‘A good beginning makes a good end’ – Thoughts on getting the best possible start on your PhD

UPDATE: I posted a revised and updated version of this advice here. Some tips if you are thinking about doing a PhD… or are starting one… or, indeed, have been doing one but are not making as much progress as you wanted to. Recently, I co-chaired the ICISO2010 doctoral consortium, and was reminded that while … Continue reading ‘A good beginning makes a good end’ – Thoughts on getting the best possible start on your PhD

Screening for bad customers: the difficult balance between proof and intuition

I’m back from the Academy of Marketing conference, in Coventry, where I presented on the challenges of modelling undesirable customer behaviour. The topic of profiling dysfunctional or undesirable behaviour is a key interest of mine, that I investigated in my PhD, and addressed in a previous posting here and a range of publications and presentations. … Continue reading Screening for bad customers: the difficult balance between proof and intuition

The other role of Sales Promotions (and the most important one, if you ask me)

Sales promotions are a popular tool to generate a short-term increase in sales. For instance, your local DIY store may give you a voucher offering a discount on purchases made on, or up to, a particular date. The initiative encourages you to visit the store sooner or more often than you would do otherwise, possibly … Continue reading The other role of Sales Promotions (and the most important one, if you ask me)

The power of labels – Does a rose by any other name smell just as nice?

It has long been established that brand names influence our consumption behaviour, by shaping our perception of taste or, even, quality. Magnetic resonance imaging scans have shown that exposure to well-known brands activates the part of the brain associated with positive emotions, and that well-known brands are processed with less brain effort than lesser-known ones. But … Continue reading The power of labels – Does a rose by any other name smell just as nice?

The trouble with profiling

Last month, news articles reported that Jon Venables, previously convicted of the barbaric murder of toddler James Bulger and released with a new identity 8 years into his sentence, had been returned to prison after infringing the strict conditions of his release. The second article, published soon after this one, revealed that a blonde, green-eyed, … Continue reading The trouble with profiling

The role of employees in keeping customer data safe

Most of us will remember a particularly good (or bad) encounter that completely lifted (or destroyed) our consumption experience. I, for instance, have had consistently good interactions with staff at John Lewis who will, generally, go out of their way to help me find an item in store. Conversely, there is this little, family restaurant that serves … Continue reading The role of employees in keeping customer data safe

The case of the ‘unbreakable’ phone

A few weeks ago I delivered a guest talk on ‘Innovation’. Among other things, we looked at what turns great ideas into successful products. Many inventors believe that products which are faster / smaller / lighter… than their predecessors, or have features that make them technically superior along some dimensions, will sell themselves and quickly … Continue reading The case of the ‘unbreakable’ phone

Twitter and the need to know your audience

I wanted to see what the commotion was all about and decided to give Twitter a go. Being an avid user of other social networking services such as Facebook and LinkedIn, I figured that using Twitter would be a natural next step. So, I created an account, chose a few users to follow and… nothing. … Continue reading Twitter and the need to know your audience