Charles Duhigg - Power of habit

I first became interested in the science of habits eight years ago, as a newspaper reporter in Baghdad. The US military, it occurred to me as I watched it in action, is one of the biggest habit-formation experiments in history… ’had been in Iraq for about two months when I heard about an officer conducting an impromptu habit-modification programme in Kufa, a small city 90 miles south of the capital. He was an army major who had analysed videotapes of recent riots and had identified a pattern: violence was usually preceded by a crowd of Iraqis gathering in a plaza or other open space and, over the course of several hours, growing in size. Food vendors would show up, as well as spectators. Then, someone would throw a rock or a bottle and all hell would break loose.

When the major met with Kufa’s mayor, he made an odd request: could they keep food vendors out of the plazas? Sure, the mayor said. A few weeks later, a small crowd gathered near the Masjid al-Kufa, or Great Mosque of Kufa. Throughout the afternoon, it grew in size. Some people started chanting angry slogans. Iraqi police, sensing trouble, radioed the base and asked US troops to stand by. At dusk, the crowd started getting restless and hungry. People looked for the kebab-sellers normally filling the plaza, but there were none to be found. The spectators left. The chanters became dispirited. By 8:00 p.m., everyone was gone.

Branding lessons - Balconies and low-cut jeans

I was startled when my 10-year old nephew demanded ‘jockeys’ while at a shopping mall. Asked why that brand, he pointed to a set of teenagers sitting on the railing, wearing low-cut jeans and obviously showing off their ‘jockeys.’  I had a mind to click a snap and post the ‘branding’ online but better sense prevailed. That was in a mall.

As I peek outside my window, the change in the cityscape is getting increasingly evident. With a little effort, the inquisitive can view what is inside the adjacent skyscrapers as the large windows leave little for imagination. Conditions apply, of course. And with towels to inner wears dancing from near-the-cloud windows, to the occasional gentle breeze, brands seem to be gaining prominence than the individuals. Avid marketers will certainly spend more time in the balcony, attempting to gauge and segment target audiences basis demographics and psychographics, which would have warranted an in-depth study earlier. This could perhaps trigger a new wave of customer engagement exercises. After all brands are now known to be seriously deploying resources in monitoring customers’ actions online. Why not allocate some on the balconies? A marketer friend on his recent visit to my apartment happened to see empty beer bottles lined up on my neighbours’ balcony. Smiling at the sight, he commented, ‘bachelors means beer, heh?.’ ‘Working women too,’ I added. He couldn’t believe until he looked at the garments dangling on the balcony string. Without wasting a second, he quickly posted the insight online.

Marketers are more than ever swooping down on digital natives and wooing them through innovative gimmicks so as to convert them into their fans. According to a Forrester survey, fans are much more likely to purchase, consider, and recommend the brands that they engage with on Facebook than non-fans.

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