How Google Lost $100B in a Split Second
#008: The Bard blunder that proves one bad first impression can sink giants.
In February 2023, Google lost $100 billion in market value overnight after its new AI chatbot bungled its debut. Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT, made a factual error in its very first demo, sending Alphabet’s stock into a tailspin.
The market didn’t blink, it punished. The episode is a textbook reminder of an old marketing law: you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Psychologists call this the primacy effect, and for marketers it’s gospel. That fleeting first encounter with your brand—be it an ad, a website visit, or a product unboxing—lodges deepest in the customer’s mind and colors every judgment that follows.
1. Primacy Effect, Explained
So, what is the primacy effect, exactly?
Put simply, our brains give the opening act extra weight. That first slice of any experience sticks around the longest and skews how we judge every slice that follows
In human terms: first impressions matter.
We’re hard-wired that way. Meet someone new, and within seconds your brain has decided if they’re likable and competent. Everything you hear later runs through the mental story you wrote in those first moments.
The same goes for how consumers meet brands or products.
Why does this happen? Psychologists point to how our memory and cognition work.
Those opening bits get VIP seating in memory. We hold onto the first items on any list more than the middle ones—classic “serial position” effect—and we read later details through the lens set by that opener.
First impressions don’t just last; they actually shape how we absorb subsequent info.
As Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman quipped, “the initial traits...change the very meaning of the traits that appear later.
Critically, first impressions are sticky. Once an opinion forms, it creates a halo effect – a glow (or shadow) that extends over everything else. If a customer’s first encounter with your brand is positive, that “halo” can make them forgiving of minor missteps later. But If it feels bad, brace yourself: later wins may be written off as luck.
In short, a bad beginning can be deadly, whereas a good beginning gives you a lasting benefit of the doubt.
None of this is to say that people won’t change their minds—just that the deck is stacked heavily toward “confirmation bias” after the first impression is set. Marketers need to understand that the first touchpoint is not one touchpoint among many; it is the foundation. Everything else in your funnel rests on it.
Next, we’ll map out how this principle plays out across the marketing ecosystem, from consumer attention spans to brand experiences.
2. Mapping the First-Impression Effect Across the System
First impressions seep into every corner of your marketing strategy. Let’s visualize it as a chain reaction – a system map of the primacy effect in the customer journey:
2.1 Attention & Awareness:
Miss the hook and the story ends right there. Nail it and you set the tone for everything else. For example, an ad's first seconds work the same way: a strong opener plants an emotional anchor that makes viewers lean into the message that follows.
2.2 Perception & Consideration:
As the customer engages further (browsing your site, reading reviews, visiting a store), their impression filters incoming information. Psychologically, the halo effect means a good first impression will cause customers to interpret ambiguous details in a positive light (“This feature I don’t fully get must be good since I like what I’ve seen so far”).
Conversely, a negative first impression casts a shadow, breeding skepticism (“They claim quality, but I already have a bad vibe”).
A clean, user-friendly homepage whispers premium before anyone clicks Buy. A cheerful hello from a store associate can make the whole visit glow.
2.3 Trust & Decision-Making:
Early moments set the trust meter. Buyers size you up almost instantly with two questions:
Q1: Are you friendly?
Q2: Are you competent?
Nail those in the first encounter and you pave the way to a purchase; fumble them and you face an uphill battle. Importantly, once trust or distrust sets in, confirmation bias means customers seek evidence to reinforce that initial judgment.
A trustworthy first impression creates loyalty momentum, while a shaky first impression creates friction that even a great product may struggle to overcome.
2.4 Retention & Loyalty:
The first time someone actually uses the product is a fresh first impression—a primacy encore.
A smooth onboarding or unboxing reinforces the promises made in marketing, completing a positive feedback loop (“I knew I’d love this brand, and I was right”).
On the other hand, confusing setup or clunky tutorials can turn excitement into regret.
Brands that excel in loyalty understand this well: they aim to wow on first use (think of the satisfying “out of box” experience of unwrapping a new iPhone, or the intuitive first ride in a Tesla). A great first impression here can create a halo of goodwill that increases lifetime value (customers overlook minor bugs and stick around), whereas a bad first run can lead to rapid churn.
Optimize every “first.” That means the first ad view, site visit, click, purchase, unboxing, five minutes of use, even the first support call. Each one stamps a memory that guides the rest of the customer’s journey.
