The More You Buy, The More You Pay

Advertising for retailers often includes phrases such as The More You Buy, The More You Save. Yet the truth isn’t always so. While it is obvious that the more you buy, the more you spend, there is (should be) some truth / sense in the claim made by retailers.

Economic logic says that the more you buy, the less you (should) pay per unit. That is, if you buy 100 units of product X, the price per unit should be smaller than if you would have bought only 2 units of product X. This logic has its foundation in the concept of economies of scale.

Economic jargon aside, for most buyers it makes sense to buy a larger pack of X in order to pay less per ounce (gram) or other type of unit.

Retailers and manufacturers, however, know that most people are willing to buy in bulk (larger package) in order to get a better deal. Moreover, they know that buyers believe that if they buy larger packages, they get a better price per unit (save money!?).

Below are two examples in which buying a larger package, actually leads to paying more per unit of product.

The same trash bags cost more per unit if they are bought in a pack of 35, than in a pack of 20. A pack of 35 trash bags costs $5.49 (15.7¢ / bag), while a pack of 20 trash bags costs $1.69 (8.4¢ / bag).

It is the same product, same brand. You can take my word for it.

Going into a more appealing product category: beer, we find that Corona beer is cheaper in price per fluid ounce (ml) if bought in a pack of 18 cans (10.5¢ / Fl. Oz.) than in a pack of 24 bottles (10.7¢ / Fl. Oz.)

How to Overcharge by Giving Discounts Indiscriminately

While Discounts are generally used to increase sales’ volume by decreasing prices and creating “buzz”, I encountered an interesting way in which discounts are used to overcharge one-time-buyers.

Usually promo codes and discounts are used to attract referral clients or in cross-selling. In the pictures above, however, this is clearly not the case. These pictures were taken in a Metro train in Washington DC. Since the promo code is publicly advertised, anyone who buys a ticket can use it to get a 10% discount.

Quite interestingly, anyone can, but not everyone will use the promo code to get the discount. This way, the seller is overcharging some of the buyers.

Assuming you want to sell something for $99, you can say that the price is $110 and then advertise 10% with promo-code XYZ… The bulk of buyers will use the promo code and get 10% of $110 off ($11) discount, thus buying for $99 which was the intended sale price. There will be other (forgetful?) buyers who will not use the promo code and pay the price of $110.

In addition, such spoof discounts might actually increase sales (in volume) because they generate transaction utility. While the term transaction utility might seem too pretentious, it actually means making the purchase seem like a good deal.

Such pricing (marketing) techniques are specific to one time purchases since they strongly rely on people not knowing what the right price is for the item.

www.naumof.com

Do I Really Need a Financial Incentive to Recommend a Service / Product?

Shortly after my wife and I moved to the USA, I noticed an announcement in the apartment building we live in that said: “recommend a friend to move here and you get 250$ when they sign the rental contract” (citing from memory). From an economic point of view this made perfect sense: you bring a client to a business and you get something in return.

Only later I realized that this type of incentive made sense when I saw it simply because, at the time, we barely knew anyone on this side of the Atlantic. A few months later, two former colleagues from Erasmus University moved from The Netherlands to the Washington DC area and they were looking for a place to live. We wanted to help them and showed them around the neighborhood. They were curious about the place we lived in and they came over to our place. To make a long story short, I got a business card from the leasing office of the building and gave them the information. The leasing officer (a very nice lady) mentioned that the offer of 250$ was still valid, so if our “friends” leased an apartment from them, we would get the incentive.

That was the moment when it struck me that this type of incentive scheme was faulty. Although I wouldn’t mind getting 250$, my motivation for recommending the apartment building wasn’t financial. We can pay the rent and I think, considering market conditions, that we get a reasonably good deal. We wanted our former colleagues to enjoy the same price-quality ratio. Moreover, the prospect of getting some cash out of the whole thing made me feel guilty. I truly, deeply hate the multi-level marketing approach. The relationship with our former university colleagues was social, not economical.  In fact, as someone who recently made the move from The Netherlands to the USA, we knew the costs and inconveniences it involved. If anything I would have preferred for our former colleagues to get the 250$.

Our former colleagues picked an apartment in a different neighborhood and the 250$ never left the real-estate company.

