From Poland With Love for Great Britain

Generation Like

In this eye-opening follow-up to FRONTLINE’s classic documentary The Merchants of Cool, author Douglas Rushkoff returns to the world of youth culture.
He explores how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media — and how big brands are increasingly co-opting young consumers’ digital presences on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
“Today’s teens don’t need to be chased down by corporations,” says Rushkoff, who interviewed everyone from actor and social media superstar Ian Somerhalder to YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley

Merchants of Cool - How Teens run the Economy

They are the merchants of cool: creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America. But are they simply reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market? And have they gone too far in their attempts to reach the hearts--and wallets--of America's youth?

Take a closer look at the complex world of selling "cool" in a Frontline documentary. Click here to watch ->

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Tesco: ugly and misshapen fruit and veg will go on special offer

Wonky carrots and blemished apples thown away by supermarkets will be put on special offer as Tesco plans to 'educate' public that it is good food.

Misshapen fruit and vegetables which are thrown away by supermarkets will be put on special offer and the public need to be "educated" that it is good food, Tesco has said. 

Matt Simister, the group food sourcing director at Tesco, said that British customers "always pick the cream of the crop" when they shop leaving "old, ugly and misshapen" produce to go to waste.

To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story

Turns out that narrative Is a Powerful Way to Get a Message Across.

Paul Smith had 20 minutes to sell the CEO of Procter & Gamble, and his team of managers, on new market-research techniques for which Mr. Smith's department wanted funding. 

As associate director of P&G's PG +0.85% market research, Mr. Smith had spent three weeks assembling a concise pitch with more than 30 PowerPoint slides.

On the day of the meeting, CEO A.G. Lafley entered the room, greeted everybody and turned his back to the screen. He then stared intently at Mr. Smith throughout the entire presentation, not once turning to look at a slide. 

Why "Liking" Facebook pages can be a bad idea

Facebook pages which say things like "Type ‘move’ into the comments and watch what happens” are usually a scam.



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Government to Search for Brain’s Buy Button?

OK, there’s not really a buy button in the brain waiting to be discovered. But the U.S. government is, in fact, launching a major project to create a detailed map of the human brain. 

Much like the earlier and highly successful Human Genome Project, the Brain Activity Map will be a national project to determine brain functions with a high level of detail.

Gulf gets a taste for luxury foods

Thousands of food producers are in the United Arab Emirates this week, looking to get their goods on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.

Food imports into the Gulf are expected to double by 2020, making it an important market in the face of sluggish economies elsewhere.



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Amsterdam hotel proud to be the world’s worst

While another hotel might brag about its comfortable beds, spectacular views and excellent customer service, the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam promises a lift that rarely breaks down, a door that locks and comfort comparable to a minimum security prison. 

Advertisements for the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam.

Proclaiming itself as “The Worst Hotel in the World”, the Hans Brinker goes so far as to recommend a list of nicer places to stay in the Dutch capital, including the Hotel de L’Europe, Hotel Krasnapolsky and the Intercontinental Hotel — all luxury spots with the finest amenities. In fact, of the hotel’s 16 recommendations, the Hans Brinker clocks in at 15, just below an abandoned mine shaft and just above an unmarked grave.

Micropayments: Would you pay 20p to read an article?

How much is an online article worth to you? After reading the first few lines, would you pay a bit of money to read the rest of it? 

A plethora of titles - but for how long? Without devising a fresh way to make money, newspapers will continue to suffer from falling sales

Consider this as a future: paying small amounts to read, watch and listen to content online. 20 pence (32 US cents) for a feature here, 10p for a news story there. 

It's a system called micropayments, and some believe it is the future for supporting journalism, and other creative content, on the internet.
The likes of Google and Paypal have begun to roll out and promote their technologies, and there are a number of smaller players hoping to break-through.

Negative ads about Britain: it's not as if we're short of material

Doing a U-turn after decades of initiatives portraying Britain as both pleasant and welcoming probably won't be that hard. 

Our idea for a poster, based on a 1950s tourist poster, to put off potential immigrants

It's a task to which the British temperament is uniquely suited: a campaign to sell Britain short. With a year to go before the UK's current migration restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian people are lifted, government ministers are considering mounting an advertising campaign in both countries to highlight the downsides of life in Britain, with a view to discouraging any would-be immigrants.

Smells like Christmas spirit

WSU researchers tie simple scent to increased retail sales 

PULLMAN, Wash.—Scientists and business people have known for decades that certain scents—pine boughs at Christmas, baked cookies in a house for sale—can get customers in the buying spirit. Eric Spangenberg, a pioneer in the field and dean of the Washington State University College of Business, has been homing in on just what makes the most commercially inspiring odor. 

Spangenberg and colleagues at WSU and in Switzerland recently found that a simple scent works best. 

Writing in the Journal of Retailing, the researchers describe exposing hundreds of Swiss shoppers to simple and complex scents. Cash register receipts and in-store interviews revealed a significant bump in sales when the uncomplicated scent was in the air. 

"What we showed was that the simple scent was more effective," says Spangenberg. 

The researchers say the scent is more easily processed, freeing the customer's mind to focus on shopping. But when that "bandwidth" is unavailable customers don't perform cognitive tasks as effectively, says Spangenberg. 

Working with Andreas Herrmann at Switzerland's University of St. Gallen, Spangenberg, marketing professor David Sprott and marketing doctoral candidate Manja Zidansek developed two scents: a simple orange scent and a more complicated orange-basil blended with green tea. Over 18 weekdays, the researchers watched more than 400 customers in a St. Gallen home decorations store as the air held the simple scent, the complex scent or no particular scent at all. 

The researchers noticed that one group of about 100 people on average spent 20 percent more money, buying more items. They had shopped in the presence of the simple scent. 

In a series of separate experiments, WSU researchers had undergraduate students solve word problems under the different scent conditions. They found participants solved more problems and in less time when the simple scent was in the air than with the complicated one or no scent at all. The simple scent, say the researchers, contributed to "processing fluency," the ease with which one can cognitively process an olfactory cue.

 The research, says Spangenberg, underscores the need to understand how a scent is affecting customers. Just because pine boughs or baked cookies smell good doesn't mean they will lead to sales. 

"Most people are processing it at an unconscious level, but it is impacting them," says Spangenberg. "The important thing from the retailer's perspective and the marketer's perspective is that a pleasant scent isn't necessarily an effective scent." 

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