You know it makes sense: how irrational drivers created five winning campaigns

Five examples of campaigns that succeeded by looking beyond the rational drivers of choice to tap deeper human truths.

Appealing to consumers’ logical brain is often a hiding to nothing, while a human insight – even an unappealing one – can have a powerful effect on behaviour.

At Nudgestock (Folkestone, June 2019), Ogilvy’s annual behavioural science event, Richard Wise, a brand anthropologist at Geometry, set out five campaigns from big US brands that succeeded because they bravely looked beyond what seemed like a more sensible approach.

“Many times, the way to unlock its potential is, in fact, to get into very emotional, very irrational drivers,” he said.

“In each of the case histories, there’s a struggle on the part...

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