We all know that most purchase decisions we make are not driven by purely rational thought processes. That generally, we make decisions based on our emotions and then seek to rationalise the purchase afterwards. (Anyone who’s ever spent £200 on a pair of shoes or bought a 50” TV knows this to be true). Which is why planners are getting really excited about the discovery of ‘behavioural economics’ (old-ish hat in academia), which offers empirical evidence into how people really go about making decisions. IPA president Rory Sutherland sees spreading the word as one of his single most important tasks whilst in office. He cites the example from behavioural economics bible Nudge, in which the economist authors came up with a more insightful and successful solution than the advertising agency. Using the concept of “loss aversion”, they created a pension plan where investors signed up for a pension that only deducted money from their earnings when they received a pay rise. By ensuring that the saver never witnessed a reduction in their disposable income, the plan was both brilliant and highly effective: pension contributions among this group increased by 200%. There is no reason why an agency couldn’t have come up with this strategy. We simply need to embrace the power and value of greater human understanding.


We live in a hectic world. Making informed and rational decisions for all purchases is nigh on impossible so we use a variety of heuristics, approximate rules of thumb, and cognitive and perceptive biases to simplify the decision-making process and allow time for all the stuff in life that happens in between buying things. By better understanding these psychological and behavioural shortcuts, we can begin to truly understand how our customers make decisions, help simplify the process, and maximise the impact and effectiveness of our communications.


Thanks to Dan Broadwood. Dan can’t smell in France.

The inventor of Velcro ripped cockleburs from his dog’s fur. Da Vinci and the Wright brothers studied birds in flight. Taking inspiration from nature like this is called Biomimicry, an ancient concept that imitates nature to solve human problems, which is being rediscovered as a tool for sustainability and innovation. Brands ranging from General Electric to Nike are inviting biologists into their offices and tapping into some 10 million species for insight. When DaimlerChrysler’s R&D department wanted to develop a new era car that ticks off speed, safety and eco-friendliness, they turned to box fish inspiration. Despite its cube-shaped body, this tropical fish is infact outstandingly streamlined and therefore, represents an aerodynamic ideal which the Mercedes-Benz Bionic car has emulated. Other examples of biomimicry include: Self-Repairing Aircraft featuring plastic that ‘bleeds’ and ‘heals’, the Whalepower Wind Turbine, and self-cleaning surfaces inspired by lotus leaves.


Such bionics research does not mean copying nature, rather, the aims being to understand its principles and harness them as stimulus for innovation. The inventions of nature, developed and continuously improved over millions of years, provide an inexhaustible reservoir of ideas and inspirations for technology, but also environmental protection.

Many of the innovative concepts engineers and scientists are adopting from nature correspond to the principle of sustainability. Nature always achieves its objectives economically, with the minimum energy, conserves its resources, and completely recycles its waste. An example which is a path well worth following.


Thanks to Gavin Cumine for this story. Gavin is great.

References:
Wired
Fast Company
Jlangvad Blog

The ad industry stands accused of being responsible for much of the planet’s environmental and social problems. A story in Campaign suggests that many now see the industry’s future role as redemption. Mark Earls argues that advertising’s contribution to the world should be offering desirable ethical alternatives. Earls offers ad land some advice on how to avoid becoming in his words, “a complete pariah”. He says agencies should be much more selective about which brands they work with, as the industry has done with tobacco. Agencies must take a more challenging attitude towards clients when addressing green matters too. “Sustainability represents the single largest opportunity for forward thinking business today,” says Fernando Rodes Vila, chief executive of Havas.

Read more »

Milton Friedman famously said, “The business of business is business”. So why are big brands queuing up to help Haiti? Are they genuine good neighbours, or just jumping on the help-Haiti bandwagon? Who cares, if the result is positive. Here are some of the ways they’re helping. In response to requests from relief agencies, Google has released a new layer on Google Earth showing pre/post earthquake satellite images. Google has also set up a person-finder service (and donated $1m to relief agencies). Zynga, the games developer behind MafiaWars and FarmVille, has over 40m daily users. By integrating donation into the gameplay, Zynga has so far raised over $1.2m and counting to the UN Food Programme There are already dozens of ways to donate online, but Apple has made it made it one-click easy by allowing donation through iTunes.

