It’s Friday, our boss isn’t here, and one of our Developers just put on The Vengabus. Things got a little…out of hand today.
Listen
How Things Spread
We’re big fans of Guy Raz (and his glasses) here at the Carnage. We listen to just about every podcast he makes, and today’s Listen is no exception.
From NPR’s TED Radio Hour, this podcast features a number of different TED speakers who focus on one topic. This one’s all about how things spread. Err… nope. More like how ideas, brands, behaviors, etc. spread. It’s a topic all marketers should learn more about.
The people you’ll hear from today include Bill Gates, neuroscientist Sophie Scott, the Yoda of marketing (Seth Godin), social scientist Nicholas Christakis, and historian Yuval Harari.
If you only listen to one podcast this week, make it this one.
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Read
How Roller Coaster Tycoon Changed the Game
Today’s Read is a bit of a departure from our everyday articles, but it really made our hearts flutter. It’s all about one man’s story about how the unforgettable/magical/exciting/amazing computer game, Roller Coaster Tycoon taught him how to correctly price a product. His product? This equally-magical app, Cone, which lets you pick colors from around you using your iPhone’s camera. Yeah, we really, really like this Read…
If you’ve never played Roller Coaster Tycoon, our sincerest condolences, but here’s the gist: you’re given a piece of land and your goal is to convert it into an amusement park earning as much profit as possible. Or, you could build roller coasters in a way that shot the cars into space (which, didn’t make for a good park, but did make for a good laugh).
So, how exactly did a computer game help this designer and developer successfully price his app? Well, you’ll just have to read to find out. Go on, relive your childhood while you’re at it.
Watch
Pump Up the Volume
If you see a Facebook ad from American Express, that’s exactly what you should be doing. Like other hacks of Facebook’s silent autoplay videos, AmEx released an ad that changes the experience if you listen to the ad with the volume on or off.
This one rewards you a prize of sorts if you turn up — no, not like that — the volume to hear the voice-over. So keep your ears peeled the next time you see an ad from AmEx. They could be making it worth your while.
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka and have a party.”
