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Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

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  • Create Date：2021-04-23 14:51:18
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Rory Sutherland
  • ISBN：0062388428
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Summary

HOW DOES MAGIC HAPPEN？ The Ogilvy advertising legend—“one of the leading minds in the world of branding” （NPR）—explores the art and science of conjuring irresistible products and ideas。

"A breakthrough book。 Wonderfully applicable to about everything in life。" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb， author of The Black Swan

“Veins of wisdom emerge regularly and brilliantly from these pages。 Don't miss this book。”  —Robert B。 Cialdini， author of Influence

Why is Red Bull so popular， though everyone—everyone！—hates the taste？ Humans are， in a word， irrational， basing decisions as much on subtle external signals （that little blue can） as on objective qualities （flavor， price， quality）。 The surrounding world， meanwhile， is irreducibly complex and random。 This means future success can’t be projected on any accounting spreadsheet。 To strike gold， you must master the dark art and curious science of conjuring irresistible ideas: alchemy。

Based on thirty years of field work inside the largest experiment in human behavior ever conceived—the forever-unfolding pageant of consumer capitalism—Alchemy， the revolutionary book by Ogilvy advertising legend Rory Sutherland， whose TED talks have been viewed nearly seven million times， decodes human behavior， blending leading-edge scientific research， absurdly entertaining storytelling， deep psychological insight， and practical case studies from his storied career working on campaigns for AmEx， Microsoft， and others。

Heralded as “one of the leading minds in the world of branding” by NPR and "the don of modern advertising" by The Times， Sutherland is a unique thought leader， as comfortable exchanging ideas with Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler （both interviewed in these pages） as he is crafting the next product launch。 His unconventional and relentlessly curious approach has led him to discover that the most compelling secrets to human decision-making can be found in surprising places:

What can honey bees teach us about creating a sustainable business？

How could budget airlines show us how to market a healthcare system？

Why is it better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong？

What might soccer penalty kicks teach us about the dangers of risk-aversion？

Better “branding，” Sutherland reveals， can also be employed not just to sell products， but to promote a variety of social aims， like getting people to pay taxes， improving public health outcomes， or encouraging more women to pursue careers in tech。

Equally startling and profound， Sutherland’s journey through the strange world of decision making is filled with astonishing lessons for all aspects of life and business。

 

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Reviews

Nick ，

Fun but seems high on anecdote and low on evidence

Neal ，

This book was clearly written for me。 It’s a wonder it wasn’t simply dedicated to me in the opening pages。 If you’re as intrigued by behavioral economics， advertising psychology， the use of “non-rational” heuristics for decision-making， and other somewhat evolutionary explanations for human calculus， then this book was written for you， too。 In truth， the only real downside is that it isn’t longer。 Pro tip: Rory reads the audiobook and his delivery is superb。

Sai Madineni ，

I've enjoyed this book thoroughly。 Great read！ I've enjoyed this book thoroughly。 Great read！ 。。。more

Vinicius ，

Great book， on the problems with logic。 Learned a lot。

Paul Schwartzmeyer ，

Sutherland is so British he makes you crack up。 The book though is a reward to the reader。 A great ad man once said， "99% of all advertising is invisible。 No one sees it。" Sutherland teaches you why。 There is still a place in our click bait world for imagination。 Love this book Sutherland is so British he makes you crack up。 The book though is a reward to the reader。 A great ad man once said， "99% of all advertising is invisible。 No one sees it。" Sutherland teaches you why。 There is still a place in our click bait world for imagination。 Love this book 。。。more

Ron Jack ，

Fascinating read。 Followed it up with watching videos of Rory on Youtube。 His thoughts are interesting to observe， several nuggets of wisdom hidden in this work of writing。

Joao Camargo ，

This book is amazing！It shows an incredible degree of out-of-the-box thinking and some very interesting and practical ideas。 A very easy and entertaining reading。The only reason I'm giving it a four-star is that Rory has a very strong bias towards marketing solutions for every problem， as expected。 While I possibly agree with most of them， some of them can offer misleading insights into problems that deserve a deeper reflection。 Exploring unconscious behavior by nudging people to do what you wan This book is amazing！It shows an incredible degree of out-of-the-box thinking and some very interesting and practical ideas。 A very easy and entertaining reading。The only reason I'm giving it a four-star is that Rory has a very strong bias towards marketing solutions for every problem， as expected。 While I possibly agree with most of them， some of them can offer misleading insights into problems that deserve a deeper reflection。 Exploring unconscious behavior by nudging people to do what you want can be dangerous。 It assumes that you know what is best for a person or society when most real-life solutions are found in small-scale interactions without external influences。 In any case。。。 highly recommend it！ 。。。more

