Group buying – The web breathing new life into a long established behaviour

Zagat has recently launched Zagat Exclusives, a group-buying scheme where customers who sign up can save up to 50% on meals at Zagat-rated restaurants. The deal is available for a limited time only, and the price point decreases as more and more people take up the promotion. When time is up, everybody (who signed up … Continue reading Group buying – The web breathing new life into a long established behaviour

The pain points

My local public library has a service counter rectangular in shape and with 2 tills on each long side. If you approach the tills on the right hand side, you can check in books, but not check out. Conversely, if you approach the left hand tills, you can check books out but not check them … Continue reading The pain points

On the use of credit bureaus to fight benefit fraud

The UK government has just announced plans to use credit bureaus to fight benefit fraud. The exact role of these agencies and the process for screening benefit applicants are yet to be decided[1], but there are high expectations regarding the savings that such collaboration may generate. How do credit reference agencies work? These agencies collect … Continue reading On the use of credit bureaus to fight benefit fraud

Pricing: focus on the customer and the marketing eco-system

Pricing is a key element of the marketing mix. It is so important that large organisations such as GE have whole departments managing it. Price a product too high, and you may kill it; price it too low, and you leave money on the table. But pricing decisions impact on other variables, in addition to … Continue reading Pricing: focus on the customer and the marketing eco-system

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