The Contrast Effect Read online Rosser Reeves, an American ad executive from the 1950s, was eating lunch in Central Park. He and his colleague saw a man begging for money. It was late afternoon, but the beggar hadn't made much money. Reeves told his colleague: “I bet I can dramatically increase the amount of money that guy is raising simply by adding four words to his sign." The colleague agreed, and Reeves introduced himself to the homeless man. He explained that he knew something about...

Titles That Sell Read online Emanuel Haldeman-Julius was an incredibly wealthy book salesman. He didn't write. He resold famous literature to an American audience. Goethe and Shakespeare were printed on cheap paper and sold in big quantities. He sold more than 200 million¹ booklets, each for five cents. Emanuel Haldeman-Julius in the 1930s. Emanuel noticed that some books sold better than others. He hypothesised that buyers judge a book by its title. So, he rewrote the titles of his least...

Expense Boosts Value Read online This quote summarises one of the most overlooked marketing lessons. Rory Sutherland in Alchemy¹ This idea (that expense boosts value) is known as costly signalling. I did a silly, and simple, experiment² to prove it. I showed 200 random Brits an ad for my podcast. 50% saw only the ad. 50% saw the ad superimposed onto a billboard. The billboard signaled expense, and it made Brits 61% more likely to listen. But advertisers can push this further. Rather than just...