A similar case happened with a meal-delivery service we use. At the recommendation of my friend Arjan Haring (from The Netherlands) we tried Hello Fresh – a meal delivery service. In a nutshell, we pay each week 70$ and we receive a box with ingredients for three meals for two. This (type of) service is fantastic for foodies such as myself and my wife. We enjoy cooking and eating new stuff, but aren’t actively looking for new recipes and ingredients.  For our food experience, Hello Fresh is a blessing.

As we were very excited about this service, we talked about it with our few acquaintances in the US. Most of them seemed intrigued and curious about it.

In the first month(s) of using this service, Hello Fresh had an option for existing clients to “give a box” for free. It was an (a)typical approach for bringing in new business based on (existing) customer recommendations.

A bit later, however, they changed this “give a box for free” approach to a split incentive scheme. Basically, if we recommend the service to a “friend” and she subscribes, we get 30$ discount for our next order and the recipient gets 40$ off their first order.

While there is some economic sense in this split benefit approach, I began feeling uncomfortable recommending Hello Fresh. I wouldn’t mind 30$, but the financial incentive doesn’t match my motivation for recommending the service.

I recommend something because I want others to enjoy the service we think is great, not to make money out of it.

While in the case of Hello Fresh there might be some evidence-based reason for changing the approach to generate leads from existing clients from “give a free box” to split-benefit, there’s a big lesson to learn, particularly for marketers.

If you want to leverage your existing clients’ social relationships for your business, you need to understand their nature: SOCIAL.

Most people make a reasonably good distinction between social norms and market norms. The element that makes multi-level marketing utterly disgusting is that it perverts social relationships into (wannabe) market / business relationships.

Social relationships are based on imitation, reciprocity, status and alliances. Once you understand this, you can properly leverage them for your business’ benefit.

Simply put, if you want me to recommend your service to a friend (acquaintance, colleague etc.) help me enhance my social relationship with her/him. If you allow me to make a gift in the form of a discount, voucher or even allow me to offer them a full experience for FREE, that makes me look good, gain reputation etc. with the person with whom I am having a social relationship. This gain in strengthening my social status or relationship with someone I know (well) is, for me, more valuable than (the relatively small amount of) money you are offering as an incentive.

Marketing & Behavioral Science: www.naumof.com 

Smart, but Deceiving

Last weekend we went shopping (as usual for most people) and I noticed this very interesting, smart, but deceiving piece of merchandising.

Bottles of (allegedly) lemon juice are placed in the Fruits section and they are presented exactly in the same way as fruits are.

I don't fully know if that is actually lemon / lime juice, but I seriously doubt it since the area is not refrigerated. 

It's a piety that this knowledge is not used for better purposes.

Behavioural science is a gold mine for service design and customer experience – Interview with Nicolae Naumof on Adrian Swinscoe’s blog

Two weeks ago I gave this interview for Adrian Swinscoe’s blog. In it I explain my view on applying behavioural science in service design.

Naturally, I speak on what is behavioural science, what drives human behaviour and plead for a simple, two steps approach on applying behavioural science in service design: (1) Use the scientific literature on human behaviour to come up with behaviourally informed interventions and (2) test them, because no one knows the (absolutely) correct answer.

Interview can be listened here (30 mins or so): - open in new tab ;)

Interview and full transcript on: Adrian Swinscoe’s blog 

In a gold mine, you will not find gold bars …

More on applying behavioural science in service design www.Naumof.com

When Home Delivery Meets Self Service

Home delivery and Self Service definitely are trends in retail.

(Some) The Dutch managed to combine them wonderfully...

Yes, that is a shopping cart from Albert Heijn conveniently "parked" in front of a door on the second (or third) floor...

Reason to Believe or Reason to Not Doubt?: A Behavioural Science Perspective on Branding

In branding and, more specifically, brand communication there is the concept (element) called reason to believe.

In a nutshell, reason to believe is the argument supporting a (the) claim made by a brand.

For example, a product line from the cosmetics brand Nivea claims to help women to prevent / reduce wrinkles. This sub-brand is Nivea Q10 or Nivea Q10 Plus.

The claim of helping with wrinkles is supported by the argument (reason to believe) that these cosmetic products have the Coenzyme Q10.

If we see people (consumers) as rational agents, the marketing / branding communication endeavour should go as follows:

The brand makes a claim – promises a benefit for the consumer. In the example above this is dealing with wrinkles.