Read more »

Whilst Shoreditch is better known for Hoxton Fins, emaciated male legs, and syphilis, it is fast developing as a digital hotspot. Matt Biddulph, former CTO of Dopplr, first nicknamed the area the “Silicon Roundabout” in 2008, referencing other tech businesses all within the close vicinity of Old Street Roundabout. The original list included 14 businesses from companies like our friends Poke, to Last.fm. But an investigation for this month’s issue of Wired UK, reveals a bigger picture with a profile of a further 70 tech firms all operating out of the area, which is helping to position London globally for tech innovation. Journalist Georgina Voss believes the growth of the hub is a result of, “the presence of tech and creative firms from the 80s; centrality; institutions like the BBC and the RCA; connections to San Francisco and Silicon Valley; and the dot-com boom and bust.” She also believes the East End community spirit is what makes this tech hub unique. “Unlike other tech hubs, there are no direct feeds into local universities – rather a culture of self-education and mutual support”.

Read more »

M&C Saatchi is the latest agency to recognise the importance of being represented in South Africa, setting up shops in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Campaign reports. South Africa is not only the continent’s richest nation, but is also seen as the gateway to its economic awakening. “South Africa is growing in strategic importance for agency networks and for advertisers,” says Graham Warsop, group chairman of The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa’s largest homegrown agency. Next summer’s World Cup hosted by South Africa is also thought to benefit economics in general and the marketing comms industry in particular. Though there are still the obvious racial and corruption obstacles to overcome, combined with the issue of talent shortage and faltering broadband system, new brands are piling into the South African market, agencies have a better balance of black staff, and are beginning to stand out at international awards.

Read more »

Reading pubescent and dead serious thoughts on love and annoying Mums from your teenage diary in front of an audience could possibly be some people’s worst nightmare, but a growing number of sane, Grazia-reading women are doing it voluntarily for their Friday night fun. It all started when Sarah Brown, a writer from Brooklyn, unearthed her old diaries at her parents’ house, and decided it would be a good idea to share the most embarrassing excerpts with her friends via a weekly email. This then evolved into a sell-out open mic Cringe Night in New York. Which has now been transported to London. Sarah has collected the best diary extracts from the open mic nights in a book called Cringe.


Thanks to Paula Bjork for this. Paula is our superstar strategy intern.

We’re expecting something a bit different from the usual superficial celebrity endorsement with the announcement that Lady Gaga will become creative director for Polaroid (more accurately, a special line of their products). With Gaga, nothing is ever straightforward and as a proposition in herself, she is the triumph of style, with just enough substance to keep us preoccupied. What Lady Gaga and her management have realised, is that to maintain global stardom one must provide continual eye candy. Her music – safe, unoriginal euro electro – just about justifies her place in the charts, but her fashion sense is what keeps the public eye gazing. Gaga’s constant shape-shifting is a lesson learned from the ultimate chameleon and brand icon Madonna. Indeed, just making music is not enough. In the 21st Century what matters more than when selling records is the style, not the substance.

Read more »

Italy has created an interesting market where money is banned. The Regali Senza Moneta (“Gifts Without Money”) initiative is a barter-based marketplace located in Turin where people come together to exchange products, services and knowledge. The aim is to reaffirm the value of exchange over money and create human connections. Those wanting to participate in the event have to bring something of value that can be exchanged, such as being serenaded in exchange for a one-hour plumber intervention (true). There are special exchange services dedicated to children, recycling, and music too. Such an idea goes beyond the notion of financial value. Instead, it relies on whatever our imagination can come up with whilst putting people and their various talents first.


Thanks to Gavin Cumine for this story. Gavin is Seven Eighths Scottish. One Eighth Chinese. Apparently.


Image source via Google Images

One of the many gadgets that stood out at last week’s CES global gadget showcase were ‘Siftables’, a series of digitally-enabled blocks that hold multiple uses within gaming, education and creativity. “They are sets of cookie-sized computers with motion sensing, neighbour detection, graphical display, and wireless communication”, say Sifteo, the company behind the products. “Siftables act in concert to form a single interface: users physically manipulate them—piling, grouping, sorting—to interact with digital information and media”. Siftables are yet another demonstration of product designers and developers increasing ability to shift the digital world into the physical world.

Read more »