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The Most ABSurd Blog
Why do polls fail?
Why do political polls keep missing the mark? Two reasons: unaccounted-for error—and our own unrealistic expectations.
Can a strong brand improve performance marketing?
Does performance marketing work better when your brand’s already strong? Tracksuit and TikTok crunched three years of data to find out.
How bland can brands get, anyway?
In 20 years, bland cars—black, white, gray, silver—jumped from 60% to 80% of the market, with white nearly doubling to take the top spot.
How many “positions” are there anyway?
Positioning is a slippery fish—with as many definitions as ‘brand’ or ‘love’—and most exercises turn into marketing Mad Libs.
What’s a “brand story” good for?
Do you really need a brand story—and would you even know your toilet paper’s if you heard it?
Wanna grow market share?
You can grow by getting more buyers or getting buyers to buy more—but the research makes it pretty clear which one really matters.
What’s the ingredient to success nobody wants to talk about?
Half of new businesses fail within five years—and the secret ingredient behind who makes it and who doesn’t is plain old luck.
What’s the breakout brand of the century?
What’s the unlikeliest success story in one of the toughest categories? I’m betting on Tito’s.
Do you know HOW your customers like to buy?
Domino’s found only 15% of people order both carryout and delivery—turns out even pizza lovers split into two different worlds.
Who REALLY buys Dude Wipes?
Dude Wipes may scream ‘for men,’ but surprise—the brand’s biggest fans aren’t all dudes.
How is Dove’s “Real Beauty” like Geico’s Gecko?
Dove’s famous for purpose-driven marketing—but is its growth really about the cause, or something else entirely?
Want an ‘ownable’ logo?
Want a logo that stands out? The best brands know relevance isn’t the goal—distinctiveness is.
Are Olympic medals a banana curve?
Is the Olympic medal count a bell curve, a banana curve, or something else entirely? Spoiler: it’s a perfect example of a universal pattern.
Is churn normal in B2B industries?
We think B2B relationships last forever—but CustomerGauge data shows churn is way more normal than anyone admits.
Do Grocery Loyalty Programs Work?
Dr. Jorna Leenheer studied 1,900 Dutch households across 20 supermarkets—and seven loyalty programs later, the results might surprise you.
Does travel ‘consumption’ follow brand laws?
Unless your only client is the Department of Defense, your buyers probably follow the banana curve—a universal pattern hiding in every market.
Do brands grow via loyalty or penetration?
Should you grow by getting more buyers or getting buyers to buy more? Dove’s decade of data makes the answer pretty clear.
What’s the “car door thunk” in your category?
That satisfying car door thunk? It’s no accident—it’s psychoacoustics at work, proving how easily our brains let one impression shape another.
How Do You Handle the Brand-Catagory Paradox?
How do you stand out when every brand copies the same features, benefits, and even personality?
Want better recall for your ads?
What does it take for people to actually remember your ad was for you? DVJ Insights tested it with 1,200 viewers—and the results are eye-opening.