The Rise of Synthetic Audiences: Fast, Cheap… but Believable?

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Professor Ryan Hamilton is joined by Ben Shaw, seasoned brand strategist, to unpack the promises and pitfalls of synthetic audiences - AI-driven research used for faster, cheaper market research. Synthetic audiences, powered by large language models (LLMs), can replicate customer segments and respond to creative concepts or product questions at scale cutting the time and cost of traditional surveys. But does it come with trade-offs?  Expect lively debate on the AI vs. LLM naming debate, the enduring value of ethnography and nuance, and practical tips for blending synthetic and traditional research to make smarter, more human-centred decisions. From democratising access to consumer insight to questioning the believability of robot-approved ad copy, this candid discussion highlights how to use these tools wisely.  🔑 Key Takeaways Synthetic ≠ Real: Synthetic audiences use LLMs to predict human responses—they're powerful, but they're still not replacements for real people. Direction not Proof: Treat synthetic audiences as a first-cut hypothesis tool i.e.great for inspiration, not yet reliable as stand-alone evidence. Nuance & Minority Voices Matter: AI often defaults to the average response, risking loss of critical insights from edge cases or minority behaviours. Democratisation of Insight: With the right data, teams from product to shop-floor staff can ask customer-centred questions directly. Best Practice: Use synthetic audiences for speed and hypothesis testing, then validate with real humans—especially for high-stakes decisions. 📚 Resources & Mentions HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar "Better, faster, AND cheaper isn't a trade-off anymore" Harvard Business School study 'Using LLMs for Market Research'

Sales and Customer Experience—two critical functions that should work together, but too often operate at odds. This week, Colin and Ryan explore how traditional sales tactics can undermine long-term loyalty and create organisational silos. They share personal stories (including Colin's car-buying nightmare) and practical advice for aligning sales with your desired customer experience. If you want to sell AND build trust, this episode is for you. Best Quote of the Episode: "If you can't proudly stand behind the experience you're creating, you've got a problem." — Colin Shaw Key Takeaways: ✅ Traditional closing techniques can damage trust, even when they maybe effective ✅ Sales incentives often conflict with customer experience goals ✅ Leadership must deliberately define the experience they want to deliver ✅ Culture matters: a sales-first mentality breeds silos and resentment ✅ Aligning sales and CX is essential for long-term success, not just short-term gains 👉 Got a business challenge you'd like us to tackle? Visit www.BeyondPhilosophy.com/pickle and tell us about it! About the Hosts:  Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 87,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn. Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025   Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.  Subscribe & Follow   Apple Podcasts Spotify

Trust in traditional institutions is eroding. As customers lose faith in advertising, government and even online reviews, they're turning to voices that feel most relatable: peers and communities. Edelman's latest Trust Barometer shows the most credible spokesperson for a company is now "people like me." Ben Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton explore the decline of influencer credibility, the rise of community-driven word-of-mouth, the tension between authenticity and control, and why attention + trust will be the "coins of the realm" for brands in the decade ahead.   🔑 Key Takeaways Trust > control – brands that over-engineer influencer content or product placement erode the very authenticity that made those channels effective. Attention + trust are today's scarce currencies – in an AI-shaped customer journey where deep-fakes, fake reviews and scam sites abound, both are harder to win. Community is the new battleground – brands should put the "social" back into social media: support micro-communities, forums and peer-to-peer validation rather than chase mass reach alone. Influencers ≠ "people like me" anymore – audiences are starting to view most creators as a separate, commercial class. Virtual influencers may be a short-lived novelty – unless treated as fictional characters with entertainment value and transparent intent. 📚 Resources Mentioned / Referenced Edelman Trust Barometer  G2 crowd / peer-review sites – cited B2B tactic to harness "people like me." Case notes: Super Bowl celebrity ads vs brand recall, Vodafone Germany's virtual influencer, Colonel Sanders' virtual persona.

