07 2025 July
Is “Sludge” a Real Customer Service Tactic to Avoid Irate Customers?
There is a term in Cass R. Sunstein and Richard H. Thaler’s book Nudge, first published in 2008, that introduces the idea of sludge–“tortuous administrative demands,...
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05 2025 February
The Age of the AI Chatbot Salesperson Might Have an Unintended Side Effect
Training an employee to do upselling (and be good at it) is notoriously difficult. When it’s done right, it can drive significant revenue for many...
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31 2024 December
Jamie Foxx and His Family Offer a Masterclass on How to Maintain Privacy
About eighteen months ago, actor and musician Jamie Foxx got sick. Like really sick. He was rushed to the hospital with “life threatening” injuries and...
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12 2023 October
How “Blamevertising” Explains The Modern American Healthcare Crisis
The industry trade group that represents the Pharma industry (PhRMA) is running a series of attack ads on “middlemen” – blaming Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)...
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26 2023 July
When Influencer Marketing Goes Predictably Wrong
When a fast fashion retailer often criticized for negative environmental and labor track record wants to recast its brand image, it is not a good...
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10 2022 October
California DMV Approves Usage of Pointless Digital License Plates
The problem is, this license plate doesn’t do any of the things that drivers would actually want from a digital plate. Like changing my plate number to ...
Read Now26 2019 December
5 Non-Obvious Megatrends Changing Our World In 2020
For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business...
Read Now22 2019 March
How The Non-Obvious Trend Of “RetroTrust” Started Taking Off
One of the most popular trends from this year’s edition of Non-Obvious was a trend I called RetroTrust – the idea that we trust in...
Read Now12 2018 August
Why Netflix Uses Taste Communities Instead of Demographics
Last week Netflix announced that they would be stopping their long standing policy of asking customers to vote on early pilots for programs to see...
Read Now10 2018 August
Victorinox and How To Use Powerfully Ordinary Videos For Marketing
One piece of advice I am fond of sharing from the stage is about the importance of showing your work – something we are told...
Read Now29 2017 August
Why The NFL’s Newest Stadium Will Have $2 Hot Dogs and $5 Beer
In a league often defined by greed, with unscrupulous owners who are sometimes hated by their entire fan populations (like Daniel Snyder of the Redskins), it may...
Read Now01 2017 August
Food Transparency and When Storytelling Can Backfire
Storytelling can shape consumer perception, but it may also have an underappreciated downside. When journalist Amy Wu was invited by Iowa Select Farms to tour...
Read Now09 2016 December
15 Non-Obvious Business Trends Shaping 2017 (Retail, Consumer, Tech, Marketing, and Media)
Are you a member of the media? Visit our media kit to download a trend summary and more information about requesting an interview with Rohit...
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