Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Devious Strategy, Experience, Food, Marketing, Packaging
I’ve always been fascinated by the art of the upsell.
The ways different companies attempt to psychologically increase the average order size of their customers.
One of the most famous is McDonald’s … who basically have kept the classic ‘small, medium and large’ sizes but over the years, have changed the volume of what each represents. So what is now McDonald’s ‘small’ was once McDonald’s large, meaning they get more liquid into their customers mouths, even if the customer is continually buying the ‘same size’.
But where I get the most intrigued is how companies label their small, medium and large sizes.
That doesn’t have to always be in terms of portion size, but also proposal.
One of the most common approaches is ‘Gold, Silver and Bronze’.
Even though the intention is so transparent, it is amazing how often it works because ultimately, the goal is to upsell people from bronze than downgrade people from Gold.
But the best one’s tend to be in Asia – where they tap into all manner of cues to influence the decision making process.
One of my favourites – if that’s the right word – was this Valentine’s Day ad in Hong Kong from years back.
Positioning the ‘wife’ as worthy of only the smallest sized jewellery and the mistress the largest – with mothers in-between – was definitely a unique approach. Though arguably, it may also have been the most honest given the proliferation of mistresses in certain parts of Asia.
But recently I was in Chengdu airport and I saw a worthy new competitor. This.
Vintage, Rare, Precious is all kinds of genius.
Because unlike other approaches, you don’t feel you’re being a complete cheap bastard regardless what version you buy.
Of course, that could also be seen as a flaw, however given in China, everyone knows everything you do says something about you – and the underlying message of these options is old, limited edition and show-off – I think it works in ways other approaches can only dream of.
Which means, as often is the case, China leads the way and maybe … just maybe … Western companies and brands could start giving them credit for stuff they’ve been doing longer than we have been a civilisation.
[Which I covered off years ago in Sydney when I spoke at the Mumbrella conference. You can be bored by watching parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 here]
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand Suicide, Complicity, Consultants, Context, Craft, Crap Products In History, Creative Development, Creativity, Devious Strategy, Experience, Innovation, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail, Mediocrity, Reputation, Strategy, Technology
A few years ago, my wife – a designer – was working for a company on a freelance project.
She met them for the briefing and they told her, “We want people to see us as innovative”.
To which she replied, “I think the only way you do that is by doing innovative things”.
Now she wasn’t saying this to be an asshole, she was trying to be helpful … but, of course, they didn’t see that, even though she was absolutely right.
OK, some companies get away with it.
There’s one I know very well who position themselves as progressive … but look a little deeper and you see the innovation is more in their language and wrapping than anything truly ground breaking. And what’s more, they do the same thing – albeit with a different skin – for different companies time and time again.
To be fair, some of what they do/did is truly progressive, but that is most definitely the exception rather than the rule because their current business model appears to be far more about duplication and replication than innovation.
And that would be fine … except they position themselves as innovation pioneers.
It works because nothing attracts conservative companies than the ability to pretend/think they’re innovative or disruptive when – as Lee Hill once brilliantly observed – all they’re really doing is simply ‘modernising to the times’.
Or said another way, they’re simply catching up to where everyone else is, rather than leaving them behind.
It’s a commercial co-dependency.
They talk to you so you can think you’re innovative and you pay them to allow them keep thinking they are.
The reason I say all this is because I recently saw this in Pudong Airport …
It’s for Austrian/American chef Wolfgang Puck and his restaurant chain.
Now Wolfgang has achieved a great deal in his life …
He is the only chef awarded the ‘Outstanding Chef of the Year’ award on multiple occasions.
His 1982 restaurant Spago – which was a revelation – created the concept of the open kitchen.
He is responsible for serving celebrities a special banquet after the Academy Awards.
All good and grand.
However for all the ‘innovation and success’ Wolfgang has achieved, his Wolfgang Puck chain is anything but … exemplified by the fact that this hoarding claims, “To be truly original is to invent the future of food … to question, to experiment” and yet all the pictures accompanying this statement are about as basic as my dress sense.
Cheeseburger.
Prawn salad.
Steak.
Now I am not saying this food won’t be tasty. But I am saying it is not original and it most definitely is not inventing the future of food.
Of course, there is a lot of [bad] marketing that is underpinned by exaggeration and hype. And I totally appreciate China loves the superlative … however, as exciting as the people behind this restaurant may be about this concept and regardless how ‘new’ this may be to China [clue: it’s not] they’re selling the illusion of innovation rather than the reality of it.
And why do I care?
Because people are falling for this shit.
And while that is their issue, the result of this is the systematic downgrading of standards and ambition.
And truth.
Where more and more people are falling for average because it’s been sold to them as exceptionalism.
And it is convenient for them to believe that because it doesn’t challenge or question, it just comforts with convenience.
The result being those who are being innovative … the ones who are trying to do things differently … are met with immediate distain and dismissal. Judged, insulted and dismissed.
Please note I am not in any way claiming to be one of these people. But I know those who truly are. And so many have failed to achieve the impact and success they deserve because the business of illusion innovation is easier to buy than actual innovation.
And while I could say that is their problem, a lot of it is because of what they refuse to do.
Like guarantee results.
Or sell one-size-fits all process.
Or blindly accept the opinion and views of people because of their title.
Or follow research methodologies that are designed for totally different scenarios.
But that happens a lot. I’ve seen it. We all have.
Which is why I think the best thing that can save marketing is maybe to stop marketing.
Stop playing the games of how so many operate.
