In 2010 UNICEF did a guerrilla marketing campaign about dirty water. The project set up a vending machine on a crowded street in New York City. Here’s how it worked. People walked up to the machine, put $1 in a slot and hit a button. Buttons were labeled malaria, cholera, typhoid and five other diseases. [...]
Archive for the ‘Communications’ Category
11 New Year’s resolutions for communicators
Posted in Communications, Public relations, Storytelling, tagged New Year's resolutions on January 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I just read a great article in LinkedIn Today: “11 New Year’s resolutions for PR and marketing professionals.” I printed it out and intend to hang it above by desk. It’s worth remembering for anyone who writes, markets or does PR as part of your job. Here are the 11 tips. You can find more [...]
I’m back! (mostly)
Posted in Brain science, Communications, Informational overload, tagged Decision-making, Information overload on November 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This week marks the six-month anniversary of my bike accident. If you’ve read my blog about the accident, you know that I had a severe concussion and was told to rest my brain so it could heal. Now I’m mostly better. I would say my brain is 95% healed. The last 5% I can best [...]
Keep It Simple
Posted in Communications, Green marketing, Hazardous products, tagged concussion, homer simpson, Life lessons, the thinker on June 29, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The last thing I remember is cresting the hill on my bicycle. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance. The 20 or 30 minutes in between are gone, irretrievable. Even interviewing the first responders and visiting the scene of the accident did nothing to jog my memory. Maybe it’s a good [...]
’Tis the season . . . part 2
Posted in Anchoring, Behavior change, Charity donations, Communications, tagged Anchoring, Charity donations, Starbucks on December 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday I talked about how charities use our desire for internal consistency when asking us for donations. Another tool of the trade is anchoring. Charities keep track of how much you gave them in the past, and they use that as a starting point. If you gave them $50 last year, they might suggest a [...]
’Tis the season . . . for charity calls
Posted in Charity donations, Cognitive dissonance, Communications, Consistency, Marketing, Prediction, tagged Charity donations, Consistency, Predicting behavior on December 9, 2010 | 1 Comment »
This time of year, my mailbox fills with letters from charities asking for year-end donations. Some of them call me instead. They often start the call with: “First I’d like to thank you for your past support . . .” They use this phrase because it works. If they remind me that I have given [...]
