Stickiness is Good

How did urban myths and legends come to be?  What is it that is so compelling for ideas to "stick"?  How do you make your ideas "sticky"?  In a homage to Malcom Gladwell's, "The Tipping Point", Dan and Chip Heath illustrate the concept of "stickiness" through the SUCCESS model.

I highly recommend you read the book, "Made to Stick".  More details and resources are available at www.madetostick.com

SUCCESS

S-imple
Simplicity isn’t about dumbing down, it’s about prioritizing.  (Southwest will be THE low-fare airline.)  What’s the core of
your message?  Can you communicate it with an analogy or high-concept pitch?

U-nexpected
To get attention, violate a schema. (The Nordie who ironed a shirt…)  To hold attention, use curiosity gaps. (What are Saturn’s rings made of?)  Before your message can stick, your audience has to want it.

C-oncrete
To be concrete, use sensory language.  (Think Aesop’s fables.) Paint a mental picture.  (“A man on the moon…”)   Remember the Velcro theory of memory - try to hook into multiple types of memory.

C-redible
Ideas can get credibility from outside (authorities or anti-authorities) or from within, using human-scale statistics or vivid details.  Let people “try before they buy.” (Where’s the Beef?)

E-motional
People care about people, not numbers.  (Remember Rokia.)  Don’t forget the WIIFY (What’s In It For You).  But identity appeals can often trump self-interest.  (“Don’t Mess With Texas” spoke to Bubba’s identity.)

S-tories
Stories drive action through simulation (what to do) and inspiration (the motivation to do it).  Think Jared.  Springboard stories (See Denning’s World Bank tale) help people see how an existing problem might change.