Next, the brand backs this claim with a very strong rational argument:

The brand helps you with wrinkles because it contains the Coenzyme Q10.

It is (more or less) assumed that the target audience – the consumers – know what Coenzyme Q10 does and acknowledges its benefits.

In behavioural science jargon, this communication endeavour is focused on convincing System 2 that the brand claim (promise) is genuine and backed by strong arguments.

At first glance and holding in mind an idealistic view of human nature, this logic makes sense. Our consumers are rational agents and we (the marketers) need to convince them that what we promise will actually happen to them.

Nonetheless, this is (almost) completely wrong.

We know that people have two systems of judgment, quite unappealingly named System 1 and System 2.  We also know that the default way of reasoning is System 1 which is based on relatively simplistic rules of judgment (heuristics). System 2 is the number crunching, rational arguments and effortful reasoning way in which we process information. And System 2 is called “2” because it is the secondary judgment system. To put things simply, it needs to be activated.

What is often ignored in presentations, talks, books etc. on System 1 and System 2 thinking is how these judgment modes interact. I will not develop the topic here (I did it in my first book It Makes (No) Sense). What is relevant for this post, is that System 1 and 2 work together in detecting serious anomalies in the information processed. They work like a smoke (fire)-detector. If things are within tolerable boundaries, nothing special happens. However, when there is smoke, the alarm is activated and System 2 starts checking for problems.

Going back to branding communication, talking to System 2 by presenting solid arguments to back-up a claim (promise), is deeply flawed for two (major) reasons. First, System 2 might very well not be activated, thus the communication effort might very well fall on deaf years. Second, more often than not (and more often than we like to admit) marketing communication should not talk to System 2. This is because System 2 might wake up and start looking for problems in the claim and its backing… and most often it will find enough of them.

So, what about reason to believe?

If we are to adopt a behaviourally informed marketing approach, we should see the Reason to Believe as Reason to Not Doubt.

I know, it sounds a bit awkward, but give it another few minutes.

While on the surface reason to believe and reason to not doubt might take the same form (shape), in depth they are significantly different.

Reason to not doubt is that plausible (enough) argument that makes you (the client) not doubt what the brand is claiming. In other words, it is that piece of information that keeps System 2 sleeping.

Sometimes (too often, if you ask me), Reason to Not Doubt is more of a smoke screen or as we say in Romanian Dust in the eyes, that makes the bull-shit detector (System 2 in a critical mode) not activate.

I will come back to the Nivea and the Coenzyme Q10 example and explain how reason to believe is, in fact, Reason to Not Doubt. But, first, I’ll explain the point with an example from the dating world.

Let’s assume that He and She had some initial (social) contact. He calls Her to ask her out on a date. She is not very impressed by Him and wants to reject Him.

Knowing this, let’s assume that He calls Her to ask her out.

“Hi (a lot of bla bla) … Would you like to go out on Thursday?”

She answers: “No”

Now, in His mind the alarm system is activated. Why isn’t she willing to go out on a date? Did I make a bad impression? Doesn’t She like me? You can figure out the rest.

But, as we know, ladies want (usually) to reject gentlemen in a rather soft manner.

Now, let’s assume that She answers with:

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m busy”

The “I’m busy” part is (sort-of) a Reason to Believe. But as most of us know, the “I’m busy” is not a very plausible reason why She is not willing to go on a date.

O.K.  Now, let’s assume that She answers with:

“I can’t go out because I’ll be with my boyfriend and he’ll not be very happy if I would cancel and go out with you instead”

In this case, the thought going through His mind will be: I’m barking at the wrong tree. There will be no doubt that she is not an available mating partner.

But here’s the thing / beauty of Reason to Not Doubt.

He doesn’t know if She really has a boyfriend, or even if She does, there is no certainty that She will be with her boyfriend at the suggested time of the date. Nonetheless, 99.999% of Hes will not actually investigate whether She said the truth. He will simply back-off because there isn’t any reason to doubt her claim …

Things are relatively similar in the marketing communication endeavours. If a brand simply makes a claim such as It helps you with the wrinkles, the immediate reaction might very well be: Yeah! Sure… I have never heard that before.

When backing a claim such as It helps you with the wrinkles with a Reason to Believe such as because it contains the Coenzyme Q10, the consumer should know or search what the Coenzyme Q10 is and does – what are its effects.