Episode Overview When everything is one-click easy, do we lose something meaningful? Guest host Dr. Morgan Ward joins Dr. Ryan Hamilton to explore how the right amount of friction in the consumption experience can boost connection, meaning, and long-term use of the product—while the wrong kind just gets in the way.  Quote of the Episode "Consumption, in some ways, has just gotten too easy." — Dr. Morgan Ward 🔑 Key Takeaways Easier isn't always better. Ultra-frictionless buying can strip away the identity, discovery, and accomplishment that make buying feel meaningful. Effort signals value. From "chicken-juice coupons" to the IKEA effect, a little work can increase attachment and repeat use. Design friction by segment. Introverts may love self-checkout; extroverts crave chatty lanes—know which experience your customers wants Guide them but don't overwhelm. Keep choice in the journey (it's part of self-expression) but make it manageable and well-scaffolded. Use friction where it adds meaning. Experiential or identity-laden consumption experiences benefit from challenge and discovery; utilitarian tasks should stay smooth. Let search be satisfying. Curated discovery, small hurdles, or "surprise" moments can deliver the joy of the hunt without wasting time. 📚 Resources Mentioned / Referenced ·       Research example on difficult vs. easy coupons and subsequent purchase ·       The classic Better Crocker Effect based on the pancake-mix story (adding an egg restored pride and perceived contribution) ·       Discovery mechanics (blind-box/surprise products) and guided choice in retail ·       When should there be friction in the consumption experience and when should there not be? About the Hosts Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025 Follow Ryan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-hamilton-49b3321/) Morgan Ward is an adjunct marketing professor, weekly expert guest on The Take—11Alive's in-depth news program that explores timely stories through expert insight—With over 20 years of experience advising clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s and publishing in top academic journals, she's passionate about decoding the symbolic and cultural forces that shape consumer behavior. Her work focuses on status, identity, and decision-making across sectors like luxury, retail, and tech. Beyond consulting, Morgan serves as an expert witness in branding and advertising litigation, bringing academic rigor to questions of perception, distinctiveness, and influence. Follow Morgan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgankward-phd/)  

In this episode, Colin Shaw shares a recent personal experience with a major brand that imposed a 'gag order' (NDA) after a poor service experience — and how this reflects a deeper organizational issue: silos. Together with Professor Ryan Hamilton, Colin explores why siloed thinking leads to incoherent customer experiences, how internal motivations can conflict with CX goals, and what leaders must do to ensure learning, trust, and advocacy remain priorities. A must-listen for CX professionals and senior leaders alike. Best Quote: "Who decides? That is the question every leadership team should ask — and answer wisely." Key Takeaways: Organizational silos often lead to decisions that prioritise risk management over customer experience. Legal and PR functions may act rationally within their remit, but this can result in poor CX outcomes without CX leadership involvement. Service recovery is a powerful opportunity to build trust and advocacy — if handled thoughtfully. The presence of gag orders may indicate systemic issues that need urgent attention. CX leaders must break silos, promote organisational learning, and ensure customer trust is considered in every critical decision.   Register for the 'Unleash AI. Reimagine CX launch event' by NiCE  Cognigy https://www.nice.com/lps/nice-cognigy-launch-event?utm_source=influencers&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=NL_Q425_EN_PLT_GLOB_252346_WBN_NiCE-Cognigy-Virtual-Launch-Event&utm_content=0522834&utm_detail=dentsu-influencers-nicecog-glob-colin   About the Hosts: Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 87,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn. Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025  Follow Ryan on LinkedIn. Subscribe & Follow Apple Podcasts Spotify

Episode Overview Ever buy something you couldn't wait to get—and then let it sit in the box for days (or weeks)? You're not alone. Guest host Morgan Ward joins Ryan Hamilton to explore why we often love the pursuit of products more than the possession of them. From unopened tools and "someday" sweaters to the viral Stanley Cup craze, they unpack the psychology of anticipation, dopamine, and why the thrill fades once the package arrives. This episode reveals what's really driving that "add to cart" impulse—and how brands can design experiences that move customers from wanting to using.  Quote of the Episode "Apparently, the most appealing part of consumption for me is the buying—not the using." — Dr. Morgan Ward 🔑 Key Takeaways Anticipation feels better than ownership. Dopamine spikes during the chase, making the search itself deeply rewarding. "Maybe later" kills momentum. Adding something to a wish list or cart often satisfies the craving—so we never come back to buy. Trends have expiration dates. When products are tied to social signaling (like the Stanley Cup craze), they must be used now or lose their power. Experience is the new product. Pop-ups, fittings, and even unboxing rituals add emotional value that can't be postponed. Design for immediacy. Products that promise instant results or gratification inspire customers to open—and love—them right away. 📚 Resources Mentioned / Referenced The Stanley Cup phenomenon as a case study in social inclusion and urgency Discussion of anticipatory utility and the hedonic treadmill in consumer behavior Norton, Michael I., Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely. "The IKEA effect: When labor leads to love." Journal of consumer psychology 22, no. 3 (2012): 453-460. About the Hosts Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025 Follow Ryan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-hamilton-49b3321/) Morgan Ward is an adjunct marketing professor, weekly expert guest on The Take—11Alive's in-depth news program that explores timely stories through expert insight—With over 20 years of experience advising clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s and publishing in top academic journals, she's passionate about decoding the symbolic and cultural forces that shape consumer behavior. Her work focuses on status, identity, and decision-making across sectors like luxury, retail, and tech. Beyond consulting, Morgan serves as an expert witness in branding and advertising litigation, bringing academic rigor to questions of perception, distinctiveness, and influence. Follow Morgan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgankward-phd/)  

