Phill Agnew

There are 2 great behavioural science principles used in this ad. But the biggest opportunity was missed. 1: "3km of writing in every pen" Anchoring. Nobody has any idea how many kilometres of writing a pen typically has. Perhaps 3km is bad? But because we have no anchor and because 3km seems dramatically larger than a 10 cm pen. Therefore, this claim seems incredibly impressive. 2: "The world's #1 pen" Social proof. This doesn't need explaining, but I'm glad they added it because it's one of the most effective psychological principles. 3: Show it, don't say it. Rather than saying "3km in every pen" why not show it? Why not film an artist filling the background of this billboard with 3km of lines to create an intricate background on for the ad? They could do it once and reprint it for the rest of the billboards. The more effort you put into a message, the more it's appreciated. We're distrustful of most ad campaigns, so rather than making a claim that's almost impossible to prove, why not prove it in the same ad?

I asked Claude to rewrite this ad. It came up with: "Twelve sausage-and-cheese pizza rolls, hot in ten minutes. If they aren't the best thing you've pulled out of your freezer this month, write and tell me. I read the letters. Free recipe booklet if you want one." Don't fire your marketers yet folks. --- Here's the chat history for proof: https://lnkd.in/euCwznfM

This time next week, I'll be on stage at Nudgestock. I've spent the last nine months running a cheeky experiment with Dan Bennett. If you've heard me talk in 2026, you've been part of this experiment (sorry!). To hear the results, come along to Nudgestock (or sign up to the Livestream). And let me know if you'll be there!