Just as a note, I tried reading about the Coenzyme Q10 here, but I couldn’t understand a thing and I guess that the huge majority of people in the target audience do not understand too much… though I might be an exception since I was a very bad student in organic chemistry.

But more often than not, the people in the target audience will behave like the guy asking for a date when faced with I’ll be with my boyfriend. It is plausible enough to not doubt the claim.

On the surface, the fact that we should not give Reasons to Believe, but give Reasons to Not Doubt might seem like a nuance. However, there are profound differences and huge implications for marketing communication.

I hope I gave enough reasons to not doubt my claim ;)  

You should visit my website www.naumof.com because you liked what you read ;)

Applied Behavioural Science the Istanbul Way

At the end of 2014, my beloved wife and I spent six days in Istanbul. Apart from the traditional touristic attractions, which are truly astonishing, I was amazed by the high level of applied behavioural science techniques used by businesses, at least in the touristic area of the city.

Most likely the people who use these techniques have not studied behavioural science. I seriously doubt that many of them even finished high school. Yet, when it comes to deploying sales and marketing techniques rooted in behavioural science, the merchants in Istanbul are better than many people who have studied this beautiful branch of science at Master or PhD level.

Personally, I realized that I could have learned most of what I know by working six months in Istanbul: 2 months in a restaurant, 2 months in a shop and 2 months at the Grand Bazar.

Here are some examples I encountered:

1. Establishing liking and similarity and the use of the Representativeness Heuristic.

Many merchants, including street vendors and restaurants, use the representativeness heuristic in order to choose the language in which they approach people on the street. In my case, I heard lots of people approaching me in Russian. Yes, I do quite look like a prototypical Russian, but I am not.

In addition, a lot of the people whose job is to bring clients from the street, approach passers-by with “My friend”. 

As Cornelia (my wife) said, We never knew how many friends we have there …

Moreover, the majority of merchants speak some very, very basic level of most languages that tourists speak. Not seldom, I was greeted in Romanian and once, we even spoke in Romanian with the seller who was quite fluent.

Another way of establishing liking used by merchants in Istanbul is the universal language of football (soccer for readers who wrongly believe that football is a different game). Usually, tourists are asked by vendors where they are from. 

The moment one answers the question, the merchant replies with names of footballers from the country the tourist is from.

In the case of Romanian football players, the Turks know quite a large number of names, but this is mainly because many Romanian footballers played in Turkey. Usually I got: “Hagi, Popescu, Filipescu, Ilie” (all played at Galatasaray).

Once I said that I am from The Netherlands and the only name I got was “Dirk Kuyt” … kind of thin considering the large number of famous Dutch footballers.

2.  Making things easier and simple.

I could write a lot on how the merchants of Istanbul make it simpler for tourists to spend money, but the one thing that impressed me the most was that in many restaurants and shops had especially employed people to open the door once a passer-by stops even for one second in front of a shop or a restaurant.

3.  Choice architecture and leaving a tip twice.

In restaurants, I noticed that the staff was well versed in encouraging customers to leave a tip twice. The custom in Istanbul is to leave a tip of about 5-10%. Some restaurants include the tip in the bill. For example, if the food and drinks amount to 64 Turkish Lira (TLR) there is another 6 Lira added for service and the total is written in large fonts 70 Lira.

Since the bill is written, usually, in Turkish and most tourist customers look only at the total, sometimes they leave another 5-10 Liras as tip, even if the service was included in the initial bill.

What I found fascinating was that at one restaurant which included the service in the bill, the change came in a particularly interesting denomination. For example, if the bill was 64 Lira, the total was 70 with 6 Liras for service. If the client paid with a 100 Liras banknote, the 30 Liras in change was brought as one banknote of 20 Liras, one banknote of 5 Liras and five coins of 1 Lira. This encourages customers to leave 2-3 Liras (in coins) as a tip, even if the service was included.

4.  Endowment effect

Quite a few times I was approached by people working at restaurants with the following phrase:

“Sir, your table is right here on the terrace”.

Now, who would want to lose their table?

5.  Physical environment influences and apparent reciprocity.

After the first night spent in the hotel, we came back from our sight-seeing and noticed that on the night stand there was an envelope with “Tip Box” written on it.

Subsequently we noticed that virtually everywhere there were tip boxes.  

