Behavioural science is a topic that has come up increasingly at event industry events recently, as our sector catches on to how vital understanding how people think and behave is to designing engaging and memorable experiences that change behaviours. So, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to attend Ogilvy Consulting’s annual behavioural science festival Nudgestock, now in its 12^th year.

As an events industry journalist, I get to attend a lot of events, but this one was super fascinating and the content was on another level. To be honest I still haven’t had the time to process it all, which is somewhat ironic given the theme this year was TIME, exploring the psychology of time, our perceptions of it, and how there never seems to be enough!

Held at The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, directly after the annual MAD//Fest London event, Nudgestock is curated and led by Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, author and more recently Tik Tok star, and his team at Ogilvy’s behavioural science practice.

The day was facilitated by Ogilvy’s Dan Bennett and Tara Austin, and featured an array of expert speakers, who all delivered short TED-style talks, around the theme of time, alongside some creative examples of how Ogilvy has applied behavioural science to help clients such as Philadelphia tap into consumers emotions and drive sales.

The full livestream can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV-sjk6tKGw

But here’s a few of my personal highlights:

*Rory Sutherland on why faster is not always better, despite the common misconception, and the fact that every algorithm and mathematical model is programmed to assume that. He shared an example of how Starbucks told its baristas to deliberately slow down the coffee-making process so that customers valued the product more.

*Oliver Burkeman, author of 4,000 Weeks, on the fact that there will always be too much to do, why leaning into limitation is the path to happiness, and how patience is a superpower. With only 4,000 weeks in the average human life, if there is something you really want to do, that really matters to you, just do it now!

*Jonathan Haidt, psychologist and author gave a sobering talk on the impact of smartphones and social media on children and teens’ mental health, which as a parent was rather terrifying. We overprotect our kids in the real world and under protect them in the digital world, something that needs to change! It certainly made me think about what changes I could make to ensure my children don’t slip into the cycle of anxiety and depression that social media and isolation can so easily cause.

* Professor Satchidananda Panda, the leading global expert on circadian rhythm, shared how vital it is to eat and sleep at the right times to optimise our health and wellbeing and reduce our risk of major disease.

*Nuala Walsh, award-winning behavioural scientist, speaker and author, on tuning into what really matters, why we hear less than ever and misjudge more than ever before, and how to recognise the biases (of which there are 200!) that can impact our judgement and decision-making.