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# Alchemy
- URL: https://www.unbore.com/readings/alchemy/
- Published: 2026-03-02T08:18:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T15:53:45.000Z
- Description: By Rory Sutherland
- Author: Shlomo Genchin
- Tags: Readings

🗒️

Note: My notes are a mix of key ideas and quotes from the book as well as my own thoughts.

💡

The opposite of a good idea can be a very good idea.

- Behavioral psychology in action: Ogilvy London painted baby faces on shop shutters to reduce vandalism.
- Everything can become exclusive. Before Dyson, vacuum cleaners were generic products. Now, they're a status symbol.
  - What’s next? Exclusive nail clippers? Maybe.

💬

"The heart has reason in which reason knows nothing."  
Pascal

- Why the corporate world is not creative –  
No one was fired for using too much logic. People try to justify their decisions with pure logic so that they won't be blamed for the results. But, the **non-rational solution** might actually be better.
- Writing for **a persona** vs. writing for **one person** –  
If you always try to use data to determine who is your average client, you'll often target people who rarely exist.  
Don't design for the **average**; design for the **typical.**

💲

We enjoy buying either very cheap or very expensive stuff. These both give us a dopamine boost and make for a good story.

- Show three options with Decoy Pricing
  - Cheap
  - Premium  
  The one you want the client to take
  - Decoy  
  An offer so bad that choosing the premium option becomes a no-brainer
- Gifts :  
People often struggle to find gifts for their loved ones. **Define your product as a gift.**
  - That's why many online shops add "given as a gift" to product descriptions.
- On how to acquire gold from iron :  
During a crisis, Prussia asked rich people to donate their gold jewelry in exchange for iron jewelry. A little engraving on the metal jewelry stated it was given in return for gold.  
*Suddenly*, wearing metal jewelry became a high-status symbol.
- On creating desire :  
The Prussian king, Friedrich, wanted to turn potatoes into a desirable vegetable because people didn't want to eat and grow them. So he planted some potatoes and put a high fence around them.  
*Suddenly*, people started appreciating potatoes
- Invent new words and give names to behaviors :  
The Belgian government wanted people to stop drinking and driving, so **they invented the term** BOB ("Bewust Onbeschonken Bestuurder"), which translates to "Consciously Non-Drunk Driver." It was easier for people to refuse a drink because they could just say, "no thanks, I'm BOB."
- Market asymmetry :  
When the **buyer knows less about the product than the seller.** Like, with the hoverboard market. No clear product name, no clear branding, no clear features.
- Reframing :  
Acamol Night was invented as regular medicine. But there was one problem: it made you sleepy. So they **reframed it** to be a medicine that not only cures you but also helps you to sleep better.  
*\[Whoa!\]*
- The focusing illusion :  
When we pay **too much attention** to a particular event or detail **without seeing the big picture.** This phenomenon is also why focusing on one USP can help you sell better.
  - Porsche – Fast, Volvo – Safe, etc.
- The 300M button :  
An e-commerce company made a button that lets customers check out as guests instead of registering. **The result:** increased sales by 300M a year.