The Tiger Woods Effect

Suphavat Khamijoun from OZA’s global partner in Thailand, TMRC Research, passes along an article by Jonah Lehrer (author of Proust was a Neuroscientist and How We Decide) about the so-called “Tiger Woods Effect.”

It is a look at why we often should let our unconscious minds have free rein.  Lehrer presents a hypothesis that when people get nervous about performing, they tend to fixate on the details of what are doing, don’t perform naturally,  and thus don’t perform well.

This might explain why Tiger Woods’ competitors tend to crumble in the latter stages of a golf tournament.  Because Woods is so good, other golfers feel like they need to be perfect, begin overanalyzing their swings, and end up missing easy putts and slicing balls into the trees.

Suphavat has an interesting hypothesis of his own:  He suggests that perhaps this is why traditional direct questioning in market research doesn’t work well in many circumstances.  It forces consumers to overanalyze their behavior and thoughts, thus their tendency to “get it wrong” in those kinds of research environments.

Risky Rebranding

The Economist on a strategic challenge that Nestle is facing – how to credibly brand itself as a health-and-wellness company after so many years of being so closely identified with chocolate and milk.

Eureka!

An article from the Wall St. Journal discusses how you can unearth breakthrough insights if you just let your unconscious mind roam freely.

New ways of telling a brand story

Thank you to Fabrizio Spinelli from our global partner Mindroads in Brazil, who sends along this article about how technology is changing the way we tell stories.

The takeaway is that storytelling is in the process of re-inventing itself to fit with our new forms of communication.

ZMET is built around the power of stories; thus, we can help clients  tell clear, emotionally resonant stories that effectively communicate their brand’s message, regardless of the channel of communication.

Mickey Mouse Marketing

Disney is struggling to figure out what to do with its most iconic brand, Mickey Mouse.

In his early days, Mickey was a wild and crazy guy – almost like a 1920s version of Bart Simpson.   In the 1930s, though, that began to change as Walt Disney toned down his image.  As this article states:

 

Animators once made a cartoon for a private viewing to amuse their boss, in which Mickey went all the way with Minnie. Disney congratulated them on the craftsmanship, asked for the names of all those involved and then sacked them. No one could tamper with Mickey’s family-friendly image, even as a private joke.

 

But Mickey has grown a bit stale for recent generations of children, especially in the United States.  These days he seems to be more prominent as a corporate logo than as an animated character with a distinct personality.  So Disney is trying to “re-brand” Mickey without eroding his core meaning – not an easy task.

At Variance Over Vegemite

Here is a little case study about a marketing blunder that might not have been a marketing blunder.

The article deals with a contest sponsored by Kraft Foods Australia which let consumers create a name for a new Vegemite-based based snack product.   A decent idea that went horribly wrong.  Or did it?

Guilty!

A recent article in the Wall St. Journal describes the marketing tactics that some luxury brands are employing to overcome “shoppers’ guilt” in these trying economic times.