Quan ，

I thought the topic was nice。 Didn't get anything insightful though I thought the topic was nice。 Didn't get anything insightful though 。。。more

Henry Manampiring ，

While the subject is not new for those who have read behavioral economics books， Sutherland still brings fresh case studies and he brings English humor into it。 Recommended， especially for those working in Marketing， Market Research， or just business。

Nikhil Saha ，

Very intriguing stories of how behavioral patterns are different from seemingly logical ones。 This book is about how we can do more with less（or sometimes by doing nothing） if we focus on the 'psycho logic'。 Only if the world paid a little more attention to books like these， life would be easier for everyone。 Definitely recommend！ Very intriguing stories of how behavioral patterns are different from seemingly logical ones。 This book is about how we can do more with less（or sometimes by doing nothing） if we focus on the 'psycho logic'。 Only if the world paid a little more attention to books like these， life would be easier for everyone。 Definitely recommend！ 。。。more

Thomas Devlin ，

Wonderfully written and fascinating content。 Would definitely recommend。

Flexinc ，

Interesting insights in human psychology from the field of marketing。 Better than most pop-psychology books I've read。Filled with funny anecdotes and examples of how certain policies or marketing efforts really did not have the desired effect - while looking great on paper。 Followed by some theorizing of why that is。 And what kind of things did end up working。 Interesting insights in human psychology from the field of marketing。 Better than most pop-psychology books I've read。Filled with funny anecdotes and examples of how certain policies or marketing efforts really did not have the desired effect - while looking great on paper。 Followed by some theorizing of why that is。 And what kind of things did end up working。 。。。more

Keith Gardner ，

A must read， I loved it。。。

Rainer König ，

The author Rory Sutherland has a long experience in marketing， so according to common stereotypes of the relationship between engineering and marketing I， a software engineer， shouldn't like this book。 Well， I have to say that this book is really extraordinary insightful。The basic claim of this book is that there is not only a "logical" solution to problems， but also a "psychological" solution。 And somtimes behavious is completely irrational which is not bad， as Sutherland explains on the exampl The author Rory Sutherland has a long experience in marketing， so according to common stereotypes of the relationship between engineering and marketing I， a software engineer， shouldn't like this book。 Well， I have to say that this book is really extraordinary insightful。The basic claim of this book is that there is not only a "logical" solution to problems， but also a "psychological" solution。 And somtimes behavious is completely irrational which is not bad， as Sutherland explains on the example of a gazelle that flees from a predator and running zig-zag patterns that are completely random and unpredictable。 Because if they would be predictable the predator could learn and have an advantage。Sutherland is also citing great authors like Dan Ariely （"Predictably irrational"） or Daniel Kahneman （"Thinking， fast and slow"） when it comes to behavioural psychology。 One interesting conclusion is the fact that we often value only things that can be measuered with a metric but we don't value things like "architecture"。 Sutherland got my sympathy when he condemned the cost saving in economics as bullshit because all those decision makers usually do not consider what damage they do with their "downsize this" mentality。 An example is that we invest in high speed trains to save time on travel， but sometimes it would be much easier and cheaper to save the same amount of time when switching trains in stations。 The author also tells you that the alchemists did great work， but since they were so obsessed to turn lead into gold they didn't notice the good things they created。 You get some insightful anectodes from marketing about rebranding stuff which makes things that nobody wanted to buy before suddenly skyrocket。 You learn why doorhandles are a better design than door knobs （because you can use it even with your elbow） and that "less is more" on the example of the Sony Walkman that got the recording function removed in the beginning。 Sutherland also explains very well， why brands are important and that this signals to the customer， that you can trust the firm， because a brand has much more reputation to lose than a "no brand" company。 I also learned that you have to get a 4 year training before you can become a taxi driver in London， this is why he trusts the London taxi drivers。 You learn about the signals that are there， but not obvious， but still give you messages。 An example is a street cafe that puts out valueable seats and tables every day。 This signals not only that they are open， but that they care。 One great quote is "a flower is just a weed with a marekting budget"。 What works with flowers also works with other lifeforms， even humans invest in "marketing" to attract potential sexual partners。 Sutherland also has some parts on Placebos and why they seem to work。 An example is Red Bull which people think tastes bad， but besides that sells very good。 Theres a part about how we make decisions and how we build trust。 Lessons I take away from that is that its better to be mostly right than perfectly wrong and that when you make decisions you should always think on about the worst case scenario。 A impressive example is the flight that ended in the Hudson river after a bird strike that killed both engines。 There was a slight chance to save the plane from getting wet and trying a landing at Teteboro airport， but if things would go wrong and the plane crashes people would die。 So the better decision was landing in the river， even it this means losing the plane。You learn a lot about decision making processes and also about perception， sometimes with some funny examples。 You learn how you can influence people or deliver "bad news" in a way that they seem to be "good news"。 Sutherland is quoting Shakespeare here: "There is nothing either good or bad， but thinking makes it so。" At the end， this book is telling you to act a little bit less logical and be eager to try out even "crazy ideas"。 The reward could be a wonderland of miracles that you wouldn't have discovered by just acting "logical"。 A really great and insightful book， highly recommended to read， even for engineers。 ;-）The only part I disagree with Sutherland is about the idea that you can postpone buying a new car for a while when you get your old car professinally cleaned because then the old car looks like a new car for a little price。 Wouldn't have worked for me when I bought my last car， because the previous car had engine problems beyond repair。 。。。more

