how to: Make Your Ideas, Products and Brands Triumph

An unmissable talk by Rory Sutherland, the acclaimed Behavioural Economist and – with 6.5m views – a TED Talk superstar, on how your ideas, products and brands can triumph in defiance of logic

Why is Red Bull so popular – even with the usual taste?

How did a major fast-food outlet double its sales, by putting prices … up?

And why do we prefer stripy toothpaste?

In our data-driven age, businesses usually try to use logic, algorithms and theory to drive sales and solve problems. But there’s a problem with this rational approach: humans are innately illogical, and make unconscious decisions based largely on our emotions. What if there was a deeper, underlying logic to explain our irrational selves? How can leaders tap into it to drive their brands, products and businesses to global success?

Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland’s has the answer. His inimitable flair and polymath’s curiosity has made him a TED Talk superstar with over 6.5 million views, a globally sought-after keynote speaker, and a Radio 4 regular with two acclaimed radio series under his belt. Now he joins the How To: Academy to present his ground-breaking theory of creative alchemy.

In this talk, Rory will blend cutting-edge behavioural science, jaw-dropping stories and a touch of branding magic, to show why the demand for logic – from so-called economists, technocrats, managers, analysts and spreadsheet-tweakers – is stifling our ability to solve problems and find creative solutions.

Using real case studies from his work and research with the world’s biggest brands and influencers, Rory will reveal how we must learn to identify and understand the basics of ‘psycho-logic’, to get ahead in the modern world.

Discover the science of knowing what economists are wrong about, and how our biggest breakthroughs may lie not in logic and more data, but in the equally important skill of knowing when and how to abandon it. And, in today’s algorithmically-obsessed age, why alchemy is more valuable than ever.

Rory Sutherland is the Executive Creative Director and Vice-Chairman of OgilvyOne in London, the Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather UK, and the Founder of #ogilvychange. He writes the Spectator’s ‘Wiki Man’ column, presents series for BBC Radio 4, serves on the advisory board of The Evolution Institute, and is former President of the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising). The IDM (Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing) awarded Sutherland an Honorary Life Fellowship. His TED talks have over 6.5 million views.