One of my favorite practical books of the last few years is Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It takes up where the insanely popular Tipping Point left off by providing a clearer template for how to construct messages in a way that they would "stick", or have more viral pass-along potential.
The authors' formula is SUCCESs:
- Simplicity - Finding the core of the idea
- Unexpectedness - Combining surprise with interest
- Concreteness - Bringing it alive by engaging the five senses ("memory Velcro")
- Credibility - Tapping the power of authority - or anti-authority - to build belief
- Emotional - Priming people to care
- Stories - Generating involvement that leads to action
Essentially, the more a message - including an advertisement or other commercial message - incorporates these stickiness factors, the more likely it will be remembered and even passed around to others in the Internet-connected world.
Advertisers have been fighting hard to cut through the clutter with unexpected - even shocking - imagery. A handy shortcut often involves the use of innuendo or overtly sexual images.
However, often these efforts are disconnected to the value proposition of the product. Which of us haven't seen a memorable commercial, but completely forgot what it was even advertising?
I thought it would be fun to review some recent commercials as I watch TV in my hotel room and see how many are "SUCCESsfully Stick" using the Heath brothers' formula:
- Castrol: Think With Your Dipstick - OK, a dipstick-wielding Scottishman who sneaks up on consumers about to make a bad motor oil decision and whacks them on the back of the leg got my attention. It's disturbingly humorous, I guess...And of course it has the "think with your dipstick" innuendo. But I didn't get the sense that Castrol's unique selling proposition came through and was almost overpowered by the abusive Scott. Why is Castrol EDGE better again? I'll remember the ad though, and may look behind me when I purchase motor oil again.
- Energytomorrow.com - An effort by the oil and gas industry to generate support for drilling. I think this one fails the sticky test. No stories that generated emotion or involvement. Nothing unexpected, just a nice lady telling me why it's important for America to be independent and how many jobs her employers provide. Nice info, but very forgettable. Certainly not powerful enough to take back the conversation from "green" advocates.
- Wal-Mart: Better Homes and Gardens Collection - Devoid of any stickiness. It's like Pam anti-stick spray was used on this commercial.
After actively paying attention to maybe 12-15 commercials this morning, it's quite amazing that the vast majority of commercials don't pay one whit of attention to the Heath Brother's elements of stickiness.
How about you? How does your messaging stand up to SUCCESs? It takes some practice. I'm going to go throw some honey on the mythologymarketing.com web site right now...
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