Louise ，

You're here to read about the magic that is in 'Ted Talk Superstar' Rory Sutherland's great book Alchemy- The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense and not me wittering on about what I thought about it。 Rory is a master story teller - the opening word in the forward is "Imagine" and immediately you are drawn in to his now famous telling of the Red Bull research where there "had never been a worse reaction to any proposed new product" and you know you're in for a ride！ There's no point You're here to read about the magic that is in 'Ted Talk Superstar' Rory Sutherland's great book Alchemy- The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense and not me wittering on about what I thought about it。 Rory is a master story teller - the opening word in the forward is "Imagine" and immediately you are drawn in to his now famous telling of the Red Bull research where there "had never been a worse reaction to any proposed new product" and you know you're in for a ride！ There's no point me reframing any of the books content -it's too good！  。。。more

Charlotte Lockie ，

Potentially the best book I have ever read？

Ivaylo Durmonski ，

Pitching an idea to a group of people requires an elaborate， and most importantly， rational explanation of why your concept， your product， will succeed。 After all， investors are more open to ideas that introduce cheaper and bigger-size alternatives to existing products。But this is not actually how the market operates。 Rory Sutherland explains that consumers are not obeying logic when they are making decisions。 Their reasons are psycho-logical。 Not only buyers rely mostly on emotional cues， but t Pitching an idea to a group of people requires an elaborate， and most importantly， rational explanation of why your concept， your product， will succeed。 After all， investors are more open to ideas that introduce cheaper and bigger-size alternatives to existing products。But this is not actually how the market operates。 Rory Sutherland explains that consumers are not obeying logic when they are making decisions。 Their reasons are psycho-logical。 Not only buyers rely mostly on emotional cues， but they also want the product they purchase to somehow enhance their personality in the eyes of others。This outcome， as you can imagine， cannot be achieved by following strictly logical patterns。 To crack the code of the human enigma you need to try different things – weird， often illogical。Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands， Business， and Life is the type of book that will transform your insane idea into a piece of rare originality。 If you are still struggling with sales， and you don’t know how to best present your product， or even worse， not sure what type of emotion you want to evoke in people， this book will surely help you。Key takeaway？Becoming an alchemist， a proactive predictor of the human mind， and a kick-ass business owner requires a sip of insanity。 Rationality is a weakness in the business world。 It makes you predictable。 And predictable stands very close to boredom。 Things shouldn’t be only effective。 They must be also attractive to consumers。 Rory elaborates， “The scent was not to make the soap effective， but to make it attractive to consumers。”Read the full summary:https://durmonski。com/book-summaries/。。。 。。。more

Brenda ，

Lots of good info in this book but the writing style is inexcusable。 How an editor allowed this frantic pseudo clever tone to go ahead is beyond me。 There are copious amounts of footnotes， some with very useful insights that should have been included in the body of the text， others beyond vapid。 I just。。。 can’t。 It’s too bad。 I had to skim to find the interesting bits。

