This is fairly unrelated, and late enough after this was posted that not many will see this, but it's interesting how marketing works.
I fast-forwarded through an ad for Morning Brew after some youtube video the other day and thought to myself that it might be worth looking into. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw this come up. Haven't even read the article yet, but I have subscribed.
Had I seen one without the other, I don't think I would have ever noticed or cared about them - or at least not any time soon. But the two in combination got my email address onto their list. This is also that sort of stat that never shows up in analytics dashboards. I googled it and subscribed. There's no way for them to know that the ad, which I barely watched, along with this bit of PR, which I haven't actually read, was what brought me to them (unless they see it here, I suppose).
This is well known in psychology, a combination of the mere exposure effect as well as Baader–Meinhof phenomenon (frequency illusion).
The latter makes sure you notice again something you've already seen. The former makes you associate that thing to being good, by its mere presence.
And as to your first sentence, HN will put newer comments at the top of the comments list in order to get people to see and engage with them (as I've done) :).
I learnt during my studies (can't remember the exact name or details of it) that seeing a product through 7 different channels (print ad, TV commercial, etc.) will leave you under the impression of knowing and thus trusting a product.
Of course other factors come into play, but in front of the yogurt aisle for example, (given similar tastes, packaging styles, prices, etc.) you'll be much more likely to buy the one you've heard of through many channels, rather than the one you've barely heard of. Even if you've tasted none before.
If somebody recognizes this approach, I'd love to know the name of it
Edit: it could be the mere exposure effect mentioned in the other comment, but I'm pretty sure the number of different channels had a play in the process.
I fast-forwarded through an ad for Morning Brew after some youtube video the other day and thought to myself that it might be worth looking into. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw this come up. Haven't even read the article yet, but I have subscribed.
Had I seen one without the other, I don't think I would have ever noticed or cared about them - or at least not any time soon. But the two in combination got my email address onto their list. This is also that sort of stat that never shows up in analytics dashboards. I googled it and subscribed. There's no way for them to know that the ad, which I barely watched, along with this bit of PR, which I haven't actually read, was what brought me to them (unless they see it here, I suppose).