To engineer virality, brands are making their own mystery boxes

In some instances, scarcity produces status. The "drop" is one mechanism to create scarcity that has had a profound cultural effect in apparel and beyond. Going forward, we may see such practices used by software companies, potentially opening the door for "programmatic scarcity."

While this motivation may be latent—even subconscious, for most—in the U.S., it’s an economic driver that’s well understood in China, fueling a thriving video ecommerce market. In Asia, the powerful force of video entertainment shopping has spawned a livestream ecommerce industry akin to professional movie production. It’s more than a place where a... See more

Today, buying products online has never been easier. Convenience is at an all-time high, and consumers have more options than ever before. It seems, once again, that there is nowhere else we need to go. And yet, this is precisely the problem.

In today’s oversaturated world, we need curators to help us separate signal from noise. Gladwell told us abo... See more

Though digital shelf space is unlimited, consumers’ time and attention remain finite, so creators have to spend more and more resources to try to stand out.