Should brands tell the truth?

We can't go through life doubting our abilities at even the most basic tasks. We have to have some confidence in ourselves.

Yet research continues to show that, below a veneer of competence, we are extraordinarily inept. For example, wouldn't you think that most people, asked to choose which of two jams they liked the best would notice if, immediately afterward, they were offered the wrong one when asked to explain their preference? You would. But, in fact, Lars Hall and colleagues found out that only 20% of the people they tested thought they'd been offered the wrong jam, even when the jams in question were as different as Spicy Cinnamon-Apple and a bitter Grapefruit.

This example of choice blindness shows that we're just not very good at using our senses and we're easily confounded. (Puts the famous Folgers instant coffee ad into perspective, doesn't it?).

To compensate for our sensory failings, our brain adopts some interesting strategies:

1) The use of other cues
I previously described an experiment where a group of CalTech researchers showed that people's preference for wine was much more influenced by how expensive they thought it was than what was actually in the bottle. What made the experiment really interesting was that the CalTech scientists had their subjects wired up to an fMRI machine. This showed that wines labeled as high-priced fired up the medial orbitofrontal cortex (responsible for the cognitive processing of decision-making) which then sent out instructions to the rest of the brain telling it that these wines tasted better, overriding any evidence from the taste buds to the contrary. Once our cortex has spoken, that is our reality.

2) What does everyone else think?
Hartbeat has a great article about choice which shows, among other things, the strong influence of society and culture on the decisions we make. We will jump on one bandwagon, then another, sometimes reversing ourselves. Once we were happy with water from taps, then we had to have our water in plastic bottles and now, maybe, we're going back to water from taps. Our perceptions flip-flop in synch with whatever bandwagon we're on. We see what we want to see.

Let's recap. Brain's ability to judge things by our senses? Low. Influence of other cues, culture or society? High.

So, should brands tell the truth? Yes, of course. But what truth? Just the facts, pure and simple? There's a school of thought that, in a world where traditional advertising is losing ground, marketers should go back to basics--just make sure that they make the best product and let the rest take care of itself. But such thinking credits we consumers with abilities to discriminate and form our own independent opinion that the evidence contradicts.

What counts is how people perceive brands and our perceptions can be shaped by many more things than what's in the product. As marketers, it would be a mistake for us to ignore all the other opportunities for influence in a misguided belief that truth can be measured by reality alone.

Photo by Sean Rogers1 on Flickr

Six of the Best: It's a mad, mad world edition

It's the all-mad edition. From mad scientists to mad art, mad artists, mad politics and Mad Men:

1) The chosen research areas of mad scientists (1810 - 2010): Mad Science

What do mad, fictional scientists research? Annalee Newitz decided to look into this important question and reports on the results of his own mad research going all the way back to Frankenstein in the 1810s. Key findings: There are lots more mad scientists out there than there used to be, biology and biotechnology are the most popular fields of research and mad chemistry never goes out of style.

2) Visualizing Madness: The Art of “Howl” NeuroTribes

NeuroTribes interviews painter and graphic novelist Eric Drooker. He created images for "Howl," a feature film starring actor James Franco as a young Allen Ginsberg. His images formed the basis of the digital animation that visually represents the surreal, incantatory language of the poem.

3) Casey Affleck levels about "I'm Still Here" Roger Ebert's Journal



For all those who were worried that Joaquin Phoenix had gone completely mad, this week brought relief. It was all an act (including this Letterman interview)--an Andy Kaufman reprise. Roger Ebert was one of the many who originally thought the "I'm Still Here" movie that documents Phoenix's performance was "real" but, to his credit, this interview with Casey Affleck is mainly inquisitive, not accusative.

4) Stephen Colbert draws attention to self, then farmworkers during Hill appearance Yahoo! News



Oh, the truthiness of it all! Stephen Colbert, in character, performed and testified in Congress this week about an immigration bill he had not read, “like most members of Congress.” His appearance guaranteed a sell-out crowd and possibly the highest rating ever for a CSPAN 3 broadcast. Some were amused. Some weren't.

