So what's all the hoopla about? Both books seek to explain why certain stories, urban legends, catch phrases, marketing campaigns, and other messaging are more memorable than others. Gladwell and the brother's Heath take it one step further and explain the architecture of a viral marketing campaign and provide input on how to produce sticky ideas.
According to Mr. Heath(s), there are six key qualities that make an idea (campaign) sticky:
- Simplicity
- Unexpectedness
- Concreteness
- Credibility
- Emotional
- Stories
- Simplicity - An idea can't get more simple than three words composed of eight letters and two spaces!
- Unexpectedness - Those three words are loaded with meaning....from doing the most mundane activity to 'get it over with' to aggressively going after your dreams, the whole spectrum of activity is surprisingly covered in three simple words.
- Concreteness - It's real easy to wrap your head around the concept of getting up and doing 'something.'
- Credibility - Nike as a company takes athleticism to a whole new level. Who else would be more credible, when it comes to encouraging a more active lifestyle?
- Emotional - Each of us can personally relate to getting off the couch and hitting the gym, court, course, track, etc.
- Stories - Over the years, Nike has used a whole cadre of professional and non-professional athletes in their ads and marketing collateral to write stories that illustrate how each of these folks did, indeed, "Just Do It."
- Cathryn Cade's "Red Hot Romance"
- Delilah Marvelle's "Are You Ready to be Scandalized?"
- Kate Locke's "Keep Calm and Pray for Dawn"
- Jessa Slade's "What Possesses You?" (though I don't think she uses this phrase anymore, HORRORS!)
How can you make your messaging more sticky?
Next Friday: Is Your PERSONA "Sticky"?
Any marketing questions can be posed in the comments on any post. If you have a question, others will too, so we can address our answers to all. Our posts are myths and tips we want to share but we love to target our answers to questions.
Ooh, great post. This one goes into my files for later reference. Now if I could only think of something sticky to brand my books.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! Therese and I are happy to help you think of something sticky for your books. Send a link to your website and we'll take a look see! :D
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