job really explaining not only what and when and why a child learns stuff, but also how scientists figured these things out. Usually, a clever experiment has to be designed to test for all this stuff since if you ask an infant a question, they don't tend to provide a comprehensible answer (and their tiny fingers aren't that good at holding the pencils required to fill out surveys).
By this point, you're probably worried that there is so much to know and so much you should be doing that you are guaranteed to f**k up the life of any small child you come in contact with. That is where this book steps in. This book makes you feel better by realizing that children are hardwired to learn (and we are hardwired to teach them) and the best thing we can do is just get out of our own way and play with them. And it uses science to back this up. And it gives you reasons why you should hate Baby Einstein and all those early educational toys. It's a win-win.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
TED Unviels Ads Worth Spreading
So the ads worth watching have been unveiled on the TED site. And... well... some may be worth watching, but I find it a little sad that TED couldn't find 10 that were; although they do have 10 winners. Maybe I just have different criteria than they. Was I wrong to assume that these ads must have some value to me (either social or philosophical or emotional) that would be so strong that I would want to spread these ads? I mean, with that title, they need to have some "worth", right? And then on top of that, besides the message/topic of the ad having worth (so I should want to tell everyone), I would assume that it ALSO must be compelling to watch or share. Some of these ads to both (which is why I'm compelled to share this with you). I do like the concept (and an ad that so captures the attention and mind of its audience that they are compelled to share it is a worthy goal of all advertisements - regardless of whether the message is for public good or commercial gain). Anyway, the ads are here. (OK, and this one is my favorite - in fact, I'm going to watch it again as soon as I post this link).
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Weekly Book Reviews - Persuasion through two sets of 6 simple rules
This is a must read book for anyone going into sales (and pretty much anyone who has to sit on either side of a negotiation.) Cialdini presents a nice framework of 6 simple principles that act as "weapons of influence": reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. More importantly, he provides great examples of how these are used and how they can be leveraged in numerous domains. You will be kicking yourself as you see how easily you've been prodded into choices in the past (and hopefully, will learn some tricks on how to get your way more often). I will warn you: after you read this book, you are going to be highly suspicious of people's actions and their underlying motives!
Of course, a big part of persuasion is communication. And there is no point in communicating ideas if they are going to be immediately forgotten. You've already had to give a lot of presentations (PowerPoint and other) so far in your life. And no matter what you do, you're going to give some more. You might as well make them interesting, memorable, and thus, more persuasive. The Heath brothers give 6 simple principles to make ideas "sticky": Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Stories. Following their own advice (and my spelling prowess), they even give us an acronym to remember it by, SUCCESs. These two books do a great job taking what we know of social and cognitive psychology and providing direct, easily applicable advice to address a wide range of marketing scenarios.
Of course, a big part of persuasion is communication. And there is no point in communicating ideas if they are going to be immediately forgotten. You've already had to give a lot of presentations (PowerPoint and other) so far in your life. And no matter what you do, you're going to give some more. You might as well make them interesting, memorable, and thus, more persuasive. The Heath brothers give 6 simple principles to make ideas "sticky": Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Stories. Following their own advice (and my spelling prowess), they even give us an acronym to remember it by, SUCCESs. These two books do a great job taking what we know of social and cognitive psychology and providing direct, easily applicable advice to address a wide range of marketing scenarios.
Go Green For Spring Break
I know that St. Patty's Day fell during spring break - so I think this is a time for everyone to go green. And one way to do this is to try some wine in some more sustainable packaging. This talks a little about how the form often colors our perceptions (and when, for wine, they may be true and when they may be false). Anyway, I love how one of the biggest problems with using a PET bottle is that they look too small! (no thick glass, long neck, and dimple in the bottom to make them look big). And after you try tetra pak try some high-end box wine. (I know that Black Box is supposed to make a good wine and is available at Goody Goody along with some tetra-pack wines they discuss in the article).
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Weekly Book Reviews - Behavioral Economics
So I've decided to start a bunch of weekly book reviews. They'll all be tagged so you can access them in the future when you are out of classes and are wondering what to read in all that free time. To lead it off, I thought I would riff a little on the Paradox of Choice. The Paradox of Choice basically covers the area where psychology intersects with economics: decision theory. This is an extremely hot area right now, filled with books such as Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, and its sequel, The Upside of Irrationality. 
We also have such clever new one word titles (trying to take advantage of the Malcolm Gladwell effect) as Sway
and Nudge
. I thought I would approach this from the economic side this week and give you three of the older titles that I think are pretty interesting and still hold up rather well (OK to be honest, one of these titles is really, really, new). Don't worry - I have way more than enough of recommendations that have a more psychological bent coming in the future.
The Art of Choosing - Sheena Iyengar
OK, so this was written in the past year. But it does have the distinction of being written by the person who actually conducted the jam study! I actually think this book is an uneven read. The beginning is a fascinating personal history about Dr. Iyengar's life (she lost her vision during childhood) and this is followed by a great analysis of macro cultural differences in choice behavior. Then there are some uneven chapters, but the chapter on the jam study is well written and a great read. The beginning and the end definitely justify this book!
