Category Research
“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 →
“…strategy researchers Michael McDonald and James Westphal, the worse companies performed, the more CEOs sought advice from friends and colleagues who shared their perspectives.” from Adam Grant’s “Originals” That is litterly the grown up version of the post title. Humans… Continue Reading →
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 →
We love averages. So much so it allows us to feel confident in our design choices even when they will backfire. We all see the “data” that suggests “most” people like X or Y. The incentive world is full of… Continue Reading →
In today’s hyper-analytic, big-data business world Return on Investment (ROI) is axiomatic. Don’t even think about running a marketing program, or designing a program, or even thinking about a program before you’ve proven an insanely positive ROI. But is that… Continue Reading →
Yesterday’s post was about “reward velocity”, with the point being that good program design looks for smaller, incremental opportunities to reward and engage with the program participants. Those events keep the program visible in the work and life flow of… Continue Reading →
Motivation has been studied, prodded, poked and dissected since cavepeople were painting on walls. And all that effort has led to multiple theories of why people do what they do. I believe each has a modicum of value and insight… Continue Reading →
Companies run incentive programs that use non-cash awards for very specific reasons. Most of those reasons, if not all, participants will argue with. They will argue because their objective and the company’s objective, are very different. Companies don’t run these… Continue Reading →
One of my favorite books on influence is “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely. It’s a mash up of “Freakonmics” and “Influence: Science and Practice” and “Fooled by Randomness.” I reference the book regularly and have my e-notes in a special file… Continue Reading →
Incentive programs reward people for hitting specific goals. Typically, you announce the requirements and as your audience performs and hit the specified hurdles, they earn awards – points, credits, what have you. The points earned can be redeemed for merchandise,… Continue Reading →
What I thought about this weekend is that most companies would love to have all their employees (or their distribution channel and customers for that matter) focused on the best interests of the company. However, that is a difficult task. … Continue Reading →
