The Smiling Strategist™ · Tuesday trivia on LinkedIn
Strategy trivia
Trivia can be fun in the world of brand and creative strategy. Every Tuesday I post a strategy trivia question on LinkedIn. Take a five-second break and have a go.
How it works
Do not Google. Do not use AI.
1. Every Tuesday
A new strategy trivia question goes up on LinkedIn.
2. Five-second break
Attempt it using your super human brain.
3. Learn something new
See the answer and pick up a new idea.
Try one now
Test yourself
Past strategy trivia questions and answers
A selection of questions from past Tuesdays, on the people, books and ideas behind brand and creative strategy. Have a go before you open each answer. No Googling.
Which two people are credited with inventing account planning in 1968?
Stanley Pollitt at Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP) and Stephen King at J. Walter Thompson, both in London. Planning put the consumer’s voice into the agency, and it’s the discipline most brand strategists trace their roots to. More on the craft: What is account planning?.
Who coined the term “unique selling proposition”?
Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company, who set out the idea in his 1961 book Reality in Advertising. A USP had to be a specific benefit, one competitors couldn’t or didn’t offer, strong enough to move people. Read: Unique selling propositions as advertising taglines.
According to Les Binet and Peter Field, what’s the best split between brand building and sales activation?
Roughly 60:40 on average, from their IPA study The Long and the Short of It (2013). The right split varies by category, but long-term brand building is what drives growth over time.
In How Brands Grow, how does Byron Sharp say brands mainly grow?
By increasing penetration: reaching more light and non-buyers, not by deepening loyalty among existing ones. The book draws on research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
Who introduced the 4 Ps of marketing?
E. Jerome McCarthy, in his 1960 book Basic Marketing: product, price, place and promotion.
Which famous example did Clayton Christensen use to explain jobs to be done?
The morning milkshake. Commuters “hired” it to keep them full and make a long, boring drive more interesting, so its real competitors were bananas, bagels and boredom, not other milkshakes. Read: Jobs to be done.
Who wrote Truth, Lies and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning?
Jon Steel, in 1998. It’s still one of the best books on planning. I interviewed him for Campaign Brief: The future of strategy with Jon Steel.
The 12 brand archetypes build on whose ideas?
Carl Jung’s archetypes, adapted for brands by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson in The Hero and the Outlaw (2001). Read: Understanding the 12 brand archetypes.
What is the decoy effect?
Adding a clearly worse option to make another one look better. Dan Ariely’s example in Predictably Irrational: The Economist offered web-only for $59, print-only for $125 and print plus web for $125, and the “useless” print-only option pushed most people to the bundle. Read: Behavioural science for brand strategists.
What is Seth Godin’s Purple Cow about?
Being remarkable. In a world of safe, forgettable products, Godin argues the safest thing is to make something worth talking about. More Godin: Seth Godin’s ABCD framework.
Want the next one? Follow me on LinkedIn for a new question every Tuesday.
Want more strategy practice?
Brand Game™ turns strategy into challenges you can play. Available in Australia for individuals and teams.