Another interesting use of environmental influences was that in all restaurants and shops the temperature was quite high. It was December when we visited Istanbul, but the weather was quite OK and it is nice to eat or shop in a warm environment, but I don’t think that sweating is necessary. Nonetheless, a higher room temperature is always good for spending money.

In some restaurants and shops the customers are offered tea or a small desert (Turkish delight or baklava). This is not exactly free, but the staff gives the impression that they do it especially for you. Subsequently the likelihoods of purchasing and / or leaving a larger tip increase.

6.  Anchoring and mocked bargaining.

Yes, Bargaining is part of the touristic experience in Istanbul. And the Grand bazar is the most appropriate place to do so.

The thing is that the merchants in the Grand Bazar and, in fact everywhere in Istanbul, are more versed in sales and bargaining than all the tourists put together.

We looked at an artisanal coffee set as a gift for my parents and I asked how much it was in Euros. The merchant said:

“Normally it is 80 Euros, but now because it is winter and there aren’t many customers in the bazar it is only 50 Euros”.

The Grand Bazar was not packed with tourists, but it wasn’t empty either. We managed to get the coffee set for 46 Euros, but when we arrived home we realized that it only looked like copper … it wasn’t real copper... it was painted with a copper like paint...

7.  The honest cheater (?)

It was quite late and after a 4 hours flight, 3 hours delay and a crazy half an hour taxi ride on the streets of Istanbul, we were quite exhausted and happy that we finally arrived at the hotel.  

The gentleman at the reception was very welcoming and gave us a 5 minutes crash course on how we will be cheated by merchants, taxi drivers etc. Personally, I knew that we will be cheated, which is part of the tourist experience in Istanbul.

What I found very interesting, was that at the end of the micro-lecture the gentleman said, with the aura of a concierge, that if we want to buy anything – leather, gold, carpets etc. – we should ask him and he will recommend some honest shops…

This got me wondering about the commission system that I believe works very well in Istanbul. Although I have no proof to doubt his honesty, I had a feeling that everything he said could be reframed as:

“We don’t want others to cheat you. We will cheat you and you will have the impression that you got a good deal.”

Well, we weren’t there for shopping and we knew that we will be cheated, at least a little.

Everyone has their limits

On the last full day in Istanbul, we were approached for the zillionth time by a street vendor who was trying to sell us a tourist guide of Istanbul.

He employed the use of the representativeness heuristic: and immediately offered an Istanbul guide in Russian. (I do look like a Russian, but really I am not). I answered that we are not Russians. The vendor, immediately found the next best assumptions:

“Aaa! Ukrainians. I have in Ukrainian”

“We are not Ukrainians”, I answered

“Latvia?”

“No!”

And then, the traditional: “Where are you from?” followed.

I was already annoyed enough by the quite aggressive sales techniques, of being mistaken for a Russian for the zillionth time and being asked 30 times a day “Where are you from”… So I said:

“Namibia”

The very prompt answer was: “Hai Sictir” which I immediately understood since it is used in (old) Romanian for “Go F*ck yourself”. I guess in Turkish it has the same meaning…

All in all, Istanbul is a great place to visit. We were particularly fortunate that our friend Nejla is living there and we got some local insight. Thank you Nejla!

I wish you all a good 2015!

And visit Istanbul if you want to see Behavioural Science applied in merchant practice… 

Though, don’t bring too much money. The local merchants are very skilled in taking it from you! 

Take a look at my new website www.naumof.com      

What’s the Price of a Kilogram of House? Or of a liter of Tooth Paste? … Prices and Units of Measure

Prospect theory teaches us that virtually any value is perceived as a gain or a loss depending on a reference point. Another teaching of prospect theory is that any value is “big” or “small” only relative to a reference point.

I’ve remembered this a few days ago when I was shopping at Albert Heijn (the main supermarket chain in The Netherlands for who does not know). I guess there’s some sort of regulation that makes retailers give the price of a product also per unit of measure. For most products this is usually very intuitive from the perspective of official and perceived units of measurement.  

For example if someone buys meat, that person would want to buy, let’s say, “two pieces of chicken”. At the same time the person is quite aware that chicken meat is measured in kilograms and that those two pieces of meat weight around 300-400 grams. Similarly if someone wants to buy orange juice, that person would buy “a bottle”, but at the same time he or she is aware that “one bottle” is about 1 liter. 