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Professor Ryan Hamilton is joined by guest host Ben Shaw to explore the high-stakes world of rebranding. From Cracker Barrel's logo backlash to Jaguar's radical design overhaul, they unpack what happens when brands chase new audiences at the expense of their loyal customers. The conversation dives into the tension between rebranding vs. repositioning, why heritage brands face special challenges, how politics and culture can hijack brand decisions, and practical lessons for leaders trying to grow without alienating their core base. Key Takeaways Rebrand ≠ Reposition: A visual refresh is not the same as shifting your audience or your value proposition, conflate the two at their peril. Respect the Core Customer: Growth shouldn't mean neglecting the customers who got you here; woo them as deliberately as you pursue new ones. Brand Stretch Matters: Broad idea-driven brands (e.g., Virgin, Crocs) can pivot more easily than heritage or status-driven brands (e.g., Jaguar, Burberry). Change Carries Political Luggage: In today's climate, even aesthetic changes can be interpreted as taking sides so plan for backlash and communication. Experience vs. Marketing: Quietly improving the customer experience often triggers less resistance than highly visible logo or messaging changes. Segment Conflicts Are Real: Pursuing one segment often pushes you away from another. Sub-brands Can Create Safe Space: When segments clash, consider sub-brands or status tiers to reduce friction (e.g., Nike's sport verticals, Burberry's London/Brit/Brit Prorsum). Heritage is an Asset and a Trap: Brands built on nostalgia or legacy often risk losing their most valuable equity if they modernise too aggressively. Resources & Brands Mentioned Ryan Hamilton & Annie's book: The Growth Dilemma – on managing relationships between customer segments. Brand case studies: Cracker Barrel, Jaguar, Burberry, Kohl's, Nike, Crocs, Virgin, Michael Kors.

Summary Traditional customer feedback is broken. Post-call surveys and quarterly reports are too slow, cumbersome, and overly focused on the company's needs rather than the customer's reality. By the time insights land on a dashboard, the customer has already left—or worse, lost trust. In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, I (Colin Shaw) and Professor Ryan Hamilton sit down with Devidas Desai, SVP of Product Leader at ASAPP, to explore how AI that listens is reshaping the way organizations understand and respond to customers in the moment. We delve into why silence doesn't mean satisfaction, why feedback must shift from lagging indicators to real-time signals, and how AI can transform agents into superheroes rather than script-readers. Along the way, Devidas shares his bold vision for the "death of dashboards" and why the future is "anti-dashboard." If you've ever felt trapped in a maddening customer service loop (looking at you, broadband companies), this episode will resonate. More importantly, it will show you what's possible when organizations finally stop treating feedback as an autopsy and start listening in real time. Best Quote: "AI that listens isn't about replacing humans—it's about keeping the human in the loop, so customers get both speed and empathy in the same conversation." Devidas Desai, SVP, Product Leader at ASAPP Key Takeaways Feedback as Autopsy: Traditional surveys and dashboards give you a post-mortem, not a diagnosis. By the time you act, the damage is done. Silence ≠ Satisfaction: No feedback often means customers have given up on you—not that they're happy. Real-Time > Real Late: True customer experience happens in moments, not in reporting cycles. AI that listens can capture sentiment, intent, and context as it unfolds. Human in the Loop: AI doesn't replace humans—it augments them. The best systems blend automation with empathy and judgment. Agent Superpowers: With AI, agents can enter conversations fully briefed, emotionally aware, and guided toward the best next step. Less paperwork, more trust-building. Anti-Dashboard Future: Forget drowning in charts. The next wave is conversational dashboards where you ask questions, and AI gives clear, plain-language answers. Trust is the Endgame: Customers, agents, and leaders all need to trust the system. Real-time listening, done right, rebuilds that trust. Resources: Devidas Desai, SVP, Product Leader at ASAPP - https://www.linkedin.com/in/devidasdesai/ ASAPP https://www.asapp.com/   About the Hosts: Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 87,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.   Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025  Follow Ryan on LinkedIn. Subscribe & Follow Apple Podcasts Spotify   This show was recorded in partnership with ASAPP  

