Talking with Anne-Marie Farrell

We live in interesting times. Never before have consumers been bombarded with so many messages, emails, texts. The role of marketing is changing. Traditionally, marketing was more focused on making consumers feel something or learn something, but increasingly marketing is about having consumers do something. Terms like 'growth hacking' and the job title 'chief growth officer' replacing the CMO title are signs that this is becoming a universal trend. This is mainly because while it is no longer difficult or expensive to get distribution (i.e. get listed in an App store or open up your website) or reach out to your customers via email or in-product messaging, it is actually difficult to get consumers to do anything. There's a gap between our intention and action, by which I mean that, we might intend to do something but then not do it. 

Let's take a simple example. You might go to bed thinking you'll get up the next morning at 7am and go to the gym before work, but then you'll wake up, hit snooze on the alarm and not go. Behavioural economics can be used to fill the gap between these two things. So, we might pack a bag the night before, providing the path of least resistance, and pre-commit to going by arranging to meet a friend there.

You can use similar processes as a brand. For example, a consumer might intend to buy your product but something happens, they get distracted by day-to-day life, and they forget about it or put it off. So if you're selling something, how do you get someone to buy that product? Review your buying cycle and ensure it is as simple as possible, no long payment process at the end, provide a clear call to action to purchase, reduce the number of questions you ask your customers, get rid of complex forms, make it easy to buy your products, create that path of least resistance.

Many marketers believe that education alone is enough to be successful. All I need to do is to tell people about my product and they will buy it! BE has shown that education alone is not enough. Rather, environment, emotions and social psychology affect or dictate decisions and create "irrational" tendencies.  

For example, loss aversion shows that we feel a loss more than a gain twice as much. If you lose £10 you need to gain £20 to feel even about loss. Let's consider the subject line in an email promoting a sale for new phones. Rather than informing customers about a sale with, 'Get 20% off new phones,' by including the principle of loss aversions, 'Don't miss out on 20% off new phones,' your results will improve. 

What's a recent example of how BE has influenced a consumer's decision-making process?

Probably the default opening on Uber pool, which means users are offered the option to share a ride with other customers as a first option. Sharing the ride with people going in the same direction is very cheap but it's hard to change behaviour. Now, Uber could have launched a marketing campaign used a pop-up or offered the service for free for a few days. But the default option means that customers might try Uber Pool without knowing and then like it. 

This is about the power of defaults, about helping people make a decision so that don't think so much about it. It's a similar premise to what we see with organ donation in Europe, when customers are offered organ donation as an 'opt out' box rather than an 'opt in' box, organ donors increase. For example, in Germany where organ donation is 'opt in' there is a 12% consent rate, versus 99.98% in Austria, which uses an 'opt-out box' for consent. 

What do all marketers need to know about behavioural economics?

Start with the basics. Start reading some of the books beginning with Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. 

What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?

You don’t need to have it all mapped out - you are going to work for a company that two engineers haven’t invented yet. The most important thing is to say yes to interesting opportunities, be open to learning and learn from those around you. 

How do you want to be remembered?

As someone who inspired other people to do great things, especially as a role model for young girls, showing them that they are capable of any career. I’m really worried that girls close off on career choices at a very young age. 

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Read Mindsets by Carol Dweck. She talks about two different mindsets - the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Girls tend to be 'the fixed mindset', they're scared of failure and believe you are born with a certain level of intelligence. The growth mindset thinks that you can always learn new things and study harder next time.
It's really changed how I deal with challenging situations and failure. 

Which historical/fictional character do you most identify with?

The engineers on Apollo 13 who had to go into the room and come up with a solution to fix air flow. I studied engineering before nerds were cool… This was a point in history when we saw what engineering can do. I was so excited when I went to Houston Space Centre, and visited the room where it happened and was told 'you can sit anywhere you want in Mission Control...'

What are you reading?

How to build a girl by Caitlin Moran.