Alchemy, Taste, Candi XP, Au Revoir
Issue No 48
There is an important announcement at the end of the newsletter. So do read it fully. Without any further ado, welcome to Issue No 48. My first recommendation is the book Alchemy by Rory Sutherland.
1. Alchemy - The Case for Magic
“Human behaviour does not run on objective reality. It runs on contexts and meaning.” Rory Sutherland
In science there is one right answer. When it comes to human beings there are many answers. Sometimes these solutions can be puzzling.
If you were asked to create an alternative to Coke, the rational response would be to offer an alternative drink that is cheaper, tastes better and is put in a bigger bottle. What if the successful alternative was something that was sold in a tiny can, overpriced (so overpriced that they can sponsor a F1 team with the profits) and tastes TERRIBLE. Yes, I am speaking about Red Bull. How do you explain the success of Red Bull that proved to be a popular drink?
When Savlon removed the sting that antiseptic lotions (like Dettol) cause, they expected consumers to be relieved. Instead consumers felt that Savlon was ineffective. The consumers saw the sting as proof of effectiveness.
Things are valuable when it is out of reach and scarce. When Nano - the car designed by Tatas was priced at a lakh, it bombed.
I reviewed the book Alchemy by Rory Sutherland and added two more sketchnotes besides this one.
2. What if you designed the sounds around you?
Sensory Marketing appeals to your senses to make a product more desirable. Sometimes Marketeers use colours to make a product taste sweeter. In 2011 Coke launched a special-edition white-coloured can to raise funds for endangered polar bears. It was withdrawn when consumers complained that Coca-Cola had also changed its secret formula. Red, the usual colour of a Coke can, is associated with sweetness; in one experiment, participants perceived salty popcorn as tasting sweet when it was served in a red bowl. That explains why diet Coke is served in a white can.
Eating is a multi-sensorial activity. Potato Chips taste flat if you eat them with your ears plugged. Try it. Coffee tastes stronger when served in a white cup (as opposed to a clear glass). <Read about how sound is DESIGNED to address your senses>
The thud of a car door is designed to convey luxury. Contrast that with the sound of the commercial truck door closing.
Mondelez, the owner of Cadbury’s changed the classic rectangular chunks of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk into curved segments, customers complained that the chocolate tasted “too sugary” and “sickly.”
Curved shapes can enhance sweetness. In one experiment, diners reported that a cheesecake tasted twenty per cent sweeter when it was eaten from a round white plate rather than a square one. <Unbelievable? Read this>
Much of the effect of the movie that you watch is based on sound design.
The sound of opening a Coke bottle is so ingrained in us, that in the ad when they REMOVED the sound, people still heard it in their head. Watch this add and let me know if you heard the sound.
People are missing the sound of their colleagues as they work alone at home. Even that gentle hum of the coffee machine or copier. The sound of rain as you work in the office. You can recreate the sound of colleagues. Click this and listen
Listen to this podcast about Mel Blanc whose voice created the sound of 400 characters. No one has ever come close to that.
This podcast has lots of fascinating episodes about sound. Strongly recommend you try it out. <listen here>
3. Does Scale Kill Innovation?
The startups like to build a prototype and once they find the product-market fit, they relentlessly scale it up. This also where the seeds of atrophy lie. The unicorn fizzles out to become an Incumbent. Even a Market Shaper could drop off the perch and become irrelevant. Blackberry went from world domination to irrelevance in a year.
How can organisations transform themselves? I chatted with Saul Kaplan. He is the Co-Founder of the Business Innovation factory.
The chat with Saul was fascinating.
Dreamers & Unicorns Show on Wednesdays at 7pm IST
Don’t miss the second episode of Season 2 of my chat with these fascinating guests. I am chatting with Greg Satell this Wednesday. Join my LinkedIn Live to hear Greg.
Read some of his articles about Innovation and Transformation
Candidate Experience
When people go for a job interview they are made to wait. The interviewers are often unprepared. the most common challenge, when a candidate is rejected, no one tells the candidate the bad news.
Mass-production thrives on standardisation. It brings down the cost of goods. That is an attractive business model. But if your business model depends on the way a specific individual builds the product or service, your hiring process must attract the right candidate. Designing a candidate experience is becoming more important than ever before.
Reviewia is a company that is like Glassdoor but for candidates. It is an early stage company that is aiming to give the candidate experience prominence. Good and bad candidate experiences are listed on ReviewIA. Find out if your company is featured here.
They spoke to me about why Candidate Experience has been neglected. Read this
Au Revoir
And with that we come to the end of this newsletter. Not just this edition, but the newsletter. There will be no more issues of this newsletter after this one.
I was all set to bring you the Annual issue of this newsletter in four weeks, but I want to pause and come back at a later date when things improve. So there will be no more Monday mailers from next Monday onwards.
Stay in touch. Leave a comment and if you liked this edition, do tap the heart below
Stay healthy
Bye