My friend’s cousin once went to a party in New York, and after several drinks he passed out. The next morning he found himself in a bathtub of ice water. There was a hand-written note on the wall in front of him that said, “Call 9-11 immediately if you want to live.” A cell phone was sitting on the shelf of the tub. He had been a victim of human organ thieves.
Have you ever heard that story or one similar? I heard it nearly a dozen times when I was in grade school. It was an extremely powerful urban legend that spread like wildfire because of its “stickiness”.
If you’ve never read Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick, you’re in for some eye-opening, exciting information that may dramatically assist you in developing communication plans and messages for your clients. The authors actually discuss this organ thieve urban legend.
To keep it short (and not spoil anything for you), Made to Stick discusses why some marketing ideas fail and others become viral or wildly successful. Their research revealed six principles or attributes that make an idea “sticky”. Follow the links for more info on the authors’ site:
1: SIMPLICITY
2: UNEXPECTEDNESS
3: CONCRETENESS
4: CREDIBILITY
5: EMOTIONS
6: STORIES
The more of these six principles you can pack into a message, the stickier it will become. The story I related above covers several of these principles, which makes it an extremely effective urban legend.
Let me give you one great, final example of a sticky ad mentioned in the book:
“The television commercial for the new Enclave minivan opens with the Enclave sitting in front of a park. A boy holding a football helmet climbs into the minivan, followed by his two younger sisters. “Introducing the all-new Enclave,” begins a woman’s voice-over. Dad is behind the wheel and Mom is in the passenger seat. Cup holders are everywhere. Dad starts the car and pulls away from the curb. “It’s a minivan to the max.”
The minivan cruises slowly through suburban streets. “With features like remote-controlled sliding rear doors, 150 cable channels, a full sky-view roof, temperature-controlled cup holders, and the six-point navigation system . . . It’s the minivan for families on the go.”
The Enclave pulls to a stop at an intersection. The camera zooms in on the boy, gazing out a side window that reflects giant, leafy trees. Dad pulls into the intersection.
That’s when it happens.
A speeding car barrels into the intersection and broadsides the minivan. There is a terrifying collision, with metal buckling and an explosion of broken glass.
The screen fades to black, and a message appears: “Didn’t see that coming?”
The question fades and is replaced by a statement: “No one ever does.”
With the sound of a stuck horn blaring in the background, a few final words flash across the screen: “Buckle up. . . Always.”
There is no Enclave minivan. This ad was created by the Ad Council. The Enclave ad…capitalizes on the second characteristic of sticky ideas: Unexpectedness.”
Get the book, read it–and improve your company’s communication strategies.