There is no magic number

Have you ever had to defend the number of participants used in a qual study?

Err, does the bear wear a tall hat?

Emmet O’Brian has nicely summarised a paper by Jacqueline Low on chasing theoretical saturation in its current form – the point at which new information stops emerging.

The primary issue being that there is no magic number to ensure we achieve saturation.

Instead, the decision to end analysis will always be a pragmatic one, based on judgements of reasonableness, as well as analytical robustness and rigour: ‘There simply is no end point to analysis where nothing new emerges […] reaching saturation is, after all, a matter of degree’.

Diffusing innovation

We know teams work best when the muesli comprises a variety of personalities, attitudes, backgrounds and dried cranberries. But, according to Farnam Street, you need geniuses paired with butterflies for successful innovation:

the Genius figures out a new way of describing your product that really resonates. The Genius though, is not a teacher […] it doesn’t occur to them to teach someone else. But the Butterfly who went to the meeting with the Genius? They pick up on the successful new product description right away […] They talk about it with their friends, most of whom are also Butterflies. […] Within two weeks, the new description has taken off because of the propensity for cultural learning embedded in the social Butterflies.

Dun dun (duuuun)

Apparently folk are getting sick of the ‘dun dun’ that plays before Netflix shows, to the extent that it’s hurting the brand’s emotional appeal.

In a survey conducted in June, consumers had very positive associations with the Netflix brand – the strongest emotional appeal of all 16 brands tested, and one of the highest ever recorded by Sentient. However, when exposed to the trademark ‘dun dun’ sound that plays at Netflix’s launch and before programming starts, the overall emotional appeal of the brand dropped by 10%.

Researchers reckon this is due to overexposure during the past 6 months or so.

I repeat. Does the bear wear a tall hat?

When using green, make it a yellow or blue one

Lisa Charlotte Rost has written a tremendously detailed piece on how to pick more beautiful colours for your data visualisations. Pleasing.

While Eddie Schleyner has been exploring 10 writing tips from David Ogilvy. Note to self: read Writing That Works by Roman and Raphaelson (x3). And

Write the way you talk. Naturally.

…make sure Asterisk key is functioning.

That’s life, kids

Actor Tom Holander has written a refreshing blast of celebrity reality in the best ‘Life in a Day’ ever featured in The Times.

I wake up generally at 3 or 4am. Not because I’m like Margaret Thatcher, but because I need to pee.

Very conversational. Very natural. Ogilvy would be proud.

It’s in stark contrast to John Lewis’ new advert, which is about as far away from my experience of lockdown with kids as possible. I recognise none of it. Perhaps it’s a good case for stepping outside of the bubble (not that one).

Lyon, 1896

I can’t explain how much I love this film of a snowball fight 124 years ago in Lyon, France. Some things never change.

Until next tim




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