The problem with market research, and how to mitigate it
One side benefit of a national election (some might say, side effect) is that we get to read new polls almost every day. If you're in marketing, it's a great laboratory to see which "pitch" is working, which is not. But there's a downside: We're occasionally reminded that research is, well, research. It's not perfect, and it's sometimes confounding.
Can 1/4 second make a difference?
One of the points consistently made here is that in our increasingly cluttered media environment, less is more than it ever was. Here are findings from 3 studies that make the point well:
What baseball can teach advertising
If you haven't seen Moneyball or read the book, here's the synopsis: In 2002, Billy Beane, manager of the Oakland A's, finds himself with a salary budget of $41 million, lowest in the majors. The Yankee's budget that year was $125 million. But the A's go on to win 101 games, same as the Yankees, despite being outspent 3 to 1.
Babies, Animals, Beautiful People and Recall Scores
Why do we stop to look at babies, animals, and beautiful people? It has to do with evolutionary psychology.