Marketing & Tech Book Club: Alchemy by Rory Sutherland

Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and founder of its Behavioural Science Practice, not to mention TED Talk extraordinaire, Rory Sutherland has blessed us all with the release of his latest book: ‘Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense.’ and it’s a goodie.

Alchemy by Rory Sutherland

In a world built on logic, from data-driven technologies to spreadsheet-run businesses, Rory encourages us to abandon reason and entertain the idea of irrational possibilities. While leading a life of logic may give us the comforting illusion that we are in control of our lives, it also limits our ability to think outside of the box.

Rory teaches us how irrational thinking can be the key to problem solving, techniques to tackle the puzzle that is human behaviour and how breaking out of the constraints of logic can help us unlock creative ideas.

Rory challenges the very notion that human behaviour is built on logic and demonstrates how we’re in fact driven by unconscious desires explaining why placebos are so powerful, and why we’re drawn to the beautiful, the extravagant and the absurd. So, if you want to influence people’s choices you had better be prepared to bypass reason.

If you’re prepared to join Rory on this wild ride, you might just unleash the power to less logical and more magical solutions.

We’ve managed to bag a chat with the man himself and pick the brains of one of the greatest minds in the Advertising biz today.

If you’re on the hunt for more top marketing books to read to kick the year off with a bang, check out our Best Marketing Books 2021.

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