5) Freud. The rebranding: McSweeney's
Jim Stallard imagines Anna Freud visiting Sterling Cooper to ask Don Draper and his Mad Men colleagues to help rebrand her father's work as it continues to lose share to that annoying upstart, behaviorism:

FREUD: Society is changing. At our last board meeting, we decided we have to reposition ourselves. We want to promote our expertise in dreams. We want people to see them as the means to discover themselves, and that Freud will show them how.

PEGGY OLSON: When I was a girl, I always lay in bed in the morning thinking over the dream I just had. It was the happiest part of my day.

FREUD: (Brightening) That's the feel that we're looking for. People want a lift, and we give it to them.

OLSON: You could have a slogan like, "Dare to Dream." Or "Full Dream Ahead."

DRAPER: (Annoyed) That sounds like a carnival ride.

6) Network-I'm Mad as Hell: Peter Finch
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more." Peter Finch. Awesome.



That's it! Back soon with more stories from the world of brand strategy. More thoughts and comments also available on Twitter (@martinjbishop).

The pencil maker vs. the video store: Who is the best fit for this digital age?

The pencil wins! After struggling for years, Blockbuster has officially declared bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Faber-Castell continues to do well, selling over 2 billion pencils last year with a product that's changed little since it was first launched in 1761.

You might have expected a different result. Who needs a pencil in a paperless world? Aren't people still renting movies? But, as it happens, people still need a pencil or two, especially children and especially children in emerging markets. Whereas, it's much more convenient to order movies online or through Netflix than drive to the store and find out that there are no copies left of the movie you wanted.

Both Blockbuster and Faber-Castell followed the same strategy--perfecting their existing business and beating competitors offering the same thing. That's turned out OK for Faber-Castell and horribly for Blockbuster. Sometimes a narrow focus pays off, sometimes it doesn't.

It's easy, after the fact, to identify businesses (newspapers, bookstores, camera film manufacturers etc) that failed to react to disruptive change. More difficult to see it ahead of time and very tough to change direction before it's too late.

Pencil Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography on Flickr

Six of the Best: What would you do? edition

What would you do if...

1) WWYD if you saw this sign as you were driving along the freeway and you did, in fact, have a stash of something you shouldn't in the car? (A puzzle in game theory: Marginal Revolution)

2) WWYD if someone was talking annoyingly loudly on their cell phone right next to you. Would you listen? Would you get extremely irritated? (Why Cellphone Talkers Are So Grating: Wired)

3) WWYD if you were a Corn Refiner and were fed up with all the negative press around high fructose corn syrup? Would you try and change the name? (High Fructose Corn Syrup, not so sweet: Ries' Pieces. Picture by: dunno source. Caption by: Brown via Poster Builder)

4) WWYD with a whole lot of dog poop? Power up? (Dog Poop Powers Park Lights: Wired)

5) WWYD if you were Club Med and had just turned 60? Would you turn out the lights or would you find a way to reinvent? (Club Med remember and refresh what made them famous: The brandgym blog)

6) WWYD if you'd lived or worked in the same place for years and years? Would you be a pack rat saving all sorts of junk because you might need it some day? Would you be in dire need of a de-cluttering? (De-Cluttering Your Organization: Ron Ashkenas. Photo: b.frahm)

That's it! Back soon with more stories from the world of brand strategy. More thoughts and comments also available on Twitter (@martinjbishop).

Brand loyalty earned or paid for

By most measures, I'm extremely loyal to United Airlines. I fly United most of the time. I'll even pick less convenient schedules, including one-stop over non-stop options. But there's nothing I particularly like about flying United, nothing enjoyable really. To be honest, I would rather Jet Blue or Virgin America--but I never do.

Why the loyalty? Because it's been paid for by Mileage Plus, United's frequent flyer program. Mine is a loveless loyalty created by paid-for attachment to that program. If that program was to go away tomorrow, my loyalty would disappear as well*.

In the last couple of posts, I introduced the concept of brand value (see here and here), which says that value is the difference between the revenue earned from your sources of differentiation vs. their costs. United and the other major airline carriers build value through their awards programs but it costs them a lot of money. Airline frequent flyer reward liability is estimated in the billions of dollars.

