Hey 👋 The Crew here.
A member of The Crew was asked to describe the difference between coffee and tea in the morning. Here’s what they said:
Tea hugs you. Coffee slaps you. Lovingly.
…It just depends which approach you prefer. Agreed?
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How we escaped Slack notification hell… and saved 1000s of dollars on project management tools
When our team started growing, Slack went from useful to chaotic.
Important updates disappeared in chat floods. Projects stalled because feedback was scattered across multiple channels.
… And our subscription costs kept climbing with each new hire.
Then Stacked Marketer switched to Basecamp, and everything clicked:
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- We cut our software costs by 40% with Basecamp’s flat-rate pricing.
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Our Crew can find everything we need—files, convos, context— in a couple of clicks.
And now, we have one clean place to see who’s doing what, what’s in progress, and what’s been done.
Implicit Association Bias
You’re walking home alone at night.
In the distance, you spot a hooded person walking towards you. The street is not well-lit and there’s nobody around you. You notice they’re reaching for their pocket. Your heart races.
Then they get closer, and you realize it’s just a regular guy taking out his phone. The panic passes.
That’s Implicit Association Bias. It’s the subconscious mental shortcut that links certain sights, sounds, or situations with specific emotions or expectations.
… Long before we have a chance to process them logically.
In other words, you might think you’re acting rationally, but your brain has already made up its mind milliseconds earlier based on hidden mental connections.
This bias is so prevalent that researchers created the Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of your unconscious associations.
The thing is, implicit associations are part of everyday life.
You’ll pick a product whose package or coloring you associate with childhood, or you’ll choose a pen that “feels” heavier thanks to your unconscious link to weight and quality.
And most importantly, you can use this bias to get your brand out there.
Three ways to leverage Implicit Association Bias
1) Align colors with desired emotions
Colors trigger strong implicit associations.
For example, science proves that the color red increases the speed and strength of reactions.
No wonder that brands that rely on impulse like Coca-Cola, YouTube and Netflix, or McDonalds love it!
On the other hand, blue is often associated with calmness and trust. The sky is blue. Water is blue. Two things our great, great ancestors associated with tranquility or dependability.
What else is blue? Stacked Marketer branding:
Coincidence… or not? We’ll leave you to decide.
What you can do: Play around with these color associations strategically to guide customer behavior. You’ll be surprised how implicit associations decide instead of your shoppers.
2) Match shapes with outcomes
It’s not just colors.
Did you know that our minds can associate different shapes with different outcomes or emotions, too? It’s part of the Implicit Association.
For example, we often associate round shapes with friendliness and harmony. Take Spotify, for example. Or Canva. Or any browser you’re currently using.
At the same time, sharp, angular shapes can signal modernity, bravery, or boldness. Tesla, anyone? Adidas?
A lot of times, brands try to mix it up, trying to balance the friendliness with a bold approach.
That’s how you get Zendesk. This customer support brand’s logo uses a combination of angles and round shapes to create a sense of kindness and personality… despite being an AI-first tool.
Tip: Shapes work beyond logos. You can explore more about the impact shapes have on our perception, and use them in product design or packaging, Or even store layouts.
3) Borrow familiar category cues
Our brains always look for shortcuts. So if something looks or behaves like what we’ve seen before, we’re more likely to “get it” and trust it instantly. That’s implicit association bias in action.
Consider dating apps. Even though their audiences differ wildly, most use swipe gestures, profile cards, and a bold call-to-action button. You don’t need to “get to know it” at all.
Or consider airline websites. Most use simple color schemes, hero images of planes in the sky, and booking widgets at the top.
You might never read the brand name, yet your mind knows that’s where you book a flight.
What you can do: Borrow the visual and functional cues your audience already associates with your category, whether it’s an ad, a landing page, or an entire interface.
Airbnb borrowed hotel booking cues, search bars with location/dates, grid layouts of property photos, and “Book Now” buttons so we instantly recognized it as a place to book a stay:
… Even though it’s peer-to-peer rentals rather than traditional hotels.
And boy, did it work.
AI EDUCATION: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney… So many names, but what’s actually useful for you in your work? There’s a newsletter called The Deep View that exists to sift through all the noise and get you up to speed on what’s actionable with AI products, and it’s free. Join 452,000+ subscribers with one click and let AI empower you.*
AI TACTICS: Struggling to find a practical use for AI in your marketing work? No worries. Every Saturday, we will send you a free newsletter to sharpen your marketing skills and get more wins for yourself and your clients, including the latest AI use cases with actual examples and prompts you can just swipe. Subscribe for free.*
SEO: If your search rankings went on a rollercoaster ride over the weekend, you’re not imagining it. Lots of people in the SEO community are reporting significant, unconfirmed ranking volatility. No word from Google yet, so keep a close eye on your analytics.
AI MARKETING: You’ve probably heard that ChatGPT-5 is out. But what changed? And what should you pay attention to? Well, this article explains some need-to-knows, especially if you’re using the tool for marketing. Worth a read.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Which platforms do audiences trust the most? TikTok ranks highest when it comes to trust in health-related content—40% of users trust most or some posts. YouTube comes second at 39%, Reddit at 35%. Facebook and X score lowest, with around 60% skeptical. Good to know…
*This is a sponsored post.
ICYMI, last time we looked at Functional Fixedness.
The “Implicit” Crew
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