Coca-Cola, is unquestionably, the most memorable brand on earth. Next to the word “okay” “Coca-Cola” is actually the second most understood word across every language, country, and culture on Earth. And that’s not a mistake. It’s the result of over a hundred years of careful and deliberate brand management, marketing, advertising, and influencing of culture. All in the service of lodging its logo, brand, and product firmly in peoples’ minds. But how did Coke do it, why did it work, and what can we learn from their strategy? Join me today as we examine the psychological side of Coke’s century-long success - and how we can use its strategies to grow our own brands and businesses.

People love Starbucks. But its loyalty app - Starbucks Rewards - is no slouch either. Considered a best-in-class loyalty experience, in 2023 interim CEO Howard Schultz shared that Starbucks Rewards drove a whopping 55% of Starbucks total U.S. revenue. But how did Starbucks Rewards become the king of loyalty programs? Unsurprisingly there’s some marketing psychology and behavioral science behind why the app - and Starbucks - are so addictive…

When Barrack Obama was running for President, a journalist asked a bit of a “gotcha” question. He asked candidate Obama whether he’d ever smoked m*rijuana. And instead of trying to hide a mistake that might’ve cost him the race, he admitted to it. Obama said, “When I was a kid, I inhaled. That was the point.” Not only did this admission seem to make Obama more likeable, but it also positioned him against his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Her husband, President Bill Clinton, had famously said, “I didn’t inhale” when asked if he’d used c*nnabis in the past. Because Obama was already seen as a likeable, smart and competent guy something called the Pratfall Effect kicked in, and made him even more likeable, because now he didn’t seem “too perfect.” 👉 And it turns out that’s what’s true for presidential candidates can also be true for regular people, celebrities, and consumer brands, too. Join me today as we examine how the Pratfall Effect can help make people and brands more likeable. Just by acknowledging an imperfection or two.

Known for creating iconic household names like Tide, Head & Shoulders, and Gillette, P&G literally invented the modern brand. And back in 1996, they were ready to launch what they thought would be another massive brand. It was a technology and product the world had never seen before - A spray that could erase smells. Not cover them up with a stinky perfume, but actually erase them from existence. Leaving a home smelling soft and clean. Like when you open the windows and a fresh breeze blows in. And that’s why they called it Febreze. P&G had high hopes for the rollout and sales were strong… at first. But they noticed that people weren’t coming back to buy another bottle. It was a one and done purchase - a death sentence for any new household cleaning product. To succeed, these products have to be bought again and again - ideally becoming a household staple that made it on the family shopping list. 👉 So P&G’s market research team followed some customers into their homes to do observational research to try and solve the problem... And they discovered something fascinating. Join me today as we examine how Febreze, a simple odor removing spray, went from a failing brand to a massive success - earning the title of 25th billion dollar brand at legendary house of brands Procter and Gamble… all with a bit of marketing psychology and behavioral science.

In 2018, Jigsaw - a research unit inside of Google - wanted to learn how conspiracy theories spread online. But instead of relying on assumptions and second-hand information, they decided to meet 40+ American and British conspiracy theorists face-to-face. The Jigsaw executives were shocked by what they learned. Especially when they saw where the conspiracy theorists got their information. The websites that they trusted were a lot of things... but above all, they were poorly designed. ❌ In a word, they were ugly. ✅ But they were also clearly persuasive. So what was going on? A bit of marketing psychology and behavioral science (as you might’ve guessed) were behind this strange behavior, and it can teach us some valuable things about what makes people tick. Join me today as we unpack the psychology behind the persuasive power of ugly design, and how the research teams’ discoveries can help us create better customer experiences and marketing that gets customers to engage on their terms, not ours.

