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Sure is was JFK that got us to the moon, not the scientists and engineers doing calculations, experiments and looking at the data. Both vision and drive and th

Sure is was JFK that got us to the moon, not the scientists and engineers doing calculations, experiments and looking at the data. Both vision and drive and the ability to execute are essential. What happened at Apple was engineers came to Jobs with a prototype and he saw the potential and drove it relentlessly forward. Same for the Mac - he saw what Xerox had done and recognized the potential. Yes he trusted his own judgement - but I'd say if you saw either Xerox prototype in the age of terminals or a touch device in the age of fiddly keyboards it doesn't take a genius to see the potential - it just takes a hero ( courage ) to bet on it. Finally, on the dark arts of advertising, moving from the 'gut' to being data driven - sadly I'd say that's what has made it more effective as a tool.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
> Finally, on the dark arts of advertising, moving from the 'gut' to being data driven - sadly I'd say that's what has made it more effective as a tool. Part of the reason metrics work so well in marketing is because a lot of accepted industry practices are inherently malicious acts towards other human beings. So unlike other optimization processes, you don't care all that much about side effects of optimizing to metrics. For instance - do customers hate your guts for your advertising spam? Doesn't matter - the product becomes associated with a strong emotion, making it more likely some of them will buy it few months from now. Mission accomplished.
- DrScientist 7y ago
  > do customers hate your guts for your advertising spam? > Doesn't matter - the product becomes associated with a strong emotion, making it more likely some of them will buy it few months from now. Interesting, does that really work? Got data you can point to, to back that one up? I take your broader point of them not really caring - we are seeing that in data driven politics in the UK right now. Obviously this host/parasite interaction will evolve - but at the moment it seems the population doesn't have many effective defenses. It's a bit like the opioid epidemic or obesity epidemic - currently people are being given the politics they apparently want.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    > Interesting, does that really work? It's the basis of the concept of "brand awareness", on which many billions of dollars are spent every year. I'll give you a single data point as an example, and I'm sure you'll be able to relate. There's a certain on-line currency exchange operating in Poland that has a tendency to run really cringy, annoying ads in cinemas, and those ads somehow get played 3 or 4 times in a row in the span of 5 minutes. After sitting through them a couple times I got really, really sick of them, and had pretty negative feelings associated with the brand. Fast-forward three years, I have my own business now and foreign customers, so I find myself needing an on-line currency exchange. Guess which service I checked out first?
    - DrScientist 7y ago
      I understand brand awareness - just was skeptical that companies went out and out to be annoying to stick in the memory - but I think you are right some do.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> Finally, on the dark arts of advertising, moving from the 'gut' to being data driven - sadly I'd say that's what has made it more effective as a tool. Part of the reason metrics work so well in marketing is because a lot of accepted industry practices are inherently malicious acts towards other human beings. So unlike other optimization processes, you don't care all that much about side effects of optimizing to metrics. For instance - do customers hate your guts for your advertising spam? Doesn't matter - the product becomes associated with a strong emotion, making it more likely some of them will buy it few months from now. Mission accomplished.

DrScientist 7y ago
> do customers hate your guts for your advertising spam? > Doesn't matter - the product becomes associated with a strong emotion, making it more likely some of them will buy it few months from now. Interesting, does that really work? Got data you can point to, to back that one up? I take your broader point of them not really caring - we are seeing that in data driven politics in the UK right now. Obviously this host/parasite interaction will evolve - but at the moment it seems the population doesn't have many effective defenses. It's a bit like the opioid epidemic or obesity epidemic - currently people are being given the politics they apparently want.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  > Interesting, does that really work? It's the basis of the concept of "brand awareness", on which many billions of dollars are spent every year. I'll give you a single data point as an example, and I'm sure you'll be able to relate. There's a certain on-line currency exchange operating in Poland that has a tendency to run really cringy, annoying ads in cinemas, and those ads somehow get played 3 or 4 times in a row in the span of 5 minutes. After sitting through them a couple times I got really, really sick of them, and had pretty negative feelings associated with the brand. Fast-forward three years, I have my own business now and foreign customers, so I find myself needing an on-line currency exchange. Guess which service I checked out first?
  - DrScientist 7y ago
    I understand brand awareness - just was skeptical that companies went out and out to be annoying to stick in the memory - but I think you are right some do.