People want ads that make them laugh

Humor is a more prominent factor than purpose, surprise, or novelty when looking at the most popular commercials in modern history

It’s also more fun to work with.

large groups of people don’t always share a sense of humor

I wonder how much algorithmic platforms and personalized ads change this. You’re not making an ad to reach everyone, you’re making an ad to reach a subset of your audience that it will resonate with.

via Behind the Numbers podcast

Robert Greene defining the curiosity gap:

People love mysteries and enigmas, so give them what they want.

via The Daily Laws

Love these quotes from AriZona Iced Tea’s founder about the 99 cent cans

People say, ‘How do you do it?‘ We make it faster. We ship it better. We ship it closer. The cans are thinner.

&

Why have people who are having a hard time paying their rent pay more for their drink?

&

I tell people every day I go to a gunfight with Coke and Pepsi. I have a water gun and they have machine guns.

&

We’re going to fight as hard as we can for consumers, because consumers are my friend.

Find a value prop you can make synonymous with your brand.
Make it the center of everything.

via CNBC

consumers form more negative impressions of and are less persuaded by influencers who disable social media comments. These outcomes are driven by the perception that the influencer is less receptive to consumer voice

I wonder how this translates to brand accounts.

On the other hand, negative comments can act as rallying points for fans.

You can’t be for everyone, so your brand should actively turn some people off.

from the paper No Comments (from You): Understanding the Interpersonal and Professional Consequences of Disabling Social Media Comments

Eventually, a promo heavy strategy becomes your brand position. See: JCPenney

via Bad Machinery

Cue the Khaled memes:

PayPal announced plans to create a new advertising platform rooted in transaction data generated by its nearly 400 million active accounts

via Marketing Dive

Of course, there are times where sharing your strategy may be unproductive. Like when signaling to competitors.

Seem to want something in which you are actually not at all interested

Robert Greene expands:

hide your intentions not by closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive and making people suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals—just not your real ones. You will kill three birds with one stone: you appear friendly, open, and trusting; you conceal your intentions; and you send your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.

via The Daily Laws