August 13, 2023
Money (but not called that, and how it changes behaviour).
Advertising agencies make a lot of advertisements for well-known brands, businesses, and governments. And sometimes they make them for businesses and...
0 Comments18 Minutes
August 1, 2023
Reading ease is not as easy as all that – comprehension shows the way
It's easy to make text readable, right? You just use the embedded check in Microsoft Word, and make sure the reading ease or grade level is what you want? Maybe
0 Comments6 Minutes
July 20, 2023
The ‘Hollywood hello’ – and the importance of context when communicating
When communicating we all like to be as precise as possible (unless we're being evasive or in an argument we know we don't have a leg to stand on!). Precision in most cases is…
0 Comments4 Minutes
July 10, 2023
When research turns into promotion – the Mere Measurement effect
...Simply asking about the strength of desire disproportionately increased action. That wasn’t supposed to happen. The actual rates of car purchase among the...
1 Comment7 Minutes
June 30, 2023
We don’t make decisions based absolutely on what we want – school children and fruit show us proof
We don't make decisions based absolutely on what we want – we make decisions based on what is offered. Find out how in US schools.
1 Comment3 Minutes
June 24, 2023
You are the best person to talk to your customers (and the worst!)
You are the best person to lead communication – because you are so knowledgeable! (You are the worst people to lead communication – because you are so knowledgeable...)
0 Comments3 Minutes
June 19, 2023
Asking with the right incentive
Football fans in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city Brazzaville, and a Brazilian solution to graffiti...
0 Comments3 Minutes
May 16, 2023
Construal Theory in communication: Tailoring your messages for maximum impact
Construal theory is a psychological theory that explains how people think about objects and events that are close to them (psychologically close) versus objects and events that…
0 Comments5 Minutes
February 18, 2023
Well, this is one way of explaining what we do! Ari Melber explains Jay-Z lyrics
What does a behavioural insight & communication agency do? What is behavior change marketing? Sometimes I answer by describing the output – digital ads, brand…
0 Comments2 Minutes
November 18, 2022
The invisible salience of Brewdog and Belvedere
The odd Belvedere ‘story’ is a smooth pebble in the shoe, not the immovable boulder of Brewdog.We have a very strong, shared mental model of what advertising…
0 Comments8 Minutes
October 17, 2022
Words that work: Email subject headings that increase and decrease response
Email is a common way to communicate. The stats are eye popping: There are 4 billion daily email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025…
0 Comments4 Minutes
August 30, 2022
Are you a horse or anorak?
In 1898 the first car advertisement appeared, in Scientific American, headlined ‘Dispense With A Horse’. An odd way to describe a car today, however, back...
0 Comments3 Minutes
June 23, 2022
Mental models, and seeing the world
“Consumers. Sophisticated, they are” says a small, green, wrinkled alien in a galaxy far, far away. You know immediately that this portrays…
0 Comments5 Minutes
April 16, 2022
We are ancient creatures in modern times, fit for a world that no longer surrounds us
‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’ -- 1. AN ITALIAN OFFICER --- Vittorio was under attack. Ethiopian tribesmen had pushed him back up the hill of Daga Roba, near…
0 Comments13 Minutes
June 15, 2019
How many people do I need to test on? (Answer: It’s not as many as you think.)
An RCT (Randomised Control Trial), an online survey (e.g. a Semantic Pairs survey, or Comprehension-Motivation Test©, or Implicit Attitude Map©), or…
0 Comments4 Minutes
November 21, 2018
Trying to find the tallest jockey: A/B testing can be problematic
'There's nothing wrong with A/B testing'. This statement is both true and not useful; better is, 'there's nothing wrong with A/B testing if you're A/B testing…
0 Comments3 Minutes
July 30, 2018
Cold-call emails: 3 gold-standard tips from our behavioural science experiments you need to know
Email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing tactic. $44 for every $1 spent, say Campaign Monitor: Email marketing is a tactic that's hard to...
0 Comments5 Minutes
July 16, 2018
Brands! Now you can reliably predict customer’s perception of your brand – *and* that of your competitors
Personality traits have been used and abused by Cambridge Analytica1, but those traits offer positive benefits – especially when mapped to brands...
0 Comments5 Minutes
April 6, 2018
A behavioural science April Fool with The Center For Advanced Hindsight – and knowing where to put the chalk cross
The excellent behavioural scientists, Ingrid M. Paulin (@iwmelvaer) and Aline Holzwarth (@alineholzwarth), from The Center For Advanced Hindsight (@advncdhindsight)…
0 Comments5 Minutes
March 6, 2018
Why do we need behavioural science? Because we’ve created a way of life we no longer recognise
‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’1. An Italian officer was under attack. Ethiopian tribesmen had pushed him back up the hill of Daga Roba, near…
0 Comments17 Minutes
December 31, 2017
How to make a New Year’s resolution that will last forever – the science of habit formation
Most New Year’s resolutions have a success rate in the teens – in some studies fewer than 8% of us ever stick to our plan (Journal of Clinical Psychology...
2 Comments11 Minutes
November 23, 2017
Keynote: Inspiring sustainable behaviour
I was very honoured to the be the keynote speaker at the ‘Together Towards A low Carbon Future’ Conference run by @ESBGroup & @iiea on the 23rd Nov…
0 Comments4 Minutes
August 5, 2017
Your behaviour is unsuitable (because our lives are better).
It’s nothing personal. We’re good at living short and brutal lives. Indeed we’ve even codified an approach to life that ameliorates the shortness and...
0 Comments5 Minutes
November 5, 2016
Where does your brand sit in your consumer’s subconscious?
Wouldn't you love to have a solid, reliable map of where your brand sits in relation to its competitors in your consumer's subconscious? Of course, it's...
0 Comments3 Minutes