Stop valuing convenience, complicity and popularity in favour of truth, action and change.
Stop judging people on how much cash they bring in and more on what they’ve done/do.
Stop playing down to a price rather than up to a quality.
This industry is littered with brilliant creative, innovative, progressive doers and thinkers.
They’re everywhere and yet they rarely seem to be championed or celebrated.
At best they’re viewed as a novelty. At worse, a destructive force.
The Emperor’s New Clothes may get short-term economic results.
It may keep people employed and give the C-Suite big, fat bonus cheques.
But what it is also doing, is ensuring we fall backwards.
Not just killing our credibility, but denying a future to those who could bring us back.
And as acts of corporate hostility go, I find that one of the worst of all.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Comment, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Design
Recently I met someone called Jim, who designs – among other things – barbed wire.
When I was introduced to him, I first thought it was a pisstake.
I never thought of barbed wire being something designed … and I certainly didn’t think there would be different versions of it … but apparently there is, as demonstrated by the photo above that shows different barbed wire over the years.
But once I realised I was not part of an elaborate prank, I found the whole conversation with Jim fascinating. In his view, barbed wire is misunderstood … because while it is there to stop elements getting in – or out – its role is closer to survival than security.
Jim told me how the inventor of barbed wire – Lucien Smith – created it as a simple and effective way to keep cattle from straying. Prior to this, there was no practical or effective way to enclose vast amounts of land and so they had to engage in huge cattle drives for transporting – and controlling – cattle.
But with the invention of barbed wire, this all changed … to the point Jim regards barbed wire as playing a pivotal role in creating settlements across the American plains … which in turn, led to the creation of towns and cities.
As you may have worked out, Jim is a bit of an anorak where barbed wire is concerned … but I bloody loved the conversation – not to mention the way he approached barbed wire design – which all acts as a great reminder that while we all like to talk about creativity, there’s far more of it happening outside of the ad industry than inside it, and yet so little of the conversation ever acknowledges it, let alone celebrates it.
… yet despite that, it may also be one of the most thought-provoking.
And potentially scary.
Even scarier than the start of yet another week, and not because it features my voice.
[Though that is also very scary]
So errrrm, enjoy.
So we’re halfway through November.
November!
How the hell did that happen?
Oh my god, 6 weeks and we’re in 2024 … where we can look forward to a year of price increases, mortgage rate increases … but not pay increases.
I’m almost in awe at how companies have seized the economic downturn as an opportunity to charge more for their product. To come up with all manner of reasons to justify why their prices are going up, despite [1] making good profits [2] paying their CEO squillions and [3] not innovating their product or service … meanwhile doing everything they can to not be so open-minded when others try and do the same thing to them.
Crazy.
As crazy as it being halfway through November.
And I’ll tell you another thing that’s crazy … I’ve been on a diet since September.
OK, I didn’t choose to be, it was because of a medical condition they’re investigating … but in essence, I’ve had to radically change how I live my life.
Few carbs.
Few sugars.
Less sodium.
Fewer calories.
Given I am a kebab and chips loving fool, you’d think it would have been a nightmare, but I am quite surprised at how quickly I embraced it.
That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t kill to ram that greasy magic into my mouth – and don’t get me started on how much I miss pasta – but because I have HAD to do it, my mind basically adopted the same mindset I had when I decided I didn’t want to drink … which is radical rejection and exclusion.
So for the past 2 and a half months, I’ve been eating a lot of Weetbix … a lot of chicken … too much lettuce and copious amounts of black tea.
Has it been hard?
Yeah … mainly because everything has to be pre-planned, but once I found ways to get flavour into the blandness being shoved in my mouth, I felt a lot better.
Whoever created ultra-low sugar ‘buffalo sauce’ deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
And do I feel better for it?
I don’t know to be honest.
Obviously there’s parts of me that does … I’ve lost 18kg for a start … but it’s not like I suddenly have tons more energy or sleep better, as all the cliches go.
But one thing I do feel more informed about is how much sugar there is in absolutely everything.
For possibly the first time in my life, I’ve had to look carefully at the labels of the food I buy/consume and Jesus Bloody Christ … it’s everywhere.
OK, I know everyone knew this.
I probably knew this.
I just didn’t know how much of it was in every teeny thing.
So that has been a revelation …
Will it change me when these tests are done?
I’d like to think yes … but I fear no.
But what has been really fascinating to me is that my real love of dodgy food is the anticipation of eating it and the first 2 bites.
That’s it.
It’s why after I’ve eaten my latest chickenweetbixlettuce combo, I feel a bit confused.
Not that I’ve been able to eat the same thing for the 1000th time, but that I feel OK after it.
That my body seems OK being given fuel rather than taste.
Or said another way …
I feel just as fine after scoffing bland as I did after chips.
Of course I miss those salty vinegary pillows of crispy delight – it sometimes gets so bad that I’ve found myself watching all manner of food related stuff on Youtube from best burger hunts to most pizza slices eaten – but as long as I have had some food in my stomach, I’m over it.
Hell, I’ve even started to appreciate taste.
OK, not in my dress sense or music choice, but definitely in terms of what I put in my gob.
It’s all so bloody mind-blowing.
And while I’m under no illusion that as posts go, this is one of the worst I’ve ever written – and let’s face it, there’s a lot I can compare it too – I’ve written this less for you and more for me … so should I ever feel I cannot live another minute without a big bowl of cheesy pasta, I can read this again and remind myself I’ll survive.
Maybe only just. But I will survive.