MarketingProfs Book Club Returns with ‘Made to Stick’

Christina "CK" Kerley — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:06:21 +0000

With spring comes not only a new season but a “sticky” new segment. Yes bookworms, the MarketingProfs Book Club is back with the hottest book of the year! Did I just say we have a hot and sticky segment? Hey, if it gets you folks reading and sharing ideas then this host is doing her job.

For those of you new to our Book Club, welcome aboard (sign-up here). And for those returning for another round, welcome back….
What’s the book? None other than “Made To Stick” by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. What’s more? Instead of giving away 30 author-signed books we’re upping it to 50 free books. Swear I’m not stopping until the world gets a book.
What, you want more than that? Done! Everyone gets a (FREE) bonus just for reading this post. My, how I’ve missed you bookworms.
While Round #1 discussed “social media” and Round #2 focused on “branding,” Round #3 explores “communications”–more to the point, we’re learning how marketers can do a far better job of making sure our brainy ideas stick. And stick-it-out through the ages.

Made To Stick analyzes why some ideas survive while many others die. But that’s not all: the authors have deconstructed why ideas that didn’t have revenue incentives, like urban legends and fables, have amplified across social groups and over many generations to develop a 6-point “SUCCESs” system pinpointing how to get our messages to stick (and stay stuck). Told you we’re getting sticky.
But don’t take my word for it; check out these rave reviews. Not only that, the recommendation for this book came from one of our own members, Kris Hoet, back in January. Rest assured folks, if you’re recommending, I’m listening! To kick-off this segment, we held a Q&A with the authors, in which I handed over the interview to fellow marketer Cam Beck. Take it away guys–

For whom was the book written, and why? All of us need to make our ideas stick from time to time. There are some people–teachers, ministers, politicians, and of course marketers–whose jobs depend on making ideas stick. Our book was written to help people make that happen. It’s fiendishly difficult to take the light bulb that’s in your head and recreate it in the minds of your audience. And that’s where the traits of stickiness come in…to refine our most important ideas so that they’ll endure.

Why does your book use so many examples of advertising? Advertising is a pure marketplace of ideas, so it’s a great laboratory for studying stickiness. Great ad campaigns, like Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?,” thrive on the principles of stickiness. Subway’s Jared campaign, for instance, perfectly captures the power of a story to make an idea stick.

What is the most important lesson from your book? What do you most hope “sticks” with marketers? Use concrete, sensory language. Think of urban legends (the man who wakes up in an ice-filled bathtub without kidneys) or fables (Aesop’s The Fox and the Grapes). These ideas etch themselves into our brains because of their sensory hooks. And this may sound like common sense, and yet it is not instinctive marketing behavior. You only need to visit a couple of web sites to see the wasteland of bland abstractions: World-class customer service! Simplify your life! You can have it all!

In your book, you make several references to “The Curse of Knowledge.” How can knowledge be a curse…and how can it be overcome? The Curse of Knowledge is the arch-villain in our book. The Curse of Knowledge says that once we know something, it becomes hard for us to imagine what it was like not to know it. And that, in turn, makes us communicate to others like speakers of a foreign language. We forget to translate.
Think of the IT guy in the office who can’t give you a clear answer to something. He talks in jargon and abstractions that you can’t follow. And we’re all the IT guy in our areas of expertise–our knowledge complicates our communication. You can avoid the Curse of Knowledge by using the principles of stickiness. The power of a sticky idea is precisely that it crosses boundaries–boundaries of knowledge, experience, even culture.

In your interview with U.S. News and World Report, you called PowerPoint presentations the “kryptonite of sticky ideas.” What is the alternative? When we’re talking, or making presentations, we sprinkle in stories and anecdotes and specific examples. We treat them like garnish. And the bulk of our presentation consists of “high-level” talking points, which are almost always abstractions. PowerPoint feeds this tendency by giving us little easy-to-use bullets. And what do you put after a bullet? Certainly not a story. But stories and examples aren’t garnish, they’re the entrée. Most people communicate with, say, 3 parts exposition to 1 part story. That’s exactly backwards. Don’t let PowerPoint seduce you into meaninglessness.

OK, your host is back with a few points to cover before I close:

Sign-up by Friday, May 18th: Remember, to be eligible to receive one of the fifty author-signed books you need to be signed-up AND have your FULL mailing address stored in your MarketingProfs member profile (so we know where to send your book).
IMPORTANT: If you signed-up for the first or second segment you’re already in the database (so you need not sign-up again and yes, you’re eligible for a free book). Free book recipents are chosen randomly.
Newcomers should hurry up and sign-up as I’ll be emailing the free book recipients early next week, so you have until Friday, May 18th, at 5pmPST to join if you’ve not already.

Did I say FREE Bonus for all? That I did. Cam Beck has conducted a thoughtful and thought-provoking 8-page analysis of Made To Stick’s major themes–and you can download it absolutely free. While it’s not a replacement for the read, it is a piece that emphasizes how we can make our ideas stick and stay stuck. Again, download this amazing piece right here (yes, do it right now, well right after you finish this post .

Lastly, Group Review for the book will start Tuesday, June 12th, giving you four weeks to get your books read and, uh, wait–did you hear that? Who’s cutting-in on my post? Oh, its word from our authors, let’s see what those “sticky guys” have to say: “Our passion is ideas and what makes them stick, so the opportunity to join a group of idea connoisseurs in the marketing community to banter about ideas, via the MarketingProfs Book Club, well … it’s going to be a heck of a good time! It’s kind of like turning a group of physicists loose in a particle accelerator.”
You heard it from them bookworms–get ready for your ideas to get a whole lot stickier in round #3!
P.S.: I hope you get a free book, but even if you don’t, please do still participate: at $16.47 for the hardcover, and $15.26 for the eBook, the book is a steal for all the knowledge it imparts (an audiobook is also available for your listening pleasure). And don’t forget there are many future segments in which to get a free book!

Helpful Links:
Have questions? Go here
Want to join the Book Club? Go here.
Still have questions not addressed in our FAQs? email me at: bookclub@marketingprofs.com
Lest we not forget our nifty disclaimer: Neither CK nor MarketingProfs is in any way retained by any author or publisher to promote any book or make any profit from the sale thereof. This book club is for the marketing community–we just get to learn alongside you fine folks .

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MarketingProfs Book Club Returns with ‘Made to Stick’