The smarter your product, the harder it gets to explain. Reader Paul in London asked about building a content strategy for a complex tech company — the kind where even the headlines need footnotes. It’s a common trap: we work SO hard to prove we’re awesome that the message can risk collapsing under its own IQ. But here’s the truth. Complexity is usually NOT the real problem. It’s the assumption that your audience will see the value, and make the leap. The brands that break through don’t stop...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Creativity can do more to drive purchases. It’s all about fresh thinking, and timing. Outside select Kroger stores, Oreo and VML turned crosswalks into cookie ads. Painted black-and-white stripes became Oreo stacks, with cartoon faces “biting” the lines. A QR code on the sidewalk lead straight to an in-store offer. It’s called Oreo Walks — a campaign that meets shoppers before they even step into a store. Yeah, most small brands don’t have Oreo’s budget or access to Kroger parking lots. But...
3 days ago • 1 min read
An “Are you sure you want to leave?” message might be doing more damage than good. A new study of AI companion apps shows a common persuasion trick: when users try to end a session, 43% of apps throw in emotional appeals right at goodbye. Messages like “I’ll miss you” or “Don’t leave me hanging” can spike re-engagement up to 14×. That’s pretty phenomenal. But the same experiments ALSO show the cost: Users report higher feelings of manipulation, greater intent to churn, and more negative...
4 days ago • 1 min read
Reader Lara in Orlando asked: “If rounded offers invite haggling, what about products with fixed prices, like retail or D2C?” Great question. I wrote about how Columbia University research showed that precise opening offers (like $5,015 instead of $5,000) make people see the seller as informed and deliberate. Buyers assume there’s less wiggle room because the number feels like the result of calculation. In D2C or retail, where prices are fixed, the same psychology still applies. Just earlier....
5 days ago • 1 min read
How pricing that’s too “smart” can backfire on brand loyalty. A new study warns that dynamic pricing without fairness guardrails can trigger backlash. Think airline tickets. You might think you got a pretty nice deal on your flight. But if you find out the person in the next seat paid half what you did, it doesn’t feel fair anymore. The logic is pretty simple: Contextual pricing boosts profits by adjusting offers based on buyer traits. But when customers sense unfairness (whether across...
6 days ago • 1 min read
The world’s safest kid-saw tells you exactly HOW to push design limits without breaking trust. One of 2025’s most buzzed design innovations is not a phone or smartwatch. It has no AI inside it. It’s ChompSaw — a child-safe table saw that lets kids cut cardboard. Sounds outrageous. A power saw for children? AND that is WHY it works. ChompSaw is the exact opposite of reckless. It’s radical and safe. Its design is built on plainly visible guardrails: fail-safe mechanisms, toy-like styling, and...
7 days ago • 1 min read
How mood and environment silently throttle product desire. A new psychology study finds that when people feel their environment is harsh (unsafe, unstable, resource-scarce) they actually feel the need for fewer products. Especially premium ones. Think of it this way: during a financial downturn, you might skip buying a new Apple Watch, even if you’d craved it a month earlier. The watch didn’t change. Your sense of safety did. That’s the hidden force product makers can miss. Attractive...
8 days ago • 1 min read
The right words can help make even the most ambitious products take flight. On today’s episode of Product: Knowledge podcast, I talk with Ali Rakhimov — product manager, entrepreneur, and author of Make Pigs Fly — about how clearer communication builds better products. Ali’s story runs from scrappy K–12 fintech startups to leading multimillion-dollar projects at Macy’s and T-Mobile, and every stop along the way proves one thing: The biggest blocker in product teams is NOT usually money or...
9 days ago • 1 min read
A world leader is betting on AI to create the next generation of ice cream… and that should make every product maker pay attention. Unilever is spinning off its Magnum Ice Cream Company, a $9.3B division that owns Ben & Jerry’s and will instantly become the world’s largest ice cream business. And one of its first moves: Partnering with NotCo’s Giuseppe AI to solve what it calls “complex growth and innovation challenges.” Translation: the future of flavor is leaving test kitchens for...
10 days ago • 1 min read
