People hate change - like "new" products

It´s said that in times of social media, brands are now sensitive to customer feedback, that they are mouldable, adaptable into becoming their best to serve. Bah! Most times, when a customer points out something that could be improved, the company owner or staff starts to defend themselves. And miss an opportunity to become better!

Sometimes I see how a café or a shop could benefit from doing things in another way. Like the silly system we have in Sweden, where we stand in a queue to get a coffee, while the same person who takes your order also makes the coffee, hence the queue is a prison for sometimes ten-fifteen minutes when you have to stand there, waiting for 8 people´s lattes to be produced.

I´ve never seen anything like it in any other country. In Australia there is one person who takes your order, charges you cash, and another who does the coffee. While waiting you can go and sit down, or at least not stand in a line, humiliated like a sheep.

Every time you somehow point this out (in a nice way), the café owner starts saying "no, can´t do that". An instant reaction. An impulse. "No, can´t do that".

I know change is hard and we are biologically created to avoid it, but for an entrepreneur it´s a mystery. I´ve many times tried to point out how much better it would be to turn the chairs in another direction, word things differently to attract more customers or say another way of organizing would be smoother, but no matter how smooth my voice, or big my smile is, they look at me as an enemy. I´m trouble. I have opinions!

It is an interesting psychological phenomenon. Customers react in the same way. Try to give them a new option and they will say "No, can´t do that", and their smart profrontal cortex part of the brain will come up with heaps of arguments. While in fact, it´s their emotional selves, their fear of change, that is running the show.

An added smell makes your brand stick

If a brand want people to remember what it stands for, it should add a special smell to the item! Research, presented on Neurosciencemarketing.com´s blog shows that if the product smells - especially of something that is relevant - people will keep the product in their memory for longer. Which we all know is great for selling more. 

From the researchers: “Product scent may be particularly effective at enhancing memory for product information as a function of its ability to enhance a product’s distinctiveness within its surrounding context,” write authors Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan), May Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), and Maureen Morrin (Rutgers University).

Scent enhances a product’s distinctiveness, which helps consumers remember it down the line, the authors found…

In one study, the authors had 151 participants evaluate pencils that were unscented, scented with pine scent (common), or scented with tea tree scent (uncommon). “We found that the memory for the scented pencils was much greater than memory for the unscented pencils, and that this effect was especially pronounced after a time delay,” the authors write. They also found that participants’ memory of the uncommonly (tea tree) scented pencils was more resistant to decay. [From the Journal of Consumer Research - Does Scent Enhance Product Memories?]

Some of the product attributes presented to the subjects were claims like, “Is endorsed with the Green Seal environment standard,” “Contains superior graphite lead,” and “Are made from premium oak trees that hail from California.” The subjects remembered these and other characteristics better for the smelly pencils.

Another experiment tested the effects of ambient scent; the researchers found that recall of all objects in an environment was improved by an ambient scent, the recall of individual products wasn’t aided significantly.


Read more: http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/scent-increases-product-recall.htm 

Adidas and Nike - Totally different vibe and target

I met up with a friend once who was wearing Adidas sweatpants on his way to a party. I asked... ehhh, are you going to a party dressed like that? Yeah, he responded. "We are all going to be dressed up as criminals!"   I came to think of this when watching the new Olympics ads from Adidas. They motto is "Take the stage" and it´s all "come on you can become famous too":

 

This vibe attracts those who look for stardom in life, and we all know that those who do deep down just want to be loved... Many unhappy people will be attracted to the message.

 The difference between the competing brand Nike is enormous. Nike market itself as the shoe for health, for everyday fitness. It´s not about being a sportstar to get chicks and become a billionaire. It´s more a matter of challenging yourself everyday. They say "Greatness is for all of us"

 


This is a clear example of how a brand can differ depending on what target audience they choose, and not in terms of demographics or gender, but in terms of aspirations and personality.

Clever anti smoking campaign

This ad is so strong. Most anti-smoking ads I´ve seen are showing people who are sick, dying and looking awful, but I know through research that most smokers do NOT identify themselves with that image. If they see someone on tv who has cancer, emphysema or whatever, they quickly come up with an excuse or say "As soon as I get ill I will quit but I feel fantastic". They think "Don´t I look awesome? I am young and healthy, out partying, living life, on top of the world... "

This ad let the smokers themselves spread the message in a clever way.

Read more: http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/thai-smoking-ad-leaves-local-market-gasping

 

Let people work for samples! Great campaign from Fantastic Delites

This is a really interesting campaign by Fantastic Delites, created by an Adelaide agency. It shows people going through a LOT of effort to get a single trial pack of chips.

 The thought from the marketing department was that once people have tried the snack they usually love it. But the true power of the campaign lies in the fact that we appreciate more what we have had to work hard for... When people have put effort into receiving a present, they are more likely to see its amazing value.