For most products we buy at a supermarket there is a very natural correspondence between the informal (or perceived) unit of measure (e.g. a box of milk) and the official unit of measurement – one liter. In this case, expressing prices in both “per selling unit” (box, bottle etc.) and in official units of measurement (liter or kilogram) makes perfect sense and I think it is really benefic for both customer and retailer.

At the same time, in supermarkets but not only, there are products for which the transition from informal to formal units of measurement is not that easy an intuitive. One day I wanted to make some mint tea (or maybe it was mojito??) and decided to buy some fresh mint (plant). I saw a very nice “bunch” (the informal unit of measurement) of mint on a shelf and stretched my arm to get it… that was when I saw the price per kilogram label and everything changed. The “bunch” of mint was less than 2 Euros which for a non-frequent purchase seems reasonable… but it weighted only 15 grams. When I saw the price per kilogram – namely 92.67 Euros I was blocked… How much can Mint cost??? (by the way, fresh basil costs the same, while the prices for other spices are really “spicy” – up to 200 Euros per kilogram).

Another example of severe discrepancy between informal and formal units of measurement is “mints” (mint drops). Although I try not to make impulse purchases, one day I yielded and on the way to the cash register I grabbed a “box” of Smint (mint flavored drops). I couldn’t help myself and I looked on the label for price per unit. The small box (informal unit of measurement) of Smint was so cute and was priced only at a bit below 2 Euros, but the price per kilogram was around 170 Euros… That was really a shock, so I got the bigger box which was priced at only 55 Euros per Kilogram.

Here’s some food for thought: How much does a liter of Printer Ink cost? In case you had a shock, get a glass of water.

Now, how much do we actually pay for the stuff we buy and how should we think about our purchases? I remember that a real estate agency (don’t you just love real estate people??) started to communicate prices of houses not by the square meter, but by the kilogram. What they claimed was that “a Kilogram of house” doesn’t cost much differently than a kilogram of regular groceries. For sure I think that a Kilogram of house is cheaper than a liter of printer ink :).

These are more extreme examples, but as I can remember a kilogram of detergent is priced very close to a kilogram of meat and the examples can continue. Should we see our shopping more in terms of official units of measurement or should we stick to the informal ones? What do you think? 

Latter edit: Read also "The Most Expensive Thing in a Supermarket"

Like it?  Spice Up  Your Business

 

www.naumof.com 

How to get smarter … and costly signaling theory.

About two years ago I wrote a post on this blog on “How to get smarter” (in Romanian) and every few days I get visits from people who searched “How to get smarter” in Romanian. I even got visits from Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and many other countries apart from Romania. In the last two months the number of visits that the blog got through googling these words increased (the blog is in the top 3 google results depending on exact combination of words).
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Initially I thought that more and more people are looking for ways in which to increase their intelligence or cognitive capacity or whatever you want to call “being smart”. This is not a bad thing, wright? It’s good if more and more people want to be smarter and look for ways of achieving this… or at least it’s a good thing if more and more people realize that they are not smart (enough).
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A few days ago I discovered what could be a much more plausible reason for the increased number of visits to this blog in search of ways to enhance one’s IQ. On the Romanian Radio station that I listen there is a commercial for Vodafone with a famous singer that says that if you buy a smartphone you’ll get smarter “automatically”. I guess that many of the people who ended up on this blog were searching for ways to get smarter without buying a smartphone which is expensive or maybe to get confirmation that owning one would lead to an increase in intelligence.
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Intelligence is a very important personal trait in social life and everyone (sane) wants to have it at a high level and display it even more. The reason for displaying intelligence is quite simple: everyone wants to have smart friends, smart spouses and IQ is a very good predictor in many things that we generally want to have such as job performance – good salary and successful mating (healthy kids that actually survive and don’t become junkies or end up in jail).
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Now there are various ways in which to display intelligence. Some people chose to buy complicated to use products like smartphones, or by getting MBA’s, PhD’s, Master degrees etc. Of course that smartphones and MBAs don’t display just IQ and these aren’t the only ways to show one’s intelligence, but this is not what I want to talk about. Some signals are more or less fake – they signal a trait that it not actually that high. For example one can buy a smartphone and not be very intelligent at all (he or she just stole some money and went directly to the store). Flashing out a brand new High-tech gadget will signal to his or her acquaintances that that person is smart enough to get the money needed and to know how to use the 10.000 features of the gizmo.
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Unfortunately for those who use false signals, there are much more natural and simpler ways to signal a trait such as intelligence. One of these is conversation. Let’s suppose that our dude that just bought a flashy last generation smartphone with 11.001 features and applications goes on a date with a young lady that was unconsciously attracted to him by the gadget. They go for some drinks, a nice walk etc. He can’t just stand next to her playing with his alleged IQ extension and not say a word. He has to talk to her or at least mimic a decent conversation. Now, talking and communication have been around far longer than electronics and we know how to unconsciously decode these more natural signals.
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So our guy that has spent at least 500 Euros on an intelligence showing piece of electronics has to prove in a very ancient way (conversation) that he’s actually smart. If the conversation is at a very low level of intellectual engagement, then he’ll not get a second date. Of course there might be some exceptions such as: the girl is less intelligent than him and she’ll perceive him as better fitted for mating; or the girl just wants a short (rather embarrassing) adventure.

