Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

We’re on the hunt for great companies that went out of their way to treat their customers well. From an amusement park that delivered such superior customer service that other corporations asked for lessons, to a shoe company you can order a pizza from, to a store that actually accepted a returned product they didn’t even sell just to keep their customer happy – join us as we search for companies that go the extra inch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are millions of successful brands in the world, but very few of them are in the exclusive billion dollar club. We'll test your ability to guess which brands in your life are the billion-dollar ones, and we'll tell you which of P&G's brands reached $10 billion first, which cookie is worth a cool billion, which Hollywood movie star is has sold the most tickets, and which NHL franchise is the only billion-dollar team in the league. Join us as we look at the mega brands that outsell all the others.The list may just surprise you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we look at Marketing Stunts.Many brands try to get into the Guinness Book Of World Records as a marketing strategy. With that in mind, we’ll talk about how an energy drink staged a record-breaking jump from space, why a giant popsicle stunt melted before it even started, why unsuspecting travelers ended up running through a train station like James Bond, and how Richard Branson pulled off a stunt that drove British Airways crazy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, just in time for the Oscars - we take our annual look at creative movie trailers. We’ll see how Walt Disney convinced the public to watch the first-ever full-length animated movie, how some trailers don’t show a frame of the actual film they’re advertising, how some trailers contain footage not found in the movie itself, and we’ll tell you the story of why thousands of people bought tickets to a movie, watched a trailer that ran before the movie started, then got up and went home.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Under The Influence, we look at the companies that actually profit by asking you to BUY LESS.We’ll explore a burger company that asks its customers to eat less beef, a printing company helps you print less, why Gillette has suddenly started encouraging men to change blades less often, and why a clothing company insists that you buy less of their apparel.It’s a completely counter-intuitive marketing strategy, but each of these companies is doing more business than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Under The Influence, we look at the incredible creativity happening in radio advertising today.Many advertisers think radio is yesterday's medium, but judging by the incredible work being done around the world, radio isn't dead, it's hotter than ever.We'll look at the top radio advertising ideas that have won in recent international award shows, including one remarkable idea that used code to reach kidnapped soldiers in Columbia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we look at the critical importance of timing in marketing.It’s one thing to put the right message in front of the right person, but it’s a fine art to put it in front of them at the perfect moment.We’ll look at how the United States Navy used perfect timing to double their applications by taking advantage of a certain movie playing in theatres. We’ll explain why Dr. Scholl’s chose to pitch inner soles in the washrooms of nightclubs and how Hellman’s Mayonnaise used perfect timing to talk to women in grocery stores. We’ll also talk about how Target stores know you’re pregnant before your family does, and we’ll wrap up the episode by explaining why the fishing lure industry has Marilyn Monroe to thank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember when you were growing up, and you’d find a prize inside your cereal box? Prizes, premiums and box-top offers have been a staple of modern marketing since the 1800s. We’ll tell the story of how the first ever box-top offer was the result of a critical marketing mistake – but it set the stage for a century of product giveaways. We’ll also explore the psychology of free prizes, like how the public is instantly attracted to a mail-in offer, but so few go to the trouble of redeeming their prize.From the first Kellogg’s cereal prize, to Crackerjack, to the Happy Meal, to a promotion involving the Beatles that resulted in a lawsuit - it’s a fascinating aspect of marketing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To kick off the 2013 season, we explore one of the most effective marketing strategies ever devised: The use of “Shame” as a marketing tool.First emerging in the late 1800s, toothpaste ads suggested a fresh mouth could help you attract a mate. But advertisers had a major obstacle to overcome – bad breath and body odour were not socially unacceptable then. So advertisers focused their sizable resources to linking odours to shame, and then shame to product solution. From bad breath, dandruff and ring-around-the-collar to gray hair, plastic surgery and skin lightening, the strategy of social shame has become the most lucrative selling strategy of all time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this final episode of the season, Terry answers listener questions about the advertising industry. Some of the very insightful questions include: When was the very first ad every done? Do celebrities have to actually use a product before they endorse them? Why do advertisers still use Imperial measurements in ads? Does product placement work better than traditional advertising? And "what effect will the loss of the penny have on traditional 99 cent sale prices?" Hope you'll join us for some very surprising answers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.