| Good morning, Marketer, get the muffin with your coffee. You deserve it. Have you ever been surprised by an online store’s recommendations? Probably not. That’s because shopping personalization defaults to the familiar: People who liked Name Brand Double-Flush Toilet also liked Name Brand Triple-Ply Toilet Paper. (Worse are the sites that keep suggesting the same product you already bought on that site!) One way to surprise people is offering a contrarian option. Something like, “People who like X, hate Y.” That may seem odd, but the anti-brand offering can be very successful. The best example I know of is BMW. It’s a polarizing brand — consumers either love it or loathe it. The company knew this and created a product expressly aimed at people who would never consider a BMW. That product, the Mini Cooper, has done surprisingly well. Constantine von Hoffman,
Managing Editor | 