Key Takeaways From Rory Sutherland’s Nudgestock Talks
“Imagine showing Louis XIV your life. Almost everything would amaze him. He would offer you half of Gascony for your flat-screen television. Even driving a 20-year-old car would delight him.”
Nudgestock is the world’s premier festival of creativity and behavioural science.
Curated by the talented folk at Ogilvy Consulting, it has been described as a ‘Glastonbury for nerds’.
Hosted by the enigmatic Rory Sutherland and team, this fantastic event features some of the world’s brightest minds sharing their wisdom.
Past speakers include Ruby Wax, Daniel Kahneman, John Cleese, Dan Ariely, Laurie Santos, Dave Trott, Diana Fleischman, Tim Harford, Meik Wiking, BJ Fogg, Richard Thaler, Paul Dolan and many more.
We’ve covered 10 Nudgestock Talks You Musn’t Miss and 10 More Unmissable Nudgestock Talks and now it’s time to look at Rory Sutherland’s keynote talks from every Nudgestock event.
While we thoroughly encourage you to watch all the talks in full, we’ve also selected three key points from each one.
Enjoy.
1. Nudgetock (2013)
In 2013, the first Nudgestock occurred at the Digital Shoreditch event in hipster East London.
Despite being brand new, it attracted twenty-one speakers of unbelievably high calibre, including Nassim Taleb, Professor Paul Dolan and Dr Laurie Santos.
Unfortunately, we can’t track down Rory’s opening talk from this event (if you do, please let us know), so here’s a valuable discussion between Rory and Nassim about his terrific book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder.
Three key takeaways:
1. What does ‘Antifragile’ mean?
Nassim’s concept of ‘antifragility’ describes systems, organisations, or entities where shocks, stressors, and disorders improve the system. This is contrary to something ‘fragile’ which suffers from them. For example, weightlifting involves stressing muscles, causing micro-tears. These muscles repair and grow back stronger, demonstrating antifragility.
2. Why is too much centralisation dangerous when dealing with complex systems?
Complex systems, like economies or ecosystems, benefit from decentralised, small-scale failure, which prevents large-scale catastrophic failures. Centralised systems that avoid small failures are more prone to significant collapses.
3. How do modern practices increase system fragility?
Modernity often removes variability and stressors, increasing fragility in systems like economies, health, and personal development. Practices that introduce variability, such as fasting or varied exercise, align with antifragility principles.
2. Nudgestock 2 (2014)
The success of the first-ever Nudgestock meant the event was moved to a bigger venue the following year.
London’s buzz was swapped for the charming coastal town of Deal in Kent.
Why?
It could have been because of its charming cafes and independent shops.
Or, possibly because Rory’s second home is conveniently nearby! 😂
This year, Rory’s talk, ‘Dare To Be Trivial,’ was short but sweet, and here are a few key points.
Three key takeaways:
1. Practitioners know what works before academics prove it
Practitioners often make discoveries before academics but fail to codify them. Examples include effective advertising strategies and responses to direct mail changes. This is because by doing something repeatedly, you start to notice patterns in what does and doesn’t work.
2. Psychologists helped make this early advertising more effective
Early advertising (think Mad Men era) often involved psychologists, leading to significant behavioural insights, such as creating norms and price anchors.
3. These psychological tricks are evident in classic advertising campaigns
Alka-Seltzer’s ‘Plink Plink Fizz’ (designed to set a norm of adding two tablets instead of one to your glass of water, hence the second ‘Plink’) and De Beer’s ‘How else could two month's salary last a lifetime?’ (designed to set a price anchor), show how psychological principles have long been used in marketing to shape consumer behaviour.
3. Nudgestock 3 (2015)
Just three years in, Nudgestock welcomed its first Nobel prize-winning speaker, Richard Thaler.
Talk about hitting the big leagues.
Richard is an economist and Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago who co-authored one of the most popular books on behavioural economics, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Money, Health, and the Environment.
Rory’s opening speech was again full of wit and wisdom and contained the following gems:
Three key takeaways:
1. Capitalism as a giant social science experiment
Consumer capitalism is effectively a large-scale social science experiment providing valuable consumer behaviour insights.
2. Small inputs can have disproportionate outputs
Small, seemingly trivial suggestions can have significant impacts but are often overlooked due to their perceived triviality. Making such suggestions is usually frowned upon in most corporate organisations.
3. Rituals can help encourage good behaviours
One way to encourage patients to take their medication is to create rituals around pill-taking to improve adherence, similar to making a cake mix slightly more complex to enhance its appeal.
4. Nudgestock 4 (2016)
One year on from a Nobel prize-winning speaker, Nudgestock did it again by welcoming the bestselling author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford.
Some of the helpful points Rory made are below.
Three key takeaways:
1. Traditional economics doesn’t account for real human behaviour
Evolutionary biology and psychology are seen as better aligned with marketing than economics because they understand the real, often irrational, behaviours of humans.
2. Framing is a potent tool
A Japanese chain of restaurants called Wagamama explains that the food will arrive fresh and in no particular order due to the authentic Japanese style, managing customer expectations about not receiving their food simultaneously.
3. Simple psychological tricks can make or break a product
Successful products like Uber and Dyson incorporate psychological elements (e.g. real-time tracking for Uber, visible dirt collection for Dyson) that appeal to human instincts and preferences.
5. Nudgestock 5 (2017)
In 2017, Nudgestock put on another incredible lineup of speakers, including the dashingly handsome and charismatic author of the million-copy selling The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, Meik Wiking.