Time to see how that plays out in the real world.
3. First Impressions in Action
Theory is nice, proof is better. The cases below show the primacy effect deciding winners and losers right now.
3.1 LinkedIn’s “First Impression” Ads – Selling the Primacy Effect:
Mid-2025, LinkedIn rolled out First Impression Ads, a full-screen video slot that pops up the moment you open the app.
It’s a slot at the top of the feed, grabbing users at their most attentive moment. LinkedIn wouldn’t be charging top dollar for this if it didn’t work. The logic: by appearing first, your message benefits from maximum attention and recall.
In LinkedIn’s own words, it gives brands “immediate, upfront exposure” akin to sitting front-row at a concert.
Early results? Marketers are snapping up these placements for major product launches and announcements, intuitively betting that the very first impression of the day can imprint a brand in the audience’s mind before any competing noise enters the picture.
3.2 Website Design & Speed – 50 Milliseconds to Win or Lose:
Digital marketers have long preached that your homepage is your digital first impression. Now we have the numbers to back it up.
In 2024, UX studies showed 94% of first impressions hinge on design, and visitors form those opinions in 0.05 seconds.
Google’s research shows that users judge a website as “beautiful or not” in under 50 ms, and 75% of users admit they judge a company’s trustworthiness based on web design.
This is primacy effect in the wild: that first blip of visual data decides whether someone clicks deeper or bails.
3.3 Packaging & Unboxing – Shelf Shock and Shareability:
Packaging is your product’s face. A recent Ipsos poll found 72% of American consumers say a product’s packaging design influences their purchase decision.
Consider that for a moment: nearly 3 out of 4 people might walk away or pick a competitor based on the box or label.
Brands like Apple, Gucci, and newer DTC startups understand this, treating packaging as an extension of the product’s allure.
The primacy effect here means if the packaging delights, it creates a halo effect that the product inside must be high-quality too. There’s virality in a great first impression as well: about 40 percent share standout packaging online, essentially becoming brand ambassadors if the unboxing wowed them.
Blow it, and you get the Tropicana fiasco: a bland redesign that tanked sales until the old look returned.
The lesson holds in 2025: your packaging is your product’s handshake, so it better be firm and pleasant.
3.4 Retail & CX – 7 Seconds to Win Over Shoppers:
Walk into a store and the clock starts.
According to research summarized in Harvard Business Review, a consumer forms an impression of a retail interaction within roughly 7 seconds. That’s about how long it takes for a greeter’s smile (or lack thereof), the store ambience, and the initial glance at product displays to register.
Companies like Apple Store have mastered this: notice how you’re greeted at the door by an employee with an iPad who immediately acknowledges you, the clean lines of the space, the lighting and music all calibrated to put you at ease. It’s no accident that Apple Store customer satisfaction is sky-high – the positive first impression carries through the entire visit.
3.5 B2B SaaS Onboarding – One Shot to Prove Value:
In software, “time to value” rules.
Enterprise software leaders in 2024 say bluntly: “Customer onboarding is all about making a great first impression... You only get one shot.”.
In fact, 74% of potential users will switch to a competitor if onboarding is too complicated**.
In B2B, that can mean millions in lifetime value secured by investing in that first-touch experience. Its primacy effect in action: early success breeds lasting trust (and revenue), whereas early frustration can irreparably damage credibility.
Spot the pattern? Whether it is five seconds on a webpage, a glance at packaging, or a first login, the opening moment writes the story. A good start rolls downhill like a snowball, gathering goodwill. A bad one sits like a boulder, forcing every next step to push uphill.
Ready to put the primacy effect to work? Let’s turn insight into action.
4. How to Win with First Impressions
Harnessing the primacy effect in marketing isn’t luck—it’s a strategic discipline. Here’s a step-by-step playbook to bake “first impression excellence” into your campaigns and customer experiences:
4.1 Audit Your “First Touchpoints”
List every doorway into your brand. This includes obvious channels (homepage, landing pages, mobile app sign-up, product packaging) and some you might overlook (the subject line of your welcome email, the first 5 seconds of your promo video, the greeting script for customer support, even your hold music).
Put each doorway under a fresh-eyes test or better, real user testing. Does it load fast, look sharp and answer “Why us?” before a reader blinks? Flag the weak links, then fix them first.