While Apple is now a trillion dollar company, its path to success was filled with moments where the entire brand nearly disappeared. One of the most notorious examples happened in 1997. Apple was just 90 days from bankruptcy. Jobs had returned as the head of Apple that year, 12 years after getting kicked out of the company by his own board of directors and handpicked CEO John Scully. Jobs had kept himself busy, leading companies like Pixar and NeXT, but he KNEW he had to get back to Apple. And when he finally did, he basically walked into a room on fire. Unsurprisingly, Steve Jobs used a bit of marketing psychology - applied consciously or not - to save the company… going from near bankruptcy and losing over a billion dollars that year, to turning a profit of 309M dollars in just 12 months. I’m Jennifer Clinehens and you’re listening to Choice Hacking - a podcast about applying marketing psychology and behavioral science business, marketing, experience design, and more. Join me today as we unpack the psychology behind one of the most impressive - and legendary - turnaround stories in business history.

A quick message from the host of Choice Hacking, Jen Clinehens.

It's one of most interesting and unique cars around - the Mini. Built to help postwar England deal with rising fuel costs, Mini is a rare example of a product that started out practical only to become cool. How? Well it's down to some clever applications of marketing psychology and behavioral science - used consciously, or not. Join me today as I unpack Mini's rise as one of history's most innovative and influential car brands in history - and the lessons it can teach us about launching and growing a cult brand.

It’s one of the biggest FAILS in business history - Kmart. You may think you know the story - But contrary to popular belief, Kmart’s problems were way bigger than Walmart or even Amazon. And actually, lots of them weren’t even Kmart’s fault. I’m Jennifer Clinehens and you’re listening to Choice Hacking - a podcast about applying behavioral science and psychology to business, marketing, experience design, and more. Join me on this episode of the Choice Hacking podcast, as we unpack the psychology behind one of the biggest business failures ever - Kmart. The thinking traps they fell for, the psychological mistakes they made - and how WE can learn from their errors to improve our own businesses and brands.

Aldi is a discount grocer with a cult following. And it’s now the fastest growing grocery store in the US. They have more than 2,200 locations and they’re growing by 100 stores a year, nudging ever closer to rivals like Walmart, Costco, and Kroger. Unsurprisingly, a lot of that success is down to how Aldi applies psychology and behavioral science throughout its customer experience. They’re masters at balancing low price with a deep understanding of their customers’ mindsets, needs, and mental models to create a store that makes everything feel like good value - not a sacrifice. Join me today as we examine the psychological side of Aldi's success - and how we can use its strategies to grow our own brands and businesses.

Duolingo is one of the world’s most successful learning-based businesses. In 2023, it made nearly half a billion dollars in revenue (a 46% increase from the year prior) and had 16.3M daily active users. Maybe its success isn’t surprising — there are lots of reasons to want to learn a new language: Maybe you’re planning a trip abroad, you’d like to improve your job prospects, or you were inspired by a popular movie or show. But here’s Duolingo’s big challenge: It’s easy to be excited about starting a learning journey. But it’s much harder to stick with learning than most people think. But Duolingo has been remarkably successful keeping people engaged with digital learning. They boast a daily active user retention rate of about 55%. Why? Because they use psychology and behavioral science to keep us learning. Join me (Jen Clinehens) today as I unpack the psychology behind Duolingo's massive success.

Do you have a luxury or designer brand that you lust after? It could be Tom Ford, Balenciaga, Chanel, Lamborghini, or Patek Philippe. Maybe you dream about the day you can walk into one of their stores, throw your credit card down on the counter and walk out with a car, suit, bag, or watch that makes you feel (sometimes literally) like a million bucks. What if I told you that the process of jumping through hoops and having to spend sometimes millions of dollars for the promise of potentially being able to spend millions more on what you ACTUALLY want - often to be denied at the very last minute - is common across many ultra high luxury brands? Join me today as we take a look at how brands like Hermes, Porsche, Ferrari, and Rolex essentially hold their products hostage and use scarcity on steroids to drive customers to spend insane amounts of money for the privilege of spending millions more?

Have you ever had a terrible meal that was completely transformed by an amazing dessert? How about a great movie that was ruined by a bad ending? Why do these moments have the power to stick out in our memories, and change otherwise good or bad experiences? It's down to a behavioral science principle known as the Peak-end Rule. Join me today as we delve into the Peak-end Rule, and talk about how we can use it to our advantage in business, marketing, and experience design.

