Made to Stick

Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Chip & Dan Heath

Made to Stick is an excellent investigation into what makes certain ideas travel well. Stickiness is defined as the ability to be recalled and passed on – essential to any successful marketing or PR campaign.

The authors focus in on key factors that help any idea spread and stick with the “SUCCESS” Acronym:

SIMPLICITY: Ideas need to be simple, yet profound. The goal is one sentence that says it all. People cannot decide if there is too much confusion or uncertainty.

UNEXPECTEDNESS: Means people will pay attention. Things have to be counter-intuitive, and build interest and curiosity. Create a mystery. Highlight knowledge people are missing.

CONCRETENESS: Things have to be communicated in terms of human action and sensory information. Sticky ideas are full of concrete images. Abstractions mean different things to different people.

CREDIBILITY: The ideas have to carry their own credentials – people need to be able to test the idea. Use real people, and people who are admired, or are authorities. Statistics can be used properly.

EMOTIONS: People need to care about your ideas. We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions. When people think analytically, they are less prone to emotion. Draw an association between something people care about, and something they don't care about. Focus on (broadly defined) self interest. The benefit of the benefit. Appeal to their identity.

STORIES: Hearing stories acts as a mental flight simulator. It makes the idea richer and more relevant. Mental simulation is powerful in teaching and inspiring. Stories gravitate around certain 'plots'. Stories engage people and can get around the other voices in their head. People recall stories much better than statistics.

The challenge for many is the “curse of knowledge” - people are so close to their ideas or companies that they cannot put themselves into the heads of those who are on the outside, those they are trying to communicate with.

Avoid placing people in a situation where they will have “decision paralysis”.

This book is very easy to follow and has great examples, and summaries.

89% of award winning ads can be classified into 6 templates. When people are taught these templates, their creativity, as judged by consumers, is improved.