Andrew Berkowitz ，

Highly recommended！

Mike Morgenstein ，

Essentially， this is a business book that takes the nascent scientific field of evolutionary psychology and applies it to the understanding of apparent consumer irrationality。 Thereby， ironically illuminating the irrationality of the wholly rational approach taken by individuals and organizations to understand consumer decision making。Unfortunately this presents a major challenge in semantics and rhetoric。The title of the book threw me off， but after reading it you can essentially apply the same Essentially， this is a business book that takes the nascent scientific field of evolutionary psychology and applies it to the understanding of apparent consumer irrationality。 Thereby， ironically illuminating the irrationality of the wholly rational approach taken by individuals and organizations to understand consumer decision making。Unfortunately this presents a major challenge in semantics and rhetoric。The title of the book threw me off， but after reading it you can essentially apply the same thinking outlined in the book to any feelings you might have about its title。 The author stressed that why does it matter why you might get people to do the right things， and what their motives are， when in fact it's more important how you get them to do the right thing regardless of how altruistic their internal motives really are。 So the type of "alchemy" the author （who is clearly very intelligent） is referring to is not the alchemy of 500 years ago， where pseudo scientists tried to turn anything into gold; but rather the alchemy of doing things in business that might not seem logical on the surface but gets consumers （your customers！） to behave the way a business wants them to。 My only concern is that the author dives too deep head first into his adherence of [his] alchemy。 And obviously this presents a major issue because if any business starts to embrace alchemy， while at the same time throwing away the rational principles of logic， then everything will be wacked out and wicked。The author [acutely] uses evolutionary psychology to make many points and observations。 And I will use it to make mine: We have become more logical in business and in life because it is advantageous to do so。 The logic will guide us to understanding that if majority of people avoid X （e。g。 jumping off the George Washington bridge to go for a swim） because of Y （almost certain death）， then it is probably a good idea to avoid X as well because it's most likely to be your outcome。 This is of course unconscious， but unbelievably helpful。 Now it might be obvious why people extrapolate this concept on bigger more subtle things such as consumer behavior。 For example， if a company's analysis for a product had shown that 80% of people purchased the red dress over the blue dress at store， the logical conclusion would be that customer's like red dresses more。 It makes sense to have such a conclusion， and any species of human that would tell you that the blue dress is much more popular will probably go extinct！ What the author is trying to teach though， is that the red dress is not more popular because of the color， but perhaps because of the fact it is more noticeable because red shines much more bright than blue。 To account for human psychology is not a simple equation。 The main value of the book is this: at a time where people are becoming more logical - and for the better （that's why they are becoming more logical to begin with） - they might become overly logical and miss large opportunities they are not manifest。 And because of the bureaucracy of big organizations， outside of the box thinking is for the most part looked down upon and can even get you fired。 This presents an invaluable opportunity for smaller and less bureaucratic businesses。To put it all together: embracing the idea of alchemy （i。e。 unconventional business methods and ideas） can not only prove to be important but necessary。 Hopefully though， the reader doesn't come out reading this book and thinking that both rational logic and alchemy are mutually exclusive。 Rather， I would stress that they should both play a pivotal part of the same side of the coin。 It can be detrimental to present， or seem to present as the author does， these two things as being opposites。 In reality they should probably be conflated as some of the ideas of alchemy - understanding an action through the lenses of evolutionary psychology - can in fact be argued as the logical path to take。 。。。more

Naeem Parvez ，

Thanks to Rory， I'm not ashamed of being illogical anymore。 Thanks to Rory， I'm not ashamed of being illogical anymore。 。。。more