After a lot of team work...

After a lot of team work we finished our assignment for Consumer Behavior. The assignment was to make a brand map (using BCM method) and coming up with an idea for a creative communication campaign to change that brand map.

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We had to choose from 6 brands and due to the fact that we are a very international group we chose Coca Cola Zero. No one from the team liked CCZ, but it was the only one that we could all relate to.
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It was nice work, but it felt kind of weird to work for a brand that I don’t like. At the end of the assignment we had to come up with an idea for creative communication in order to change the brand map.
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As we predicted CCZ is perceived as “healthy” and “helps to stay fit”. Well we didn’t agree. Here’s what we came up with…
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Naming de te doare capul

Anunt pe facebook...

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"Cauti prietena

(o poza siropoasa rau de tot)

Descopera adevarata dragoste in agatama.ro"

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care cel mai probabil se citeste agata-ma .ro ...

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Ce pot spune... probabilitatea ca tipele care sunt pe agata-ma .ro sa fie marea dragoste.... e cam mica... acum ce e drept si cei care si-ar cauta dragostea pe un site cu acest nume... si-ar merita-o.

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Bun naming....

Chivu, Bergenbier, Lobont, Ursus, Nationala, Branding, Fotbal

Pentru multa vreme Bergenbier a fost sponsor al echipei nationale de fotbal a Romaniei. Brandul Bergenbier a fost unul dintre cel mai bine construite branduri locale si, in opinia mea, cel mai bine construit brand local de bere (la quasi-egalitate cu Ursus).

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Bergenbier s-a asociat cu fotbalul. Multi ani ...

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La finalul lui 2008 s-a incheiat contractul de sponsorizare cu FRF. La noua licitatie a pozitiei de sponsor al echipei nationale, Bergenbier a facut o oferta suficient cat sa nu se spuna ca nu a facut una. Adevarul este ca noul management (din acea vreme) dorea repozitionarea brandului Bergenbier, repozitionare care s-a concretizat in rebrandingul costisitor si esuat din 2009.

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Locul Bergenbier ca sponor al echipei nationale de fotbal a fost luat de Ursus, un alt brand local foarte puternic si bine construit.

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Acum, odata cu revenirea din 2010 a lui Mihai Ghyka la conducerea producatorului Bergenbier asistam la un proces de "De-Re-Branding". Se incearca pe cat posibil revenirea la brandul Bergenbier dinainte de 2009. Primul demers a fost reintroducerea "zilei barbatului" si odata cu aceasta sarbatoare revenirea la vechea reteta de bere (reteta originala) si la culoarea galbena a ambalajului. Cel mai probabil nu se va reveni la logo-ul vechi...

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Asocierea cu fotbalul este necesara daca se doreste revenirea la brandul original. Totusi momentan nu este posibila o asociere cu echipa nationala (si intr-o buna masura nici nu ar fi de dorit) pentru ca sponsor este Ursus.

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Campionatul mondial de fotbal este un prilej de comunicare care nu putea fi ratat de catre un brand de bere care vrea sa se asocieze cu fotbalul.

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Astfel Bergenbier a devenit sponsor al transmisiunilor TV ale meciurilor de la CM, pe site-uri de sport este sponsor al relatarilor trimisilor speciali din Africa de Sud...

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In comunicarea TV Bergenbier a apelat la un mic truc - folosirea a doua figuri importante din echipa nationala - Cristian Chivu si Bogdan Lobont in spotul TV.

