1997 – 2002 flashback In the seventh blog in this series, I wrote about the power of social norms in shaping consumer behaviour. They are very powerful, indeed. The fact is, however, they are equally powerful in shaping the behaviour of business people. Indeed, sheep-like behaviour is as common among business- people as it is […]

1997 – 2002 flashback In the seventh blog in this series, I wrote about the power of social norms in shaping consumer behaviour. They are very powerful, indeed. The fact is, however, they are equally powerful in shaping the behaviour of business people. Indeed, sheep-like behaviour is as common among business- people as it is among any other group of consumers – if not more so, given their natural (though often denied) conservatism.The ‘Think Different’ campaign launch by Steve Jobs and Apple in 1997, was at least in part a response to the natural inclination for businesspeople to operate in line with social norms – doing the same thing and offering the same product over and over. The campaign launched by Jobs in 1997 ran until 2002 and was, in my view, one of the best ten campaigns of my lifetime – which has encompassed most of the advertising age.…