The Winner's Curse - Richard Thaler
This is a classic: one of the early popular attacks on rational economic choice theory by one of the heavyweights in the field. Thaler is the rare behavioral economist at the University of Chicago (the school famed for it's rational, free-market economists). This book is a collection of short essays that describes a bunch of times when people don't act "rationally" and explains what is really going on in these situations (or what the consequences are for their "irrational" actions). It's from a series of articles he wrote for the Journal of Economic Perspectives, but they have been slightly reworked to make them easier for the reader. There are some interesting points in here - like why auction winners almost always overpay for an item, why you shouldn't bet longshots at the racetrack at the end of the day (and why you should be the exacta), and, of course, a couple on how the stock market isn't always that efficient (and common errors investors make). I won't kid you, this can be a dense read at times, but it is rewarding. And it is a book that anyone who has an interest in finance (as well as marketing) should read!
Against the Gods - Peter L. Bernstein
This is the history of humans mathematical understanding of risk. It's an intimidating subject. And it's a long book. But it is a cracking good read (this probably oversells it, but I really recall enjoying this). It's a history book and a lesson on probability rolled up into one; what could be more desirable than that? I'd say that if you read this and A Random Walk Down Wall Street
you'd be all set to hold your own in most financial conversations (and be much better off when managing your personal investments). You'll probably have much more interesting financial cocktail conversational nuggets than any of those finance gurus as well!
We also have such clever new one word titles (trying to take advantage of the Malcolm Gladwell effect) as Sway and Nudge. I thought I would approach this from the economic side this week and give you three of the older titles that I think are pretty interesting and still hold up rather well (OK to be honest, one of these titles is really, really, new). Don't worry - I have way more than enough of recommendations that have a more psychological bent coming in the future.The Art of Choosing - Sheena Iyengar
OK, so this was written in the past year. But it does have the distinction of being written by the person who actually conducted the jam study! I actually think this book is an uneven read. The beginning is a fascinating personal history about Dr. Iyengar's life (she lost her vision during childhood) and this is followed by a great analysis of macro cultural differences in choice behavior. Then there are some uneven chapters, but the chapter on the jam study is well written and a great read. The beginning and the end definitely justify this book!
The Winner's Curse - Richard Thaler
This is a classic: one of the early popular attacks on rational economic choice theory by one of the heavyweights in the field. Thaler is the rare behavioral economist at the University of Chicago (the school famed for it's rational, free-market economists). This book is a collection of short essays that describes a bunch of times when people don't act "rationally" and explains what is really going on in these situations (or what the consequences are for their "irrational" actions). It's from a series of articles he wrote for the Journal of Economic Perspectives, but they have been slightly reworked to make them easier for the reader. There are some interesting points in here - like why auction winners almost always overpay for an item, why you shouldn't bet longshots at the racetrack at the end of the day (and why you should be the exacta), and, of course, a couple on how the stock market isn't always that efficient (and common errors investors make). I won't kid you, this can be a dense read at times, but it is rewarding. And it is a book that anyone who has an interest in finance (as well as marketing) should read!
Against the Gods - Peter L. Bernstein
This is the history of humans mathematical understanding of risk. It's an intimidating subject. And it's a long book. But it is a cracking good read (this probably oversells it, but I really recall enjoying this). It's a history book and a lesson on probability rolled up into one; what could be more desirable than that? I'd say that if you read this and A Random Walk Down Wall Street
you'd be all set to hold your own in most financial conversations (and be much better off when managing your personal investments). You'll probably have much more interesting financial cocktail conversational nuggets than any of those finance gurus as well!
What does a Mini mean? And does it matter?
I really like this article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. It's well written. It allows interesting, intelligent debate on both sides. It touches on many core marketing issues: branding, brand extensions, differentiation, competitive actions, and most importantly - it looks at a lot of these from both a manager's perspective and a consumer perspective. And the comments speak to some good issues as well: When should you listen to your consumer (see Robert Carilli's comment)? How do you address gaps/voids the product space (a great positioning point brought up by Blake White)?
Maybe we'll have some comments about this over spring break?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Ads Worth Watching
Interesting Concept: TED and YouTube are partnering in a contest to produce Ads that People Want to Watch and Forward. AsRonda Carnegie, the head of global partnerships for TED, tells us, “Advertising is just not about selling you something. It really has to give you something back in order to reward the attention you give it.” The New York Times article on this is here. The winners will be announce on March 18 and showcased both on TED and YouTube. Tune in!
Placebos!
OK, so I have a lot of neat customer insights articles to post, but instead I'm going to post one on how consuming a little bit of sugar in the shape of a pill (or other forms), can have some interesting and inconsistent effects!
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