The Psychology of $0.99

...but honey, it's only $99.99! I hate to admit it, but it's true, when I really want to buy something and the list price is $99.99...I'll convince myself that it's about $90. How and why do I let myself do this? And who thought of this great idea anyway?

Melville Stone was a self-made man, who worked his way up from newspaper carrier to publisher of the Chicago Daily News. When Stone first started his newspaper in 1875, the price was a penny. Circulation rose rapidly at first, then leveled off. Then sales started lagging. When Stone investigated why fewer people were buying his paper, he discovered the problem had nothing to do with its quality. Pennies were in short supply. Stone decided he had to do something.

First he traveled to the United States mint in Philadelphia and brought about the transfer of barrels of pennies to Chicago. The problem then became how to get the pennies into circulation. So Stone persuaded Chicago merchants to sponsor "odd-price sales," during which they would sell their merchandise for a penny under the regular price. The odd prices did the trick. People had pennies again, and Stone’s paper flourished. And that is why store items today cost "$8.99," or $12.99," instead of even dollar amounts. (source: Idea Finder).

Pepsi Edge: Half the Guilt, but Is It Twice the Pleasure?

Pepsi Edge
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It's half the guilt, but is it twice the pleasure? At 50% less sugar (it has 13 grams), 50% less carbs (13 grams), and 50% less calories (50 kcl), is this product here to stay? Or is it chasing a passing trend?

The Purchase, New York-based Pepsico launched the product in March 2004 at its national bottlers convention in Las Vegas and is rolling out this Summer with all the glitz and glamour you'd expect.

Pepsico is banking on the fact that consumers are straddling (i.e. using both diet and regular products). According to industry watcher BevNet.com, in the past two years, the number of "dual users" has grown 75% to roughly 60 million consumers who now drink both regular and diet soft drinks.

Will this work? Are they missing something? What would you do to make it better?

A Shining Tribute to Your Independence: Right-Hand Rings...You Go Girl!

Wal-Mart's Right Hand Ring
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Source: Olivier Barker (USA Today, 12/31/2003), After celebrities such as Minnie Driver and Eve flashed theirs, the so-called right-hand ring is sliding onto the fingers of women across the country. Worn typically on the fourth finger of the right hand, the rings often are encrusted with multiple small diamonds, like a cocktail ring, rather than dominated by a large, traditional solitaire. Depending on the size and quality of the stones, they can cost as much as engagement rings.

This fall, the Diamond Trading Company, a subsidiary of diamond king De Beers, launched an ad campaign for the right-hand ring trend with such taglines as "Your left hand lives for love. Your right hand lives for the moment," and "Your left hand declares your commitment. Your right hand is a declaration of independence."

So, whatya think?

A-ha!
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Why Didn't I Think Of That?

Have you ever come across a great idea and wondered where it came from?

From sliced bread to the clothes' hanger to chopped lettuce in a bag, great ideas often seem so simple, so accessible, so unbelievably obvious...so much so that they often beg the question, why didn't I think of that?

Great ideas must share something in common. The question is...what?

More importantly, how do you acquire the ability to think of "that"?

Welcome to The Innovation Lab!

Welcome to The Innovation Lab -- an online forum for the exchange of ideas about ideas! The raison d'etre of the Innovation Lab is to make good ideas great and bad ideas disappear (before they cost someone, somewhere a whole helluva' lot of money).

While there is really no such thing as the perfect idea, there are many good ideas seeking to be great and many bad ideas that -- quite frankly -- should never see the light of day.

At the Innovation Lab, you will have the opportunity to decide for yourself. Each week, an idea -- in the form of a new product, new service, or an abstract epiphany -- will be posted here for your evaluation, edification, pontification, and/or simple praise. If you like it, let's hear why. If you hate it, let it fly.