Go Deeper with Fountainhead

August 27, 2018August 28, 2018 by Fountainhead

The Stranger Within: How Your Subconscious Affects Brand Choice

Let’s take a quick quiz. If you were to give an initial answer to the two items below, what would it be?

a) 2×2=

b) 17×34=

For item (a), the answer “4” automatically came to mind. But I bet many of you gave up on (b) and thought “too complicated, not worth the time.” Why is this? It’s not that you couldn’t solve (b). It’s that you didn’t want to. You unconsciously solved the 2×2 computation because your memory intuitively recognized it. However, 17×34 required more effort. These differences are referred to as System 1 and System 2 thinking, a process developed by psychologist Daniel Kahneman to help explain how we make decisions:

inUncategorized

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018 by Fountainhead

Death to Traditional Brands … or Maybe Not?

There is a lot of discussion lately about whether or not brands as we know them are dead. Clearly, shopping and communication channels are evolving at warp speed, but how does that impact brands? Let’s discuss.

inUncategorized

June 18, 2018June 19, 2018 by Fountainhead

Categories That Brought Sexy Back (and you can too!)

Razor blades: Just the thought makes you leap for joy, doesn’t it? Okay, me neither. But Dollar Shave Club had the wisdom to find a way to overcome two consumer pain points while jumping on a burgeoning consumer trend.

Pain 1: The increasing difficulty of buying razor blades in-store. Many c-stores have them locked down tighter than Beyoncé’s security. One either has to grab the paper voucher and take that to the counter so the employee can access the vault of blades, or the blades are encased in a plastic box that can only be opened via a magic wand. Note: We understand this has to do with theft protection but for consumers is a big hassle!

Pain 2: Money, money, money. Four cartridges for $25. That’s a lot of cash.

inBrand Health / Clients / Design / Opinions / Uncategorized

May 7, 2018May 8, 2018 by Fountainhead

Is Your Brand Ready for Micro-moments?

I found myself in the drugstore the other day having the following conversation with my 15-year-old daughter:

Me: OK, here are the toothbrushes, just pick one.

Her: (Gets her phone out) I need to see which one’s best.

Me: You’re researching a toothbrush? (mind you, this is a bristle brush and not an electric model)

Her: It will only take me a couple of seconds.

inUncategorized

March 7, 2018April 10, 2018 by Fountainhead

Concept Optimization for Today’s Marketer: Cost Effective and Fast

Issue: A company that was established in food-based nutritional products was having an internal debate. Would consumers welcome their brand in the realm of dietary supplements, particularly omega-3s? Would current supplement users have a reason to switch brands? And what equity elements should they carry over from their existing lines?

inResearch Methods / Uncategorized / Voice of the Consumer

February 12, 2018February 13, 2018 by Fountainhead

The Key to the Millennial Market: Customization

If you, like me, are of a “certain age,” you probably remember going car shopping, narrowing down the brand of car you wanted, then trying to choose between the basic or premium options because those were the only options available.

inBrand Health / News / Opinions / Voice of the Consumer

January 16, 2018January 16, 2018 by Fountainhead

HBR: “Your Team Is Brainstorming All Wrong,”

Fountainhead: “Nope, We’ve Been Doing It Correctly With Great Results”

Trash talking “brainstorming” seems to be quite the thing these days. And we get it. We’ve suffered through endless brainstorm sessions where the moderator didn’t adhere to best practices, so all that resulted was a list of mediocre thoughts and demoralized participants.

That’s why we practice what we preach. If you want a productive brainstorming session, please follow these principles.

inOpinions / Research Methods

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 by Fountainhead

Neuromarketing: A Flyover

You may hear some buzz about neuromarketing, or “System 1 Thinking,” an emerging approach to marketing research that combines three well-established disciplines of brain science to give a new perspective on human behavior and give insight into nonconscious decision-making:

Neuroscience – the study of the human nervous system
Behavioral economics – the study of how people make economic decisions
Social psychology – the study of how people think and act in the presence of other people

inClients / News / Research Methods / Uncategorized

November 9, 2017November 9, 2017 by Fountainhead

How Bricks and Mortar Can Combat Amazon

Let’s look at one scary fact: 64 percent of American households have Amazon Prime*

And one scary quote: “I think that effectively you have a company that has conspired with about a million consumers and technology to destroy brands.” -Scott Gallaway, NYU Stern School of Business speaking at L2’s Amazon Clinic

inBrand Health / News / Opinions

March 10, 2017March 14, 2017 by Fountainhead

Engagement and Profitability

Sixty-eight percent (68%!) of employees are not engaged in their work. That’s a huge number and comes from a study released by Gallup in 2016. This means that only 32 percent of employees are indeed engaged, which translates to the majority of people in workplaces feeling a bit lackluster and unmotivated by what they are doing every day.

inBrand Health