Computer knows best?

In his latest book, "Average is Over", Tyler Cowen, an economics professor from George Mason University in Virginia, states that, in future, only the top 15% of people will prosper, in a hyper-meritocratic society. The remaining 85% will remain forever impoverished, consigned to a life of low wages and low chances of progression.

His claims are based on the fact that this top tier of people will be those who accept that computers are better at making decisions and have greater depth of knowledge than the average person. He says: "Humans who believe they know best are wrong and will be punished in the workplace for their arrogance."

He does make an interesting point that much information exists online, but only those who are the most self-motivated to interrogate this information will be able to take advantage of it.

But is he right? He seems to eschew the power of intuition, of learned behaviour and of the cognitive power of the brain to adapt to the environment and make sense of it. Moreover, could you trust a computer to make ethical decisions for you? How valuable would a computer be at analysing the evidence in a murder trial, when it could not interpret the defendant's body language?

I still believe there are some limits on what we can expect computers to achieve on our behalf. But there is, similarly, a large proportion of tasks that we can consign to a device that can analyse and evaluate much faster than humans can. And that never forgets anything!

State of liminality

I read this brief description of liminality and liminal states. It seems to be a good way of describing the University students I encounter. As they transition from school or college, to the world of full-time employment, University life can be challenging, ambiguous, uncertain. It may not be until several years after graduation that many of them "get it", in terms of what we were trying to teach them and hoping they would deduct for themselves. Some of my students who come back from their placement year certainly have experienced the transformation identified in the post-liminal state and are more able to apply the theoretical concepts to case studies and real-life examples.

I suspect consumers go through a similar experience when they encounter new brands or product propositions. As they let go of their prior understanding of existing brands, they may take some time to understand and appreciate the benefits of the new brand. But this model suggests, once that understanding and integration has taken place, the basis for brand loyalty is created.

Gandy's Flip Flops

I came away from a presentation yesterday, feeling inspired and impressed by the passion and tenacity of co-founder, Rob Forkan of Gandy's Flipflops. He gave an exciting talk at Portsmouth University about the art of the possibile, about the power of self-belief and about how people can survive and blossom in adversity.

Check out their website to find out more about the company. Several things struck me about meeting Rob and Richard, a recent Portsmouth University marketing graduate. Firstly, the importance of being driven by what inspires you. The Forkan brothers appear to be highly motivated by what they do and how this fits into their plan to make a difference in society. I am sure, after long, frustrating days, the temptation to abandon the project may have crossed their minds. But I got a real sense that there is something very strong that drives them forward.

Secondly, their business idea is incredibly simple. They sell flip flops. That's it! And yet, they have created a gap in the market, by developing a unique brand, imbuing the humble flip flop with a degree of trendiness and creating a palpable buzz around everything they do. The brothers were not put off by the fact that flip flops are almost ubiquitous and are a relatively cheap, semi-disposable form of  footwear. Nor were they put off by the fact that, in the premium end of the market, there were already some very long-established brands (such as Haviaianas). They just got on with creating a brand anyway.

Thirdly, the power of networking. They seemed to be outstanding at meeting people, making a connection and leveraging those connections. It was also interesting to hear they had received unsolicited approaches from the media and retailers who had heard about the company via their own contacts.

OK, enough of the eulogy. I think this team will go far - not just in flip flops. If they can apply the same degree of passion, creativity and ingenuity to other products and services, we will definitely be hearing a lot about them in the future.

Coffee consuming classes

In a new book, Consumed: How Shopping Fed the Class System, by Harry Wallop, the author discusses how what we consume is linked to our identity as consumers. In an item on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Harry Wallop mentions three consumer segments:

1. Asda mum's - who want the security of a well-known, good honest brand
2. Middleton Classes - who enjoy trading up and purchase products such as Tesco's Finest, and Sainsubury's Taste the Difference
3. Wood-burining stove gang - who care deeply about what they consume, and would be appalled about buying anything branded

The book includes several other customer segments.Whilst these segments are necessarily generalisations, they do help us to visualise the customer segments and bring them to life. 

However, one should question whether these segments are accurate across all products that are consumed. If we look at involvement theory, it is possible that a consumer is deeply concerned about one category of products and much less discerning about another; and therefore a Middleton Class woman might be fiercely loyal to her corn-fed, free range chicken and yet be quite happy to buy Tesco's Value kitchen foil.

Is Nutella healthy?

As part of my New Year Health Kick, I have started going to the gym and trying to eat more healthily. Well, I also have a fondness for Nutella and had a vague recollection that it might be "healthy". I checked my impeccable academic source, Google.com, and came up with this article:

Well, who knew? It turns out Nutella is not especially nutritious :-( Which is a bit galling, as I've just bought a 400g jar. But if this is the case, why is Nutella deliberately trying to engage its target consumers (children) with an attractive, interactive website?

Anyway, the point is about misleading claims in advertising and to what extent we, as consumers, should be naive and believe everything marketers tell us. Personally, I adopt a very robust sceptiscim about anything I read that tries to promote a product or service (or, indeed, a political party). Also, as marketers, it does renew the call for responsible and ethical marketing practice.