Too Many Choices

Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by David in Takeaway

In the promotional products industry we all think that a website needs to have a million products on it!

Science now proves that we’re totally wrong:

In a now famous supermarket study only 3% of shoppers purchased jam when confronted with 24 varieties, while 30% purchased when given only six. Although the tenfold increase is interesting, what fascinates me are the people not exposed by the raw data. A good number of those 27% approached the jam section with a particular jam in mind. They knew what they wanted and went to purchase. However, the range of alternatives actually placed doubt in their mind.

Read the rest of the article here.

BlackBerry’s Era May Be Ending

Posted on 26. Jul, 2010 by David in News Stories

Wow..things change fast

The Top 150 Marketing Blogs

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by David in Strategy

Check out the AdAge Top 150 Marketing blogs.

Custom Is Everything…Make It My Own!

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by David in Fun Stuff

Chris Brogan explores how social media and customized products are interacting.

Money quote:

One of the areas where social media will excel is in the opportunity to make things our own, to give them our own look and feel. Remember when you got your first personal computer? Remember changing the background picture? Remember when you could change the theme? The world is pushing further and further into a desire for customization, and I think social media gives us a chance at custom communication/interaction.

The new new thing…

Posted on 14. Feb, 2010 by David in Fun Stuff

ChatRoulette is the hottest thing on the net right now…New York magazine investigates

The site activates your webcam automatically; when you click “start” you’re suddenly staring at another human on your screen and they’re staring back at you, at which point you can either choose to chat (via text or voice) or just click “next,” instantly calling up someone else.

Obviously…you do not want to let your children near this thing!

A Vast Playground of Flashing Icons…

Posted on 11. Feb, 2010 by David in News Stories

A fascinating FT article on how Chinese web use of different from western habits.  Read here

It suggests the following:

1. Chinese tend to “roam the web like a huge playground,” whereas Americans and Europeans use it more as a giant library.

2. Chinese users are more likely to use the web for entertainment and less for business, relative to Europeans.

3. Chinese users are younger and less educated.

4. Chinese users don’t like to type (“Typing is a pain in Chinese”) and thus they use the mouse much more for navigation.

5. “Most portals have reacted by filling their pages with hundreds of colourful links competing for attention — creating a cluttered and disorderly view to the western eye but making life easier for Chinese users.”

(Thanks to Marginal Revolution for the article summary)

7 Trends Marketers Can Expect to See in 2010

Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by David in Strategy

Some interesting trends from ROI Magazine.