Riley Haas ，

Reading this book， I can't help but wonder "who is this for？" It's like a Greatest Hits or Best of for evolutionary psychology and behavioural economics but filtered through the mind of someone with no attention span （or who strongly believes his readers don't have one）。 It's utterly bizarre and works only as a very slight introduction to numerous topics in these fields。 I don't get the acclaim and I can't say I'd recommend it over numerous other books on these topics （many of which Sutherland r Reading this book， I can't help but wonder "who is this for？" It's like a Greatest Hits or Best of for evolutionary psychology and behavioural economics but filtered through the mind of someone with no attention span （or who strongly believes his readers don't have one）。 It's utterly bizarre and works only as a very slight introduction to numerous topics in these fields。 I don't get the acclaim and I can't say I'd recommend it over numerous other books on these topics （many of which Sutherland references）。Sutherland writes like Kurt Vonnegut in the sense that his chapters rarely exceed a couple of pages - 5 or 6 pages is the outlier。 The book feels like he dictated it to an assistant， or recorded it himself in little snippets， and then somebody tried to assemble them into a coherent narrative。 Not only is the structure all over the place， but there are a few typographical errors。 These errors only increase the feel that this book was rushed out。This is a greatest hits of a bunch of contemporary and older research in modern scientific fields。 Sutherland will spend a page or two on one discovery and move onto another。 Sometimes he'll bring it up again， referencing his earlier discussion。 And sometimes he brings it up again and doesn't reference the earlier discussion， which once again enforces the impression that this book was rushed to publication。 I've read many of the books Sutherland has and I have a bunch more on my list of books to read。 I'm not sure why Sutherland's very brief discussion of these topics is better for me， or anyone else， than reading those books。 It's faster， I guess。 But lots is missing。To make matters worse， Sutherland comes up with his own terms for some of this stuff - it always struck me as the height of arrogance to decide your name for something is better than anyone else's。 （Well， it's one thing to maintain that in private。 It's another thing to maintain it in a book。）I hate traditional economics as much as Sutherland does， but I'm not sure I agree that the world has been seized by a group of technocrats， this so-called "arithmocracy"。 These people no doubt exist， but have they seized control of the world？ I'm find this a very broad claim and he provides only his gut feelings in defense of it。 I should be one of the easiest people to convince of this claim and yet I'm not。Sutherland's humour is very much that of an old British ad executive: it's somewhat un PC and it likely works much better in person than it does on the page。 I chuckled a couple of times but more often I was aware he was trying to make me laugh and not succeeding。 Does it make this stuff more accessible？ Sure， it does。 Many of the books and articles Sutherland is referencing are humourless。 But these jokes still don't make me think this book is a better alternative to those books。I don't know about the rest of the acclaim， but the acclaim on my copy is conspicuously from people Sutherland references in the book （and appears to know personally）。 Yes， I know that's how the publishing industry works but here it feels very obvious。 And I have a hard time believing that people who don't know him and like him， and who have already read many of the books Sutherland has read， will find this anywhere near as captivating。All of that being said， there is stuff in here I'm unfamiliar with， and those things did indeed provoke me to think。 When I wasn't getting deja vu thinking "Yes， I've read that too， Rory" I did find insights。 It's not like I didn't learn anything。 But it was always surface level - a few hundred words on this thing， a few hundred words on that。It's a very easy read meaning that， if you are intimidated by evolutionary psychology or behavioural economics books （and you shouldn't be！， at least not by the books written for popular audiences） then this summary way work for you。 Or if you're a very busy executive who can only read one 300 page book a year - I'm only half joking - it's going to be valuable to you。 But if you want to fully understand the phenomena he's writing about， and you want to actually understand the research behind all this "alchemy"， you'll have to go somewhere else， to the sources for this book。 So why read this unless you have no time to read anything else？ 。。。more

Richard Jester ，

Fun read。

FlemmingM ，

If your mind in prepared （unconstrained） to connect insights and ideas in new ways you wanna read this book twice。

James R。 ，

Some interesting insight into how we make strange decisions， focusing on the difference between being logical and psychological。 Sutherland is an ad exec and draws upon his experience with plenty of funny anecdotes to illustrate his points。 Some thought provoking ideas in a well-written book。

Theo ，

surprisingly good。。。think highly worthy for people to read。。。quick too！

Vincent Viitala ，

This is the one of the books I will refer back after "You-Know-What" has happened。 This is the one of the books I will refer back after "You-Know-What" has happened。 。。。more

Denis Vasilev ，

Алхимия， переход от чисто логических инструментов к психо-логическим и от физических к психо-физическим。 Книга от топ менеджера Огилви， поклонника рационализма в стиле Талеба про рекламу， поведение， ошибки мышления

Emma May ，

Not entirely what I expected from the book title and the redbull introduction， I expected more examples from modern businesses but I did enjoy parts of the book and learning about odd things that occur in real life that are worth considering and looking at differently。

James Peach ，

Among lots of engaging ideas and lots of diverting case studies and anecdotes is the book's true hero: short， short chapters and lots of sub-headings。 Among lots of engaging ideas and lots of diverting case studies and anecdotes is the book's true hero: short， short chapters and lots of sub-headings。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0