Wake Up with Chris Donnelly S2 Ep6: Psychology Hacks of the World's Best Advertisers - Rory Sutherland
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Aug 29, 2025 
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and best-selling author, dives deep into the fascinating intersection of psychology and advertising. He argues that logic often stifles creativity, revealing that emotional connections drive consumer choices more than rational thought. Rory shares insights on pricing psychology, branding as perception management, and the pitfalls of over-optimization in data-driven marketing. He also discusses the significance of innovative strategies and the importance of thinking outside the box to capture consumer interest and foster brand loyalty.
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Marketing Is A Fat-Tailed Game
- Marketing is fat-tailed: a few big ideas deliver disproportionate value while most work yields tiny incremental gains.
- Treat marketing like treasure-hunting, not a quarter-to-quarter optimization exercise.
The Netflix Subscription Breakthrough
- Blockbuster refused to buy Netflix when it was DVDs-by-post and were right at that time because Netflix later found the subscription 'secret sauce'.
- The subscription pivot (flat monthly fee, no late fees) was the discovery that created massive value.
Use Reverse Benchmarking To Differentiate
- Use reverse benchmarking: find what competitors do badly and double down on that single strength.
- Be outstanding at one thing and merely adequate at the rest to create differentiation.
