What the Dog Saw

Stories

• The Pitchman – Ron Popeil and the conquest of the American Kitchen

• Nathan Morris, Arnold Morris, SJ Popeil• Ron Popeil• First family of the American kitchen• Product development and marketing were

indistinguishable• Pioneer in taking the secrets of the pitchmen

to the TV screen• Ronco Showtime Rotisserie

The way they did it

• Maniacal attention to product detail– Optimal speed, evenness to the browning

• No market researcher, no advertising agency• They made the product the star• Dial O Matic, Veg o Matic, Chop o Matic

The Ketchup Conundrum• Grey had a magic conversion rate• Sophistication and complex

aromatics• Paid more than double• Jim Wigon• Build a better ketchup

Ketchup

• Early 19th century – Benzoates Vs Vinegar• Heinz• Salty, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Umami• Amplitude – word sensory experts use to

describe flavors that are well blended and balanced

• World’s Best Ketchup Vs Heinz

True Colors• Shirley Polykoff• Miss Clairol – 1st hair Colour bath• She wrote legendary copy for the brand– Does she or doesn’t she– The closer he gets, the better you look– If I’ve only one life, let me live it as a blonde

• 7 % to 40 % (50’s to the 70’s)• Women’s lib, the workplace…..

• Campaigns were a sensation

• Gave it respectability

L’oreal Preference• Was just 10 cents more• ‘Because I’m worth it’– Ilon Specht

• In the 1980’s, surpassed Clairol as the best selling hair color

• Became the slogan for the whole company• All L’oreal models were blonde, but of a

particular type

• Blonde Periodic Table –– Bombshell, Sunny, Brassy, Dangerous, Society, Cool– Between Sunny and Brassy

• Managed to capture the feminist sensibilities of the day in a phrase

• By the mid 90’s, the communication of both had changed

What the dog saw• Cesar Millan – Host of Dog Whisperer on NGC• Arrives in canine chaos and leave back peace• Presence• Students of human movement– Pay a huge attention to our faces, jaws, hands

• Laban Movement• Phrasing = Posture + Gesture• Rhythmic , Timing

The art of failure• Jana Novotna• Choked Vs Panicked• Explicit learning Vs Implicit Learning• After EL, IL takes over• Under conditions of stress, the Explicit system

takes over– Playing with slow, cautious deliberation– Choking is loss of instinct– Choking is about thinking too much

The art of failure

• In Panic, you stop thinking• It causes perceptual narrowing• It is reversion to instinct

• The graveyard spiral• JFK Jr Panicked

Blow Up

• 1986 Challenger; 1956 Three Mile• 0 Rings and Morton Thiokol• Normal Accident• Risk Homeostasis

Thanks