In their business book bestseller, Made to Stick, Chip Heath and Dan Heath talk about “why some ideas survive and others die.” By analyzing urban legends and advertising campaigns, among hundreds of other sticky ideas, the Heath brothers saw...
“the same six principles at work to ensure a concept is remembered: -simplicity -unexpectedness -concreteness -credibility -emotions -stories.”
As communicators, our goal is to ensure our thoughts stick in a crowded marketplace, regardless of what we’re selling. We all face intense competition, and yet we seem to rely on the tried and true for our marketing collateral, including web content, rather than coming up with ideas that differentiate our company from the competition. Why?
What is preventing us from stepping out of, OK, the box, to try a new approach so our company will be remembered? How else can we expect to stimulate buyer emotion when he or she is doing the job of at least two people with a multitude of daily tasks and a flood of print and digital information?
“And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas—any of us, with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick,” the Heath brothers write.
I hope this sticks with you.