Pratfall Effect

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A few months ago on Reddit, someone asked, "Is this the best Black Friday marketing campaign?"

Personally, I think it's disingenuous garbage, but clearly, something about this type of ad resonates with some.

And it might be because of the first two words.

"We're sorry."

In 2024¹ a number of researchers from Belgium ran four experiments.

They tested what happened when a company apologised for a trivial mistake.

In one study, participants were shown an email from a company apologising for their slow-loading website.

Turns out, that apology email led to customers:

1. Buying 127% more
2. Feeling 8.9% more favourable about the brand
3. And having 8.3% higher positive attitudes toward the brand

However, apologies for serious issues (e.g. data breaches) backfired, lowering opinions by 45.9%.

So, if it's trivial, don't shy away from saying sorry.

This is just one of the 15 new insights added to the Vaults in January.

Sorry*, I know I harp on about it, but each month, +15 new insights are added to the Vaults. Currently, there are 484 different evidence-backed tactics for marketers to try.

In fact, you can preview your first 50 insights for free →

Big thanks to today's sponsors, GWI.

Are you stuck in a creative rut ahead of your next campaign? Or working late again to prepare for a pitch?

Don’t stress — just ask Agent Spark, your on-hand insights analyst.

Agent Spark gives you insights on your audience in seconds — so you can get inspired, validate hunches, and build smarter campaigns backed by consumer data.

The insights are backed by 2M+ annual surveys and billions of consumers — the same GWI data trusted by teams at Google, Microsoft, and Spotify.

And the best part? You can use it in the GWI platform, ChatGPT, Claude, or your favourite AI tool. You choose.

Ready to spark your next big idea?

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Hope you enjoyed today's newsletter — Phill​

*Yes, that's me apologising for something trivial.