Meik has also created two popular happiness courses with us: The Happy Course and The Even Happier Course.
Rory’s talk, ‘Innervation,’ explained why he thinks psychology, not technology, will be the main factor in innovative breakthroughs.
Three key takeaways:
1. Perception is reality
Psychological innovations can make experiences significantly more enjoyable without substantial technological changes. This is because they alter our perceptions.
2. The genius of Uber is not the technology itself
For example, Uber improved the waiting experience by providing certainty with a map, showing that addressing psychological discomfort can be more effective than making something objectively faster or cheaper.
3. Marketing should be about long-term relationships rather than short-term transactions
Examples include gestures that show long-term commitment, like the burger chain Five Guys extra fries at no additional cost.
6. Nudgestock 6 (2018)
June 8th 2018, witnessed the sixth Nudgestock Festival and yet more mind-expanding talks from some of the most interesting voices in behavioural science and beyond.
This year, Rory shared some interesting real-world applications of behavioural science.
Three key takeaways:
1. Too much choice isn’t always optimal
The Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz's famous jam experiment is mentioned to illustrate that more choice isn't always better, as too much choice can lead to indecision.
2. Reducing choice can increase sales
British Airways successfully experimented with reducing choice during winter sales to make decision-making easier for customers.
3. Fewer menu options sell more coffee
Starbucks simplifies its menu by structuring choices in stages, making it easier for customers to decide.
7. Nudgestock 7 (2019)
This year, Nudgestock took place in Folkstone, Kent. Another breezy spot beside the sea. 😎
Yet again, Rory shared some good examples of why he calls behavioural economics ‘the science of knowing what economists are wrong about’.
Three key takeaways:
1. Money isn’t always the motivating factor in decision-making.
People's behaviours are influenced more by social norms and convenience than by cost.
2. People often make decisions to minimise risk rather than optimise outcome.
This explains why people prefer known brands like McDonald's for their consistency and reliability.
3. Redesigning environments to make choices easier can lead to better outcomes
For example, creating comfortable standing spaces on trains encourages people to stand voluntarily. Or the Google cafeteria, which places healthy foods at eye level instead of snacks.
8. Nudgestock 8 (2020)
What a difference a year makes!
With most of the world in lockdown due to COVID-19, Nudgestock became an online-only event.
Inspired by the Live Aid music event, the Ogilvy team started the stream in Australia and travelled across the globe, creating almost 12 hours of live content!
Rory’s talk ‘It's Behavioural Science, But I Like It’ was a welcome bit of humour and insight in an otherwise strange moment in time.
Three key takeaways:
1. Rational rules the roost in most organisations
Businesses are inherently biased to prefer rational, reductionist explanations, often overlooking deeper psychological reasons for consumer behaviour.
2. But understanding the emotional delivers the goods
Understanding the true, often psychological, reasons behind consumer behaviour can offer significant competitive advantage and insight.
3. Test what doesn’t make sense
Discovering counterintuitive insights can provide a significant edge, as competitors may need help to adapt due to entrenched logical models.
9. Nudgestock 9 (2021)
The second year of the pandemic kept us glued to our laptops, learning from experts worldwide.
‘Is everything BS?’ was the title of Rory’s talk. He argues ‘no’, but it makes up a significant proportion!
Three key takeaways:
1. Multidisciplinary thinking is critical for breakthrough ideas
The best ideas emerge not from within disciplines but at the intersection between different disciplines.
2. Psychological interventions could solve many problems in the world
The application of behavioural science could solve a huge number of problems in the world.
3. Test ideas that others wouldn’t
Don’t just test the things that make sense; test the things that don’t. If you find out they work, you have something valuable because nobody else would have tested it.
10. Nudgestock 10 (2022)
Nudgestock 2022 was the tenth anniversary of Ogilvy’s annual festival of behavioural science and creativity.
The lineup was as brilliant as ever, making it hard to choose the standout talk. And Rory’s talk ‘Billion dollar behaviours’ was as entertiang as ever.
Three key takeaways:
1. There is never one simple explanation for anything
People often settle for one simple explanation for things, but deeper understanding comes from exploring multiple reasons and causes.
2. We tend to focus too much on the ‘what’ and not enough on the ‘why’
Businesses tend to focus too much on data ('what') and not enough on understanding the underlying causes ('why'), leading to misdirected efforts and missed opportunities.
3. Happy accidents can uncover valuable information
Companies can learn valuable insights from accidental experiments, such as pricing errors, which reveal consumer behaviour and preferences.
11. Nudgestock 11 (2023)
In 2023, as hard to believe as it may be, Nudgestock entered its second decade.
The event occurred in the Old Truman Brewery in East London and encompassed many topics, from messiness in the brain and sonic branding to brain health and the value of a good night’s rest.
Three key takeaways:
1. Success in the real world is non-linear
Most success in business and science is messy and non-linear. Efforts to make things appear neat often lead to lost creative opportunities and stifled innovation.
2. The difference between Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Thinking
Top-down solutions, driven by the need for neatness and argument-winning, often overlook practical realities and creative potential. Bottom-up thinking emerges from observing and understanding real-world complexities and can lead to more effective and innovative solutions.
3. Don’t over-rely on data
Anecdotal evidence and outliers often reveal valuable insights that aggregated data can miss. These insights are crucial for solving problems but are less helpful in winning arguments.
If you need more of Rory Sutherland in your life, you’ll enjoy our popular and highly-rated Behavioural Economics course certified by Ogilvy.
