Episode
The Startling Power of Surprise with Adam Morgan
- Podcast
- Uncensored CMO
- Published
- Jul 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2727
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://ucmo.transistor.fm/273
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Summary
Adam Morgan, founder of eatbigfish and co-creator of The Cost of Dull, joins us to explore why surprise is one of the most powerful tools available to marketers. Drawing on new research unveiled at Cannes Lions, Adam and Jon explain the psychology behind surprise, the science of reward prediction error, and why memorable brands consistently give people more than they expect. We discuss the different types of surprise, why products need to live up to the expectations created by advertising, and examine some of the best examples of surprise in modern marketing from Aldi to Jaguar and beyond. Timestamps 00:00 - Start 01:58 - The surprising outcomes of Cost of Dull 06:04 - The genesis of Cost of Dull 09:01 - Why are we talking about surprise? 10:08 - Why the best marketers look outside of marketing 13:42 - What the data says about surprise 15:50 - Reward prediction error 17:26 - Why your product needs to exceed expectations set by your brand 19:59 - The surprising power of giving people more than they expect 21:48 - The two types of surprise 25:00 - Adam’s favourite examples of surprise 26:09 - Jon’s favourite example of surprise 28:20 - Was Jaguar intentionally surprising? 29:39 - Examples of long term surprise 31:50 - Why Aldi are so successful at surprise 34:28 - Why you need a system for your surprise 38:15 - The right balance of surprise 42:12 - When is shock necessary