Where marketing talks to strangers
(whether it should or not)
Hello, I’m Dan Bond. And this is my thinking space for marketing observations drawn from, well, anywhere. It covers behavioural psychology, design, history, or the gap between what people say they do and what they actually do when nobody’s watching.
-
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
-
CATEGORY: Where ideas come fromHousing 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…
READ TIME:
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: Where ideas come fromThe 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…
READ TIME:
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 -
CATEGORY: What design teachesSaul Bass, grids, and reduction
The titles begin with clean, precise lines intersecting at right angles across the screen. Typography appears. Sharp, confident, locked into the geometry. You watch this…
READ TIME:
4–6 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsBlanket discounts, margin erosion, and why most retailers need a better plan – The eCom Collab Club Podcast
I spent an hour talking discounts, data, and the death of margin health with Peter Gardner on the eCom Collab Club Podcast. If you’ve ever…
READ TIME:
4–7 minutes -
CATEGORY: ConversationsHow intelligent offers drive retail performance without destroying margins – The Retail Tea Break podcast
I recently joined Melissa Moore on the Retail Tea Break podcast to discuss something that’s been bothering me for years: how most retailers use promotions.…
READ TIME:
6–9 minutes
