How To Make Your Ideas Stick
The original guru behind Mac marketing, Guy Kawasaki, posts a fascinating interview with Chip and Dan Heath, the authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Guy says this book will rival The Tipping Point in impact on marketing and communications.
Nonprofits are all about selling ideas. These guys have some important observations for nonprofit marketing and communications professionals.
The Heath brothers have studied all sorts of ideas, from all sorts of people (i.e., not just the famous and powerful) to identify the essentials for an idea that sticks. Here are the essentials, using JFK's “put a man on the moon in a decade” idea to illustrate:
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Simple A single, clear mission.
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Unexpected A man on the moon? It seemed like science fiction at the time.
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Concrete Success was defined so clearlyno one could quibble about man, moon, or decade.
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Credible This was the President of the U.S. talking.
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Emotional It appealed to the aspirations and pioneering instincts of an entire nation.
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Story An astronaut overcomes great obstacles to achieve an amazing goal.
In other words: SUCCES
In the interview, the Heaths talk about advancing an idea that people will really care about. They make the case for appealing on the basis of “identity” versus “consequences.” Here's what they have to say …
Behavioral Science Q & A
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