Trying to figure out why things work. Mixed results.
Dan Bond writes about the decisions, systems, and incentives that shape why things succeed or fail. Marketing, behavioural psychology, architecture, housing policy, and whatever else is interesting.
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Why I’m joining The Bond Board as a trustee
Every city runs on infrastructure that most people never think about. Roads. Sewers. Electricity grids. Digital networks. These are the systems that make everything else possible. Housing is infrastructure, too. Something that often goes unnoticed (until it fails). I’m joining The Bond Board as a trustee. They work in Rochdale…
READ TIME:
2–3 minutes
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CATEGORY: ConversationsBrowse Basket Buy with forecasting expert John Readman
There’s an old story about a drunk looking for his keys under a streetlight. Someone stops to help and, after a while, asks, “Are you…
READ TIME:
7–10 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsThe discount addiction nobody wants – Agency Folk
A retailer I spoke with recently tried going cold turkey on promotions. Sales tanked. AOV collapsed. And their CEO, who’d presumably signed off on this…
READ TIME:
4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: How marketing worksSame customer, same questions
Why the distinction between new and returning customers is irrelevant: The focus should be on answering ‘Why should I buy today?’ for everyone. Imagine walking…
READ TIME:
5–8 minutes -
CATEGORY: Systems that shape usHousing and the arithmetic of counting backwards
There’s a story about a Soviet factory manager in the 1960s who got bonuses based on the tonnage of nails produced. He manufactured one enormous…
READ TIME:
4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsBrowse Basket Buy with branding expert Danni Bramall
There’s a scene in Mad Men where Don Draper convinces a room full of executives that a carousel of family photographs isn’t just a projector—it’s…
READ TIME:
5–8 minutes -
CATEGORY: Where ideas come fromThe Menu: 7 podcasts about the way the world works (and marketing)
Recently, I was asked to share some marketing podcast recommendations. Rather than sticking strictly to industry-focused shows, I believe it’s far more valuable to explore…
READ TIME:
4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: Where ideas come fromThe tyranny of options and the idea diet
In 2000, psychologists set up two jam-tasting booths at an upscale grocery store. One offered 24 types of jam; the other, just six. You’d think…
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4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsSourcing guests and other more minor challenges – Podjunction
I recently joined Sadaf Beynon on the Podjunction podcast to reflect on the beginnings of Browse Basket Buy. While I expected to focus on our…
READ TIME:
3–5 minutes -
CATEGORY: Systems that shape usThe mountain that stores lightning
Inside Ben Cruachan, engineers carved a cathedral-sized chamber from solid rock. It was not for worship but for something equally powerful: storing electricity. Cruachan pumps…
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4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsBrowse Basket Buy with AI expert Parry Malm
For years, Parry Malm sent millions of emails. He’d write subject lines, test them, try to spot patterns in what worked. Some performed well. Others…
READ TIME:
6–9 minutes -
CATEGORY: How marketing worksThe category trap or why your customers aren’t reading your marketing
When Slack launched in 2013, it was positioned carefully: a team communication platform that would transform how organisations work together. The company spent millions refining…
READ TIME:
5–7 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsBrowse Basket Buy with merchandising expert Anna Whalley
Picture a retail buyer, six months after placing their biggest order of the year. The bestsellers sold out in three weeks—brilliant. The marketing team is…
READ TIME:
4–6 minutes
