Have you ever seen an ad that makes you think a bit before you “get it?” Like a tiny mental puzzle, you have to take a second to understand the message. But when you do, it seems to stick in your mind all day. It’s down to a behavioral science…

How this simple psychology principle can make your customer experience more memorable — Have you ever gone to the grocery store and forgotten the one thing you can in for, but managed to buy everything else on the list? Or have you ever noticed that at a fashion show the most famous models open and close the show? And everyone knows it’s important…

Get specific, make change. — Are you interested in changing people’s behavior? It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer, an experience designer, or a behavioral scientist — before you can change behavior, you need to figure out what you want people to do. These are called target behaviors, and they need to be defined before…

Why the biggest marketing disaster in history didn’t have to go wrong… — It's one of the biggest fails in business history — New Coke. You might think you know the story. A classic brand foolishly replaces its classic product, and customers rebel. But contrary to popular belief, New Coke was a great idea and a great product - even if it was…

Or, how to make waiting in line less painful… — Have you ever had to wait for a really slow elevator? It seems to take forever, right? In post-war America, high-rise buildings had this problem for years. People would complain because the elevators were too slow. But instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars to make the elevators faster…

The psychological traps they fell into and how you can avoid them — Founded in 1902 by James Cash Penny, JC Penny was once the biggest retailer in the United States and the gold standard of American retail. For nearly a hundred years, every town seemed to have a JC Penny. Almost everything people needed could be found on its shelves (or in…

Why our brains confuse recent information and important information — Have you ever seen an article or watched a story on the local news about someone who’s won the lottery? How did you feel after you watched it? Did you feel like your own chances of winning went up or down? If you got a little nagging feeling in your…

And how you can steal their strategies — The iPhone changed everything. It’s one of the most desirable and innovative products in the world. Only creative, brilliant geniuses — like you — own an iPhone. At least, that’s what they want you to think. Apple are masters of creating a brand that people want to be a part…

The secrets behind the world’s obsession — It started a few weeks ago. Tiny, colorful squares started popping up on my Twitter feed.