 Plus, we love being entertained. Actually, life is like a massive networking event, and everyone knows how awkward it can be to mingle - the small talk, the stepping on toes, the meaningless and nervewrecking chats with strangers... And what breaks the ice better than a piece of entertainment. Let people focus on something else than themselves, and boring questions like "what do you work with", and let them laugh together, and you have forever placed your brand in their heart.

Compare this with the desperate feel of people simply handing out samples to anyone during rush hour. Am I the only one who get the feeling that those items are kind of cheap...?

 This is a very long film, but have a look at it. The hard work will make you feel better :)

 

http://www.fantasticdelites.com.au 


Read about the campaign: http://www.campaignbrief.com/2012/07/fantastic-delites-launches-del.html

Cassandra Daily presents the new food trend: Scandinavian!

OK, This is simply sharing a little trend from NY, spotted by Cassandra! Have a look at their website for more cool stuff.

New(er) Nordic

The culinary trend of the moment has gourmands looking to the north

Noma, the unofficial temple of the New Nordic food movement, is considered by many epicures to be “the best restaurant in the world,” a presumptuous title that’s made it near impossible for most folks to nab a reservation there. Fortunately, the culinary trend it propelled has made re-imagined Scandinavian fare a widespread phenomenon, with fresh iterations of New Nordic cuisine tantalizing smoked fish fans well beyond the boundaries of Copenhagen.

Frej: Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s Frej is a pop-up restaurant, but judging by the reverent reviews that have been pouring out since its opening this past winter, one can expect that its transient status may be temporary indeed. Situated in the back of Kinfolk Studios, a creative agency that also houses an art gallery, a bar and a bike company, Frej’s dining room is as intimate as its New Nordic menu is thoughtful. The space seats just 18 diners, and its seven-course tasting menu boasts Gotham takes on Scandinavian standards, like pike with potato, sprat, and wild herbs. Proving to be a New York anomaly in more ways than one, the menu is just $45 per person.

Noshi Brooklyn: The breadth of cross-continental fusion cuisine continues to widen. One of the latest examples marries Scandinavia to Asia. Noshi Brooklyn, a culinary project enjoyed by patrons of the weekly Smorgasburg food market, is exploring the intersection of traditional Nordic fish recipes with Japanese sensibilities. The result is a multicultural interpretation of smørrebrød, a Danish open-faced sandwich. The base is rugbrød, a rye bread based on an eighth generation sourdough from chef/co-owner Stephan Alsman’s hometown of Odense. Toppings vary, but they always include a cured-and-smoked fish seasoned with flavors from Alsman’s wife Sayuri’s native Japan, including bonito, nori, ginger, shiso, wasabi, and shiokoji.

Fäviken: Fäviken Magasinet, a 12-seat restaurant in northern Sweden, is hailed as one of the most adventurous dining establishments in the world given its foraged menu items, not to mention the distance one must travel to reach its remote mountain location. Fortunately, Fäviken, a forthcoming book about the restaurant, offers a way to sample chef Magnus Nilsson’s fabled meat oddities at home by including several seasonal recipes created in his preservationist kitchen. Admittedly, it will be difficult for anyone not residing in a pastoral region of Scandinavia to obtain, say, moose meat, but guides to making staples like yogurt, bread, and vinegar will appeal to New Nordic-leaning homesteaders.

References to products and services in Cassandra Daily do not imply our endorsement, but rather are intended to provide objective insights into emerging trends and examples of those trends. Cassandra Daily is published by The Intelligence Group, a trend research and consumer insights company focusing on youth culture. For more information on our services, or to subscribe to our syndicated Cassandra Report studies, please contact Allison Arling at aarling@intelg.com.

Pay with a painting

I love this idea! A lot of brads reward you for posting pictures, but hotel Clarion in Stockholm rewards you with a night at the hotel for your real painting! Give them a piece of art and stay there for free! I might put somethign together myself actually... hmmm...

At Clarion Hotel Stockholm we love art so much that from the 8th of June 2012, artists can pay for their hotel stay with art. It’s all really very simple: An artwork – a room – one night.

 

For reservations email: reservation.stockholm@choice.se

Include the booking code: Room for Art

 

Artworks must be signed by the artist, in A4 format and submitted upon arrival together with a Room for Art form that can be downloaded here >>

 

Conditions

Room for Art offer is valid subject to availability. Rooms can be reserved at the very earliest 7 days before, and at the very latest 1 day before the desired date of arrival. A valid credit card number is required to guarantee reservations. Cancellation without fee may be made no later than 16:00 the day before arrival. This offer is valid based on maximum 2 persons occupancy per double room, 1 night per stay. Offer can be taken advantage of maximum 2 times per person, per calendar year.  Ownership of all artwork - including exclusive rights of use - is transferred in full to Clarion Hotel Stockholm upon submission, without exception.

 

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