| "Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life" by Rory Sutherland Explains why we choose brands over cheaper alternatives, why we're willing to pay a lot more to lock in a deal, why we hate registering before buying the thing (but are more than happy to do so right after), why Sony removed the record button from the first Walkman, and much more. This book forever changed the way I think about brands, and improved my design and problem-solving skills. A couple of Rory's rules: • The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea. • Test counterintuitive things only because no one else will. A couple of "mind games" from the book: • Merely adding a geographical or topographical adjective to food – whether on a menu in a restaurant or on packaging in a supermarket – allows you to charge more for it and means you will sell more. • "There's your problem," I said. "It doesn't matter what something tastes like in blind tastings, if you put 'low in fat' or any other health indicators on the packaging, you'll make the contents taste worse." https://bookshop.org/books/alchemy-the-dark-art-and-curious-... |