In the 1970s, IBM was under attack from all sides. They were the leaders in the business computers market. And IBM System/360 computers were the iPhone of the 60s. But just like any new technology, there was a rush. Competitors were announcing their new breakthrough computers every month. RCA, Digital Equipment Corporation, Xerox… Some were…
Category: Marketing Psychology
Why B2B Customers Are Also Driven by Emotions
There is a common misbelief about how B2B buyers vs consumers make a purchase decision. You’ve probably heard it before. It goes like this: Consumers are emotional. They are prone to impulse buying. So they buy things without thinking rationally. But B2B buyers are the opposite. They are totally logical. They evaluate options rationally and…
Perceived Value: How To Create More Customer Value (Without Changing The Product)
How can a business create value for customers? And how can you increase it without changing much about the product or service? Let’s think together. 1. Benefits Functional benefits are always a factor. You buy a watch to know the time. And maybe you dive a lot. So water resistance up to a certain pressure…
Mental Availability: How To Make Your Brand The Obvious Choice (At The Purchase Moment)
In 2008, the financial crisis hit the US. People lost their jobs. Banks went bankrupt. Everybody thought the global financial system was about to collapse. And guess what people stopped buying in such an environment? Yes, luxury products. So luxury watchmakers also went into a crisis like many other industries. People didn’t buy expensive watches…
Brand Associations: How To Plant Your Brand In Customers’ Minds (Without Spending More)
In 1963, Aston Martin had to make a challenging decision. They had a successful racing team. But the company was struggling financially. And the costs of maintaining a racing team became unbearable. So despite their passion for racing, they decided to close the team. Now, racing is not only a passion project for car brands.…
Customer Inertia: How To Beat It And Increase Sales Beyond Expectations
In the early 1970s, The Fidelity Bank had a lot of money to lend. But nobody was asking for a loan. So they hired Ogilvy & Mather agency to make a new campaign. Now, imagine you are an Ogilvy copywriter. You have to write an ad to sell more loans. But there is a problem.…
Anchoring Beyond Pricing: How To Increase Your Brand’s Perceived Value
In the mid-1940s, the diamond cartel De Beers had a challenge probably no other company ever had. They controlled almost all the diamond mines in the world. And they had an excessive supply after the discoveries of huge mines a few decades earlier. But they had a dilemma. If they reduced the price and made…
The Framing Effect: How To Give Customers a Good Reason to Choose You
You’ll remember the scene if you’ve watched Mad Men. In the 1960s, the FTC bans tobacco companies from making any health claims in their ads. Before that, it was normal to see ads with the “health benefits” of cigarettes. But public opinion was starting to change on tobacco. So Lucky Strike executives ask for help from Don Draper’s…
Cognitive Dissonance In Marketing: How To Make Sales Easy
On a winter day in 1971, McCann’s young copywriter Ilon Specht was frustrated. She was chosen to write the ad for an expensive hair color brand called L’Oréal. And her colleagues (mostly men) were after the same old ideas. Show a woman changing to a new hair color to be more attractive to a man.…
Buying Triggers: How to Create Growth From Non-Obvious Demand
In 1957, copywriter Donald Gilles got a challenge. “How can we position this chocolate brand called KitKat?” The UK economy was finally booming after World War II. So KitKat’s owner Rowntree’s knocked on advertising agency JWT’s door for a new campaign. And JWT assigned Gilles to the task. Now, the positioning challenge for a bar…