February 2021 marks a big milestone for the recently relaunched MG brand. In less than five years, the iconic, (formerly) British badge has gone from deep hibernation to top 10 contender, outpacing Subaru, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz Cars to take eighth position overall.

Behavioural economics biases propelled Australia’s ‘buy now pay later’ industry from start-up to mass enterprise in six years. Afterpay, Zip, Humm, Openpay and Laybuy are all flying. Want to tap that rocket fuel? Here are three simple shortcuts.

For most challenger brands, the option of blowing established competitors out of the water with a big-budget ad campaign and a thumping media plan just doesn’t exist.

Given the choice between two items, why do our brains try to convince us to choose the rarer one? In this episode, Mel and Dan explore the Scarcity Bias, and why people line up for days to buy sneakers.

Over the last 12 months, Kia has doubled down on a range of slick new ads that tell Aussies just what type of person buys a Kia; A person who’s into fashion, music and youth culture.

Dan’s a regular guest, with this being his fourth time on the show. We thought we’d get him on this time to get his thoughts and reflections on the recent COVID-19 situation and how it’s affecting Hardhat and ad-land as a whole.

Our leadership team has decided it’s imperative that we slowly start to return to our beloved Prahran office while maintaining lots of the flexibility and autonomy we’ve enjoyed over the last 12 months.

This is true. Unless you happen to be living through a once-in-a-century global pandemic that forces the entire world to cocoon for the better part of a year.

Behavioural Science expert Dan Monheit, co-founder and head of strategy at award-winning creative agency Hardhat, says that for brands to be first and foremost in consumers’ consciousness, they need to tap into the Mere Exposure Effect.

With international travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, it’s fair to assume we’re planning to make the most of our own, expansive backyard like never before.

Today we have choice. Lots of it. But it wasn’t always like this. In fact, until relatively recently, many of the choices we enjoy were actually not choices at all.

As more Aussie's look to create their own transportation 'bubbles', befitting of their new, 'Covid-normal' lifestyles.

Typically, Christmas has been the season of getting your give on. By the time 25 December rolls around, we’ve all spent days, weeks or months, ploughing time, energy and emotion into finding the perfect gift for everyone else.

Turns out, everybody, and according to Behavioural Science, there’s a very good reason. Introducing the Licensing Effect, a cognitive bias that refers to our core desire to maintain balance between our indulgent and our virtuous selves.

if you think the genius shared between these three brands is their commitment to a higher-order social purpose, you’re missing the real genius.

New Year always brings with it big new plans. Post lockdown and post-2020, the pressure is on for 2021. Dan Monheit says that having a little insight into what we’ve learned about planning from Behavioural Science will go a long way towards making — and sticking to — your best plans yet.

With many of the usual suspects, including international travel, cruises, large scale sporting events and concerts off the table, new cars remain right up there at the top of the list for many.

Not only will Dan Andrews’ leadership be looked back upon fondly by Victorians, but in all likelihood, so will the entire COVID19 saga, in a way we could never have imagined back in March.

As we count down to the holiday season, however, it’s easy to get caught up in a ‘COVID-19 stole Christmas’ mentality.