In 1954, Walt Disney did something a little crazy. A successful filmmaker, he took a break from the movies and decided to create a theme park. Disney bought 160 acres in rural Anaheim, California, and started building Disneyland. Walt Disney had some ambitious ideas, so he assembled a team of “creative engineers” — called Imagineers — to get it done. While creating Disneyland (and later Disney World), the Imagineers developed a playbook for creating magical but effective customer experiences. Crystallized as “Mickey’s 10 Commandments” by Imagineer Marty Sklar, they’re a cheat sheet for creating a brand that people obsess over. But these principles aren’t just best practice — their effectiveness is also due to the psychological principles underlying each. Join me today for the second part of a two-part series, where I explore some of the many ways DISNEY used psychology and behavioral science - consciously or not - to become the happiest place on Earth.

In 1954, Walt Disney did something a little crazy. A successful filmmaker, he took a break from the movies and decided to create a theme park. Disney bought 160 acres in rural Anaheim, California, and started building Disneyland. Walt Disney had some ambitious ideas, so he assembled a team of “creative engineers” — called Imagineers — to get it done. While creating Disneyland (and later Disney World), the Imagineers developed a playbook for creating magical but effective customer experiences. Crystallized as “Mickey’s 10 Commandments” by Imagineer Marty Sklar, they’re a cheat sheet for creating a brand that people obsess over. But these principles aren’t just best practice — their effectiveness is also due to the psychological principles underlying each. Join me today as I explore some of the many ways DISNEY used psychology and behavioral science - consciously or not - to become the happiest place on Earth.

In 2009, a viral video almost destroyed Domino's Pizza. But with some hard work, difficult choices, and a bit of psychology, they managed to go from being the world’s worst pizza chain to the biggest — with nearly 20,000 stores in 90 countries. Join me today as we unpack the psychology and behavioral science behind one of the biggest brand turnarounds in history - Dominos Pizza.

Jo Malone, a popular British perfume brand (also the name of its founder), wanted to crack the lucrative U.S. market. These days, Jo Malone is a part of the $52B beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder. But when it first tried to expand into the U.S. it was… a cult brand to put it politely. And they had the marketing budget to match: Zero. But Jo Malone managed to turn that true $0 marketing budget into an asset that catapulted the brand into the world’s most exclusive department stores - like Bergdorf’s in New York and Harrod’s in London. And that growth didn’t happen by accident. It was down to deeply understanding customers and  using behavioral science and psychology - consciously or not - to get people buying. Join me (Jen Clinehens) today as I unpack the psychology behind Jo Malone's massive success.

In 1982, an Austrian marketing executive named Dietrich Mateschitz flew to Thailand for a business trip. While searching for a remedy for his jet lag, he discovered a Thai energy drink called Krating Daeng that instantly cured him. Mateschitz knew he would have a hit on his hands if he repackaged the drink for the western market. Despite having an uphill battle on his hands, Mateschitz managed to make the product - now called Red Bull - a hit. Unsurprisingly, he used psychology and behavioral science to get there - knowingly or not. Join me today as I unpack the history of Red Bull, its innovative marketing approaches, and how understanding customer psychology made it a hit.

In 2011, American retailer JCPenney was in big trouble. They needed a miracle, so they made a big bet on a new CEO - retail superstar Ron Johnson. An ambitious and accomplished retailer, Johnson made some bold moves with the JC Penny brand. And the result? Well, it was a huge failure. Unsurprisingly, there was some psychology and behavioral science to blame (whether Johnson knew it or not). Join me today as I unpack the failed rebrand of JCPenney - the psychological missteps and how overlooking customer psychology nearly killed the brand.

When people first see Liquid Death, they’re usually pretty curious. It doesn’t look like any other brand of water they’re used to seeing. At a glance its signature tallboy cans could easily pass for a can of beer. And that's exactly what its brand fans love. Join me today as I unpack how Liquid Death - one of the fastest growing CPG products, ever - used psychology and behavioral science (knowingly or not) to grow.