Richard Shotton

Herne Hill, London

Founder of Astroten, a consultancy that applies findings from behavioural science to marketing. Author of The Choice Factory & The Illusion of Choice

Articles

How Costa Coffee uses behavioural science for your caffeine fix

3 weeks ago | marketingweek.com | Richard Shotton

Fancy a coffee? This article is going to be a bit different from the usual. I want to take a look at one coffee shop chain – in this case Costa Coffee – and examine some of the behavioural biases they use to encourage purchasing. There are more than you might expect and each of them could be utilised by your brand. Let’s get started. The right priceBefore we even step inside, we can spot one of retail’s most long-standing tactics. Looks like an appealing offer, right?
Dajesz się nabrać? Firmy robią to celowo, żebyś kupował chętniej

1 month ago | onet.pl | Richard Shotton

grafika do artykułu Iluzja wyboruW artykule przedstawiamy fragment książki Iluzja wyboru, czyli jak kupujemy, której autorem jest Richard Shotton. W poprzednim rozdziale mowa była o tym, że należy klientowi możliwie ułatwiać życie. Niekiedy jednak warto przedstawić pożądane zachowanie jako wymagające wysiłku.
Coca-Cola’s European CMO: AI ads will become ‘the norm’

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Niamh Carroll |Richard Shotton

Coca-Cola’s European CMO: AI ads will become ‘the norm’ Coca-Cola used AI to recreate its famous ‘Holidays are Coming’ ad at a tenth of what it would have cost it otherwise. Coca-Cola’s European CMO says that advertising produced through generative AI will become the “norm” in the not too distant future.
Awareness vs familiarity: Nokia on the challenge of transitioning from B2C to B2B

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Jasper Baumann |Richard Shotton

There is a clear opportunity for brands to help redefine masculinity but a single campaign won’t cut it. It must come from a deeper, collective effort across everything from the stories they tell and the behaviours they normalise to the identities they promote.
WHSmith, ‘Share a Coke’, restructures

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Amrit Virdi |Richard Shotton

In the latest episode, we explore the rate of restructures, ask what’s in a name when it comes to WHSmith and explore the value of personalisation courtesy of Coke. In this latest episode of The Marketing Week Podcast, managing editor Lucy Tesseras, deputy managing editor Charlotte Rogers and senior reporter Molly Innes explore what’s driving the relentless pace of change as our exclusive 2025 Career & Salary Survey data reveals marketing team restructures are at a three-year high.
Why It Works: Dishoom and its secret sauce of surprise

2 months ago | marketingweek.com | Richard Shotton

Do you live in one of the four lucky UK cities to be blessed with a Dishoom? If so, the chances are you’ll have sampled, or at least heard of, the tasty Bombay comfort food on offer. The chain was founded in 2010 and has since grown to 13 eateries UK-wide. It’s won too many awards to count, and their black daal is legendary. Aside from the special food, Dishoom holds a few other delights up its sleeves. One is its mysterious matka.
Generative AI reshaping teams, supermarket visits, influencers: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Mar 10, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Niamh Carroll |Amrit Virdi |Grace Gollasch |Richard Shotton

We arm you with all the numbers you need to tackle the week ahead. Most CMOs think AI will reshape marketing teamsAround two in three (65%) top marketers expect generative AI to bring about structural changes to their team in the future. The research, which surveyed marketers at various seniority levels, finds that 48% of marketers expect AI to significantly impact team roles, with another 39% predicting moderate change.
Virgin Money on its brand storytelling push

Mar 10, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Amrit Virdi |Niamh Carroll |Grace Gollasch |Richard Shotton

Virgin Money is on a mission to differentiate itself from its competitors in the banking sector with a focus on taking brand storytelling to the next level. With a background in financial services, retail, travel and telecoms, CMO Emma Isaac joined in November 2023 from her role as head of marketing at Waitrose and embarked on a “classic process” of granular segmentation and focus on brand positioning.
‘Brands are by default suspicious’: Unilever’s new CEO identifies influencer marketing as key pillar of strategy

Mar 10, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Niamh Carroll |Grace Gollasch |Richard Shotton |Russell Parsons

Unilever’s new CEO has pledged to step up influencer marketing to drive “desire at scale”, as it aims to appeal to what he sees as increasingly sceptical consumers. “Today, brands are by default suspicious,” CEO Fernando Fernandez said.
Choose your metaphors with care - they are more powerful than you think

Mar 10, 2025 | marketingweek.com | Richard Shotton |Grace Gollasch |Russell Parsons

The precise words used to describe any given situation can have an enormous impact on its perception. Yet the power of language is often underestimated. Specifically, the immense, mind-changing force of metaphor. Brands should take note. Let’s have a look at some evidence. In 2011, Paul Thibodeau and Lera Boroditsky from Stanford University conducted a study exploring the impact of different crime-related metaphors.