For instance, if your analytics show a high bounce rate on your homepage, that’s a red flag that your first impression online is falling flat. It could be slow load times or a confusing layout.
Fix that first because every other optimization is moot if people bolt in the first few seconds.
4.2 Design for Instant Clarity and Impact
Apply the CLIC rule: Clear, Likable, Immediate, Credible.
Clarity: In seconds, visitors should know what you do and why it matters. Lead with bold headlines and clean visuals.
Likable: Show some humanity. A smile in a video, a friendly chatbot hello, warm colors that invite rather than intimidate.
Immediate: Put the good stuff up front. Big savings? Splash the number. Celebrity backer? Show their face.
Credible: Drop a trust badge, a customer quote or “As seen in” logos right away. Instant proof beats long explanations.
4.3 Maximize Emotional Hook
Feelings stick harder than facts. How you make people feel in the first moment is critical. Research by Nielsen found ads that evoke strong emotions in the opening seconds enjoy 23% higher sales impact than neutral ads.
In your own marketing, use bold images, tight stories or a killer soundtrack to spark a mood fast.
If the first impression feels good, customers will unconsciously project that positive feeling onto everything that follows. It’s essentially creating a positive bias that works in your favor.
4.4 Engineer Quick Wins in User Onboarding
Give new users a “wow” before their coffee cools. Guide them straight to the feature that delivers value, then celebrate the win with a high-five pop-up.
For instance, many SaaS apps now use progress bars and tooltips to ensure a new user completes a key action in the first session (like creating their first project or customizing their profile) – and then celebrate it with a “Success! You’ve done X” message.
That instant gratification cements a positive first usage impression.
Essentially, Inside those first ten minutes you want them thinking, “Great choice, I already see the payoff.” Lock that in and retention follows naturally.
4.5 Close with a Lasting Impression (Peak-End Rule)
While our focus is on “primacy,” don’t forget its sibling, “recency.”
The Peak-End Rule in psychology says people judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak and at its end. So after nailing the first impression, ensure you also craft a strong last impression in each interaction.
This could mean ending sales calls by recapping next steps and expressing genuine excitement to work together, or packaging an online checkout with a delightful confirmation page (“You’re all set! 🎉 We can’t wait for you to enjoy [Product]”).
Even a follow-up “Thank You” email or a surprise freebie after a purchase can serve as that final positive note that the customer remembers.
This one-two punch (primacy + recency) is how you turn one-time impressions into long lasting reputation.
Turn these moves into muscle memory and you institutionalize primacy. The brands that treat every first moment like a make-or-break audition are already cashing in with higher conversions, happier customers and loyalty you can’t buy off the shelf.
Why First Impressions Make or Break Brands
Reflect on your own experiences for a moment.
Think about the last time an app or website instantly “clicked” with you—you likely became a regular user or customer. Odds are you became a faithful user without a second thought.
Now recall a time you had a bad initial experience (the restaurant with rude service at the door, the app that crashed during signup, the product that came in cheap-looking packaging).
Chances are, you churned or walked away, and that brand lost you right then and there. This highlights a final insight: first impressions don’t just influence outcomes; they often determine them outright.
In the words of broadcaster Jake Humphrey, “first impressions are not just important, they are decisive.”
Welcome to marketing in 2025, where buyers drown in options and attention spans blink faster than TikTok cuts. Trust sits behind taller walls than ever. In this chaos, the primacy effect isn’t a theory, it’s your ace in the hole.
Nail the first moment and you spark a chain reaction of goodwill that follows the customer through every stage of the journey. Blow it and the door slams shut before you even step inside
The primacy effect also reminds us of a humbling truth: every interaction is a new “first impression” at some level. A loyal customer trying a new feature is having a first impression of that feature. A prospect seeing your brand for the first time at a webinar is having a first impression of your thought leadership.
Keep seeking out those “firsts” and applying the principles we’ve discussed. Test, learn, and iterate on how to reduce friction and amplify delight in the first moments of engagement.
Brands that rise to the top in this era will be those that win the first impression, over and over again, across channels and touchpoints. The deep human bias in favor of primacy will do the rest of the work—tilting perceptions, memories, and decisions in your favor long after that initial encounter.
And in marketing, as in life, a relationship that starts strong is infinitely more likely to succeed.
Start as you mean to continue, and the lasting impact will take care of itself.
Until Next Time,
Sumit
Think Big | Start Small | Keep Going