The Marketing Secrets Apple & Tesla Always Use: Rory Sutherland
Aug 1, 2022
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Rory Sutherland, a senior advertising executive and author of Alchemy, shares his unconventional ideas on marketing and advertising. Topics include the concept of how we value things, recursive trends, the brain's marketing function, technology making location irrelevant, making something bad to give it value, scarcity of product, personalisation, and personal branding.
Focusing on improving how people feel rather than pursuing rational improvements can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and create breakthroughs in value creation.
Providing a map that shows the location of a taxi can reduce stress and instill a sense of confidence, demonstrating the power of perception in shaping customer experience.
Creating meaning and imbuing products with value can be achieved through marketing and psychology, as exemplified by the use of vegan leather in Tesla cars.
Considering counterintuitive strategies such as making processes more difficult or using negative stories can enhance perceived value and trustworthiness, highlighting the importance of unconventional approaches in marketing and business.
Deep dives
Psychology over Rational Improvement
The podcast episode highlights the importance of psychology in creating value and improving customer satisfaction. It emphasizes that businesses should focus on improving how people feel rather than solely pursuing rational improvements. For example, instead of making a train faster, making the journey more enjoyable can greatly enhance customer satisfaction. This reframing of value creation can lead to significant breakthroughs and positive perceptions. The episode also discusses the power of perception and the psychological impact of factors such as uncertainty and trust on consumer experience.
The Psychological Moonshot of the Uber Map
The episode explores the psychological insight behind the success of the Uber map. It reveals that the anxiety experienced while waiting for a taxi is not primarily about the duration, but rather the degree of uncertainty. By providing a map that shows the location of the taxi, Uber successfully reduces stress and instills a sense of confidence. This example showcases how a simple psychological intervention can greatly enhance customer experience and perception.
Creating Value through Meaning and Context
The podcast episode emphasizes that people value things based on what they mean to them, which is highly context-dependent. It discusses how marketing and psychology can be used to create meaning and imbue products with value. The example of vegan leather replacing plastic seats in Tesla cars demonstrates that a reframing of materials can alter the perceived value of a product. By exploring the stories and narratives behind products, businesses can create additional value for customers.
The Power of Counterintuitive Approaches
The episode highlights the potential of counterintuitive approaches in marketing and business. It discusses examples such as the IKEA effect, where consumer involvement in the assembly of furniture increases perceived value. It explores the concept of making processes more difficult, leading to increased attractiveness. The episode also mentions how negative stories or constraints around products can offset negative perceptions and enhance trustworthiness. Ultimately, it underlines the importance of considering unconventional and counterintuitive strategies to create value and differentiate products.
Importance of Effective Communication and Storytelling
Effective communication and storytelling are essential skills in various aspects of life, including marketing, personal branding, and entrepreneurship. The ability to articulate ideas, convey stories, and engage audiences can lead to opportunities, inspire others, and create a strong personal brand. It is crucial to develop these skills as they can significantly impact success and the ability to sell oneself, ideas, or products.
The Value of Marketing and Branding in Business
Marketing and branding play a critical role in business success, often overlooked by many. A strong brand can provide various benefits, such as customer loyalty, forgiveness for mistakes, increased perceived value, and less price sensitivity. Effective marketing efforts, both online and offline, can contribute to the growth of a brand and engage customers. Rather than obsessing purely over quantifiable metrics, businesses should strike a balance between performance marketing and brand building to optimize their overall outcomes.
The Significance of Curiosity and Unconventional Thinking
Curiosity and thinking outside the box are valuable traits that can lead to innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, and success. Embracing a sense of wonder, staying curious, and seeking different perspectives can foster creativity and help develop unconventional solutions. It is important to maintain an open mind, challenge conventional norms, and explore diverse sources of inspiration, as these qualities can contribute to personal and professional growth.
Rory Sutherland is the author of Alchemy, a senior advertising executive, and the man who understands why some ideas connect with people and some ideas don’t. He’s a columnist, an innovator and a trailblazer in the world of marketing and advertising.
Rory doesn’t have time for business platitudes, but rather looks for the unconventional crazy ideas that really stand out. This is why he devoted years of his life to looking at business from a human behavioural perspective, to understand not just why people should do things, but why they actually do them.
Rory always seeks out the outlier and the unexplainable phenomena. He’s become an expert on why certain emotional triggers cause us to behave irrationally, how you can be aware of yourself when you aren’t making smart decisions, and how you can deploy those triggers when you’re trying to sell something yourself. Rory blessed us with his one of a kind knowledge to make this one of the most memorable conversations we’ve had with an author for a while.
