A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum…

Ailean Mills and Penny Hunt

Argues that marketing and branding, in concentrating on the delivery of emotional satisfaction over and above mere functionality (the total `brand experience'), has perhaps lost contact with what goes on in the marketplace.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ...

Penny Hunt andAilean Mills

The catalyst for this article was a shopping spree. A familiar surge of 'oh goody' greed had begun, pleasurably and predictably. It is well known that this feeling disappears long before the credit card bills arrive, but in this case it disappeared quite suddenly in the store.

You see, the prices were low: they were too low. It just suddenly stopped being fun. Buying is about participating in a sophisticated game, involving stakes, rapid value calculations and tradeoffs. There's a little bit...

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