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Prin apelarea la cei doi, Bergenbier a evitat si asocierea cu "succesul" nationalei de a sta acasa la tv in timpul CM din Africa de Sud. Pana la urma cei doi - Chivu si Lobont - sunt unii dintre cei mai apreciati fotbalisti.... ok... Lobont e de ceva vreme rezerva la AS Roma, dar Chivu a castigat Liga Campionilor cu Inter Milano.... ce le-am putea reprosa?

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Ceea ce mi se pare absolut surprinzator este faptul ca Ursus nu si-a asigurat exclusivitatea asupra asocierii cu echipa nationala. Sa fii sponsorul echipei nationale, iar capitanul acesteia sa promoveze un alt brand concurent trebuie sa fie cel putin stanjenitor... dar asta e ... daca nu s-au facut contractele la timp...

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A... Ar mai fi ceva... Cristi Chivu este un adevarat paradox de marketing... el promoveaza (sau a promovat) Bergenbier, Coca Cola, Mercedes si Samsung.... cele 4 branduri se potrivesc perfect.... Nu e vina lui, el doar incaseaza niste bani... dar sa asociezi Mercedes cu Bergenbier.... e prea mult.

Creativitate versus cunostinte, proceduri si algoritmi

De foarte multe ori am fost perceput ca un adversar al creativitatii. Nu am nimic impotriva creativitatii atat timp cat ea este folosita cand trebuie. Mai degraba cred ca este supralicitata creativitatea.

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Creativitatea este ridicata mult mult prea sus si spun asta nu pentru ca nu ar fi importanta, ci pentru ca ea da rezultate maxime doar dupa ce au fost acumulate cunostintele, invatate procedurile si intelesi algoritmii.

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Daca o persoana creativa, dar care nu are suficiente cunostinte sau nu cunoaste proceduri (cum se face ceva... orice), isi va folosi creativitatea pentru a crea ceva ce deja exista - proceduri. Este exact ca si cand un inventator s-ar mandri ca a descoperit apa calda.

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Pe de alta parte daca o persoana creativa are si un bogat bagaj de cunostinte, cunoaste proceduri si intelege algoritmii de functionare, isi va folosi creativitatea va produce ceva cu adevarat deosebit.

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Exista foarte multe exemple care sustin aceasta teorie: Sa luam un bun jucator de fotbal care este considerat a fi creativ: Messi, Ronaldo, Ronaldinio, Hagi, Zidane etc. Oricare dintre acestia a facut scoala de fotbal si a invatat cum se pune stop, cum se face un stop pe piept, cum se loveste mingea la o lovitura libera, care e tactica de joc etc. Creativitatea lor a dus la faze exceptionale pentru ca ei stiau deja cum e cu mingea de fotbal.

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Un al exemplu poate fi un acrobat de circ. Creativitatea lui in crearea numarului de acrobatie este utila doar pentru ca stie sa execute fiecare componenta a acrobatiei.

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Creativitatea unui pictor poate aparea doar daca acesta stie cum sa combine culorile, cum sa foloseasca pensulele si vopselurile etc.

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Oricat de creativa ar fi o persoana, fara o buna pregatire (cunostinte, proceduri, algoritmi), nu va putea face performanta. Creativitatea in absenta cunostintelor duce la inutilitati sau chiar la lucruri care dauneaza.

Ce inseamna cu adevarat MARKETING

De cativa ani incerc sa transmit ideea ca marketingul nu e comunicare. La un moment dat credeam ca am eu o problema pentru ca paream a fi printre extrem de putinii care sustin aceasta teza.

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Se pare ca nu sunt chiar asa de lunatec... Iata materiile studiate la Masterul de Marketing Management de la Rotterdam School of Management - Erasmus University (a 10 scoala de afaceri din Europa conform Financial Times):

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Core courses

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Consumer Behaviour

Consumer Marketing Research

Marketing Strategy

Marketing Strategy Simulation

Marketing Strategy Research

Writing a Research Proposal

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Electives

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Marketing Communications and Advertising Management

International Product Management

Customer Relationship Management

Event and Tourism Marketing

Brand Management

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Dupa cum se poate observa printre materiile obligatorii nu se gaseste nici una care sa fie de comunicare si doar una dintre cele optionale este de comunicare.

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Oare cine are dreptate...