Friday TED Talk: Rory Sutherland and the Perception of Value

The techniques of advertising come alive in this humorous and fast-moving talk by Rory Sutherland from the TED 2009 Global Conference in Oxford. He illustrates his central point -- that persuasion is far more effective in influencing behavior than compulsion -- with fascinating anecdotes from history: did you ever hear how Frederick the Great got the Germans started on potatoes? And you will laugh yourself silly watching him illustrate the brilliant campaign involving "Shreddies" (a Canadian breakfast cereal). Sit back, relax and enjoy as you learn how to rethink problems from the perspective of a brilliant student of advertising:

You can read an equally fascinating interview with Rory Sutherland at this link, and he also has a blog. A brief bio is here, and the high-resolution version of his talk is here (highly recommended). The talk may be downloaded in that and other formats from this page.