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Professor Ryan Hamilton is joined by guest co-host Ben Shaw, Chief Strategy Officer at MullenLowe, to explore the enduring role of brand archetypes in marketing and customer experience. They revisit the origins of archetypes in Jungian psychology and the influential book The Hero and the Outlaw (Pearson & Mark), before debating how useful the framework remains today. Together, they discuss the power of archetypes to create consistency, unlock creativity, and guide internal decision-making while also recognizing their limitations, risks of rigidity, and occasional resemblance to horoscopes. The conversation ranges from brand strategy in B2B to the impact of AI agents on future purchasing, highlighting how archetypes can still be adapted, evolved, and made practical for modern brand building. 🔑 Key Takeaways Archetypes as tools, not rules: Archetypes provide a shared language for teams and a lens for decision-making, but they shouldn't become a straightjacket. Sub-archetypes unlock creativity: Going beyond the 12 canonical archetypes helps brands avoid sameness and find distinctiveness in crowded categories. Accessibility matters: Archetypes are most effective when they make complex strategy simple and relatable—otherwise they risk losing non-marketing stakeholders. Playing against type: Some of the most disruptive brands (e.g., Liquid Death) succeed precisely by defying category-expected archetypes. Archetypes in B2B: While not always necessary, they can still be useful to express human needs like trust, security, or freedom, even in highly functional categories. AI and archetypes: The rise of AI agents in commerce could challenge the role of storytelling in decision-making, but also presents opportunities for brands to encode their archetypes into machine-readable signals. Healthy ambiguity: Like many frameworks, archetypes work best when used as a catalyst for debate, inspiration, and consistency but not as a rigid formula. 📚 Resources Mentioned The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes — Carol Pearson & Margaret Mark Carl Jung's theories of archetypes and collective unconscious Example brands: Liquid Death, Old Spice, Superman, The Beatles Applications of AI & Large Language Models in creative brand strategy

Your Customers are Lazy... and Bored: How to Use That to Your Advantage Show Notes:  This week on The Intuitive Customer, Colin takes a step back and welcomes guest host Morgan Ward to explore one of psychology's favourite contradictions: why customers cling to the familiar, yet crave novelty. From music playlists to yogurt purchases, from comfort food to product design, Colin and Morgan unpack why we're wired for both—and how brands can use that tension to create better customer experiences. Best Quote from the Episode "Familiarity earns trust. Novelty earns attention. Get the balance right, and you earn loyalty." Key Takeaways Customers don't always prefer the familiar or the new—it depends on context and need. Status quo bias (familiarity) is driven by loss aversion and cognitive laziness. Novelty seeking is driven by boredom and our need for optimal arousal. The best products deliver both—"updated classics" that balance safety and stimulation. Ask yourself: is your customer seeking comfort or excitement right now? Your answer determines whether to lean into familiarity or novelty. 🎧 Listen in to discover why customers sometimes want the same old thing… and sometimes something entirely different. About the Hosts: Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press 2025  Follow Ryan on LinkedIn. Morgan Ward is a former marketing professor and experienced brand consultant, now founder of InsightHive—a behavioral strategy consultancy that helps companies apply consumer psychology to real-world brand challenges. With over 20 years of experience advising clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s and publishing in top academic journals, she's passionate about decoding the symbolic and cultural forces that shape consumer behavior. Her work focuses on status, identity, and decision-making across sectors like luxury, retail, and tech. Beyond consulting, Morgan serves as an expert witness in branding and advertising litigation, bringing academic rigor to questions of perception, distinctiveness, and influence. Follow Morgan on LinkedIn Subscribe & Follow Apple Podcasts Spotify