Friday 18th October 2024

Algorithms Won't Solve All Your Pricing Problems

Marco Bertini, marketing professor at Esade Business School, says more and more companies are turning to pricing algorithms to maximize profits. But many are unaware of a big downside. The constant price shifts can hurt the perception of the brand and its products. He warns that overreliance on artificial intelligence and machine learning without considering human psychology can cause serious damage to the customer relationship. And he outlines steps managers should take, including implementing guardrails, overrides, and better communication tactics. With London Business School professor Oded Koenigsberg, Bertini wrote the HBR article “The Pitfalls of Pricing Algorithms.”

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FDA Freezes COVID-Flu Combo Vaccine Trial

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has put a trial of Novavax's COVID-influenza and its standalone flu vaccines on hold after a participant who took the combination shot reported nerve damage, the company said.

Novavax said a participant enrolled in a mid-stage study of the combination vaccine last month reported symptoms of motor neuropathy, or damage to the nerve cells that control muscles or movement. The person was given the vaccine in January last year.


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FTC's 'Click to Cancel' Rule Goes After Predatory Subscriptions

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission adopted a final rule requiring businesses to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up, in the agency's last major rulemaking before the Nov. 5 election.

The "click to cancel" rule requires retailers, gyms and other businesses to get consumers' consent for subscriptions, auto-renewals and free trials that convert to paid memberships. The cancellation method must be "at least as easy to use" as the sign up process.


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Harris, Trump Transition Plans Reflect Their Leadership Styles

In a drab office suite just blocks from the White House, seasoned political operatives are drawing up detailed plans for a government in waiting. Another identical suite in the same government building is dark and idle.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are running markedly different transition efforts to be ready for the potential responsibility of taking over the federal government. It's a below-the-radar effort for now that will snap into sharp focus as soon as a winner is declared.


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The Secret to Building a Successful Team According to Malcolm Gladwell: The Law of the Magic Third The Secret to Building Successful Teams According to Malcolm Gladwell

There is a certain mysterious magic when it comes to building high-performing teams. Science shows you can't just gather the highest performers and throw them together. The individual skill of each team member matters, but that alone doesn't predict how well either athletic or professional teams will perform. 

Whether you're a coach, a manager, or an entrepreneur, how do you do that? That's one of the trickiest questions in leadership. But in his new book, Revenge of the Tipping Point, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell explains one fundamental law everyone putting together a team needs to understand. 


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Get Offline: Marketing Strategies for Community Building in the AI Era

"Sorry, I didn't understand that. If you're calling with a question, please press 1 …" We've all been there, seeking human support while being blocked by a robot programmed to "help." And with daily advancements in AI, it feels like developers want us to believe algorithms can do everything.

Seventy-eight percent of people who attend in-person events feel that offline connection offers the best networking opportunities. Why? Partially because our virtual spaces are overflowing with ads, messaging, and random connection requests. This online oversaturation has made genuine human connection more valuable than ever. Research shows that social isolation evokes a mental response similar to hunger, making real interaction as essential as food and water. And as used to virtual engagement as we are, 75 percent of people report wanting to interact with a real person more as technology improves. And we're seeing the results of this in the marketing space, with many of our clients seeking events to attend and even hosting their own events. 


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8 Affordable Marketing Solutions That Beat Digital Every Time

Have you heard? Social media is a big deal. And if we are not discussing social media and TikTok, then we better be talking about mobile, and digital too, because that is where the action is, right? 

I was reminded that social media and digital marketing are not the only games in town when I opened my mailbox recently and found a hand-addressed envelope from my lawyer. He was writing to thank me for my business and to remind me that his firm handles other issues too–besides business–just in case I ever needed other legal assistance.


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3 Innovative Ways to Use AI During Uncertain Times

Young entrepreneurs and experienced leaders understand that artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool, with 82 percent of CEOs and senior leaders expecting AI to impact their businesses significantly, according to a Korn Ferry survey.

Yet many have not spent enough time envisioning how AI could be transformative. To succeed in the age of AI, Brian Solis, author of Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future, suggests constructive ways for leaders to utilize AI to shape a better future.


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Taylor Swift Just Made an Announcement and It's Sheer Genius

Taylor Swift’s legendary Eras tour is finally ending, after more than a year and a half. She’ll give her final Eras performance December 8 in Vancouver, B.C.. But Swift, the newest pop star billionaire and one of the smartest marketers on earth, announced one more offering for her fans this week. She’s launching a new book, The Official Eras Tour Book commemorating the tour with her thoughts and recollections, as well as many photographs. The book goes on sale at Target on Black Friday, November 29. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology will go on sale on vinyl and CD that same day. Up till now, the album plus bonus tracks that make up the Anthology have only been available to stream.

It’s a brilliant, brilliant move. Like everything Swift does, it’s thoroughly thought through, perfectly timed, and designed to give her fans exactly what they want. And it’s something you should probably consider doing to celebrate your own company’s milestone or project.


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Why Powell and Yellen May Have Pulled Off the Impossible With the Economy

Over the past six years, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has had his fair share of critics. Donald Trump, who appointed Powell in 2018, called the Fed “crazy,” “loco,” and “out of control” after it raised interest rates that same year. In 2022, Powell got labeled “behind the curve” for having kept interest rates near zero in 2021 even as inflation was starting to rise. 

This year, he was lambasted for being behind the curve in the opposite direction, as the Fed kept rates steady in the face of what many thought was a weakening economy. And yet when Powell stood at the podium last month and announced that the Fed was cutting rates for the first time in four years, it was not the attacks on his record that came to mind, but rather the dexterous way in which he’s navigated the economy through the unprecedented macroeconomic turbulence of the past four years.  


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