Category Psychology

Your Employee Reward and Recognition Efforts are Hurting Innovation and Revenue

There’s a special place in corporate heaven for the “Top Salesperson” slide. You know the one: giant photo, huge number, maybe a quote about “hustle,” and 90 seconds of applause before everyone goes back to doing… exactly what they were… Continue Reading →

The Real Housewives of Marketing – New B2B & B2C Series

I found this post on substack by Derek Thompson called “Everything Is Television” and initially thought it would a retread analysis of the 1961 Newton Minow address to the National Association of Broadcasters where he coined the now famous “tv… Continue Reading →

Personal vs. Personalized: The “Traylor” Power Couple of Loyalty Marketing

Let’s be real—every marketer today is awash in data. Algorithms know more about individual snack cravings and sleep patterns than most best friends. Spotify guesses the next earworm, Netflix drops oddly spot-on show suggestions, and Starbucks remembers that extra caramel… Continue Reading →

From Fries to Friendships: Adding Connection to Loyalty

In their book “The Power of Moments”, Chip and Dan Heath remind us: “Defining moments are social… strengthened because we share them with others.” I’m sure you’ll agree… our biggest memories typically involve people. You don’t reminisce about earning a… Continue Reading →

“Why Your Brand Is Just Another Face in the Crowd” – How Liminal Thinking Can Make You Visible Again

{no AI was abused writing this post} Differentiation is never safe; it takes guts to step over the threshold from what’s proven into what could be. Now is your time to stop copying and start leading! Being remarkable is always… Continue Reading →

Personalization vs. Managed Serendipity: Time to Shake Up Loyalty Programs

TL;DR: Personalization keeps customers comfortable, but managed serendipity sparks surprises, fueling more excitement, deeper engagement, and fresh revenue for smart loyalty programs. For the last decade, the loyalty industry’s been banging the personalization drum like it is their job (and… Continue Reading →

Onboarding Employees – The First HUGE Step in the Engagement Journey 

I’ve been onboarded a few times. I’m guessing you have too.   Show of hands – how many times was it pleasant, interesting, informative, useful and ultimately, engaging? Yeah. I thought so.   Unfortunately for most companies, onboarding from an employee… Continue Reading →

The Truth is You’re Just Not That Important

Trust me. You’re not. For some reason, the following exchange from the movie “The Social Network” between Jesse Eisenberg playing Mark Zuckerberg and the lawyer conducting the initial deposition for the lawsuit filed by the Winklevoss twins over who created… Continue Reading →

Motivation, Incentives, and What Wimpy Knew

[Full disclosure – this is a post form 2008 but evergreen] To paraphrase Wimpy from the Popeye cartoon, “I’ll gladly reward you Tuesday for your behavior today.” Every incentive and reward program is really a trade-off between behavior and a… Continue Reading →

Broken Record … brrp… Broken Record … brrp… Broken Record

Incentive design malpractice is rampant. I’ll say it again since it is worth repeating. Incentive design malpractice is rampant. It’s easy to spot. Simply look at the way people earn commissions or award points, etc. If 100% of the criteria… Continue Reading →

Get Creative by Getting Out of Your Own Way

I don’t know whether James Clear is brilliant or just smart. He wrote the book Atomic Habits (very good.) I subscribe to his weekly email. He formats it with a 3-2-1 thing.  Three ideas from him. Two quotes from others. One… Continue Reading →

3 NON-Award Ways to Drive Participant Engagement

I have yet to meet a client who doesn’t want more audience engagement with their marketing, training, and incentive programs. Even if the data said they were getting 100% engagement my clients would still ask, “Can’t you get more?” The… Continue Reading →

Why Short-Term Promotions Matter

It’s been over a month since I posted. I wanted to focus on my family and my work to be sure I was doing everything possible to support those two critical aspects of my life. Posting here doesn’t change my… Continue Reading →

I HAVE to have THAT Feature! Falling for FONHAFIINI 

I am shopping for a new laptop backpack. There are some great options out there with great prices. I’m pretty sure I know what I need and that is the starting point for my shopping process. Then I see one… Continue Reading →

OMG – Best.News.Letter.Ever!

I’ve mentioned Bri Williams before. She runs a consultancy in Australia and has a wonderful newsletter that I devour and save ever time it hits my inbox. I won’t lie… I steal a lot of ideas from her. But as… Continue Reading →

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