What You Need to Know Today: February 8
Good afternoon, Early Risers!
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
The hidden science behind great Super Bowl ads. “I got a question for ya… What does this city know about luxury?” Five years ago Chrysler stole the show with its “Imported from Detroit” Super Bowl ad (no.13). “Selling an American car was a tough task [in 2011]. Most people still associated Detroit and American automakers with failure and bailouts,” says behavioral science expert Carey Morewedge. “The principle of ‘two-sided messaging’ was brilliantly used in Chrysler’s ‘Imported from Detroit.’ We are more likely to engage with a message that fits with what we already believe. If someone feels negatively toward a brand, they’ll be resistant to hearing a direct, positive message. By first acknowledging a few of its flaws, they’ll be more open to changing how they feel and what they believe,” says Morewedge.
If you skipped the commercials yesterday, here’s a recap of all the ads from best to worst. One ad that ruffled some feathers was Quicken Loan’s “What We Were Thinking.” This is an ad that could have benefited from ‘two-sided messaging.’ Instead, critics immediately associated Rocket Mortgages with the financial crisis and subprime lending. For more about the hidden science behind ads, click here.
How to get paid for taking selfies. Here’s a smart idea: Take something people do anyway, like taking selfies, pay them a tiny amount of money for the rights to their selfies, then sell these selfies to brands for big money. That’s the idea behind Pay Your Selfie — a new company that will pay YOU for selfies. Full details.
The easiest way to track ROI from different traffic sources. Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics Campaign Tracking. Must-read for DMs.
CAREER
How non-billionaires think. You’ll never hear a billionaire say “it is what it is.” Why? Because billionaires, and most self-made millionaires, share one thing in common: they view the world in flux, not as static. Steve Jobs was a perfect example.
The truth about The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. “WSJ builds its list based on the sales figures it gets from Nielsen’s BookScan. In general, if you sell the most books in a category as reported by BookScan, you will hit No. 1 in that category on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Makes sense, right? Except that BookScan doesn’t track all purchases. It doesn’t include sales made through some big-box stores, such as Walmart and Sam’s Club, which doesn’t affect most of us. However, it also doesn’t include sales from CreateSpace and other self-publishing platforms, which affects thousands of authors.” Read more.
LIFESTYLE
The proper way to read a nonfiction book. “Michael Jimenez, a professor of Latin American history, was one of the best professors I ever had. One day I told him that I was struggling with the reading load. ‘I hope you’re not reading these books word-for-word like they’re fiction books,’ he told me. I told him I was. He looked around the room and the other students sheepishly nodded alongside me. So he pulled a number of us together and taught us how to read nonfiction,” says Peter Bregman. Here’s professor Jimenez’s advice for reading nonfiction. Share this with a friend.
Surprise vacations sound good BUT… There’s a new digital travel agency selling trips with mystery destinations. The service plans your trip — accommodations, meals, attractions, etc. The catch: you don’t know where you’re going until you leave. A dream-trip for millennials, you’d think? But something about this idea misses the mark. Millennials are happy to pay for experiences — we know this. But research shows that millennial parents tend to spend money like their parents — conservatively. So the novelty of a mystery trip likely won’t outweigh the risk of blowing money that could have been spent on a well-planned trip to a destination of choice. However, this idea marketed to single, young professionals, through digital dating services could be a home run. Look at Grouper.
#NOWYOUKNOW
How to Be More Successful
Eliminate these two phrases from your vocabulary. (Number 2 makes a huuuge difference).
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