It could be that our flying experience would be a lot better if airlines had never come up with loyalty programs. Perhaps they would have used all of those billions of dollars to try to earn our loyalty in other ways. But, at this point, the airlines are just as trapped as we are. They can't abandon their programs. That would be suicide. But, given the awards program expense and effectiveness, airlines can neither afford nor justify the cost of significantly improving our experience either.

This gives smaller carriers or new carriers an opportunity. Without the same level of commitment to frequent flyer programs of their own, they can use the money not spent to try and build brand attachment in other ways. That won't change the flying habits of the hard core, award addicted travelers like me but they can target people for whom there's still hope.

Meanwhile, I'll be heading back to the United terminal next Monday buying my sandwich beforehand so I don't have to resort to buying one of those dreaded snackboxes in flight. Wish me luck!

* Actually my loyalty wouldn't disappear completely because there's a second reason I fly United--that's the Premium Executive status I've earned as a frequent traveler. Status means better service, access to upgrades, better seats (no 'back of the bus' seating for me) and, the all-important, early-seating-so-you-get-onboard-before-the-overhead-bins-are-full privilege. This range of benefits would mean I'd still fly United vs. any of the other major carriers even without frequent flyer points. On the other hand, I'd be much more likely to switch between airlines and try the new carriers out to see if the experience was really all that much better.

Photo: In-Flight Drink Cart by davitydave (Flickr)

Six of the Best: Why carpets in Vegas are so ugly and answers to other important questions

There are things you've always wondered about and then, one day, you finally find out the answer. For example, why are those carpets in Las Vegas so hideous?

1) what's with the ugly carpet in vegas? brandflakesforbreakfast
This important question has been on everyone's mind ever since Chris Maluszynski put together a gallery devoted to these spectacular carpets. Wired, Gizmodo and Marginal Revolution and their readers have all joined in the speculation as to why they are so ugly. Do they somehow keep people gambling? Are they designed to hide chips that fall on the floor so that the casino can pick them up later? Or are they just part of the Vegas tacky vibe? Unfortunately, the most likely answer is the most mundane--they are just designed to cover up stains and wear and tear.

2) Who is the UK's most unwanted author? telegraph.co.uk
By comparing the ratio of books sold to the books donated, Oxfam (a UK charity) says that Dan Brown is the winner of this unwanted title. He was the #1 author donated but only #10 on the author's bought list. (Best sellers at Oxfam are: Ian Rankin, Stieg Larsson and JK Rowling.)

Dan Brown is the author that other authors love to hate. The Economist explains why, referencing a Geoff Pullum critique that points out that the Da Vinci Code may be the only novel ever written that begins with the word "Renowned" as in "Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery." As Pullum says: "I think what enabled the first word to tip me off that I was about to spend a number of hours in the company of one of the worst prose stylists in the history of literature was this. Putting curriculum vitae details into complex modifiers on proper names or definite descriptions is what you do in journalistic stories about deaths; you just don't do it in describing an event in a narrative."

3) When will the last CD be sold? Thought Gadgets
This was Apple-announce-a-lot-more-stuff week and one of those things was "Ping," a social network based on music. "It's like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes," Steve Jobs said. Coinciding with the announcement, a new iTunes logo was unveiled, one that no longer has the CD image as part of its background. The death of CDs foretold.

4) Does a Whopper really look like that? boredpanda
Bored Panda has a guest post from Dario D. who wondered what real fast food products would look like compared to what they look like in their ads. Not close, it appears. Olivier Blanchard shared his thoughts about these results also referencing this famous clip from Falling Down: "Breakfast at Whammyburger" which includes its own variation on the theme at 04:06.

5) How do I get my kids to eat carrots? USA Today
Maybe by making them look like junk food. USA TodayI reports on an effort by Bolthouse Farms and nearly 50 other carrot growers to change the image of carrots with the industry's first-ever marketing campaign (developed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky).

6) Should I wear a monocle? Len Kendall
There's no decision that can't be put through the lens of a SWOT analysis. Len has started up this Tumblr dedicated to bringing SWOT analyses to the masses. "These four pillars have been hogged by business & marketing people far too long. It's time to take back these quadrants in the interest of over-complicating the simple things in life."

That's it! Back soon with more stories from the world of brand strategy. More thoughts and comments also available on Twitter (@martinjbishop).