Question

Topic: Book Club

Stick: The Stray Message Strut

Posted by Anonymous on 6/12/2007 at 3:54 PM ET 500 Points
Oftentimes, even the stickiest of ideas tend to chauffeur people to the most outlandish of destinations. Regardless of how good the message seems to be - simple, unexpected, emotional and more - there are no guarantees that your audience are going to arrive at the same destination you were arranging for them to land.

What if your audience's interpretation of your message strays too far from your core? Do you have any tips to help prevent this?

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Moderator Note: This discussion refers to the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath (topic: communications). Click the title to learn more. Then join the conversation. We'd LOVE for you to participate!

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Mario V on 6/12/2007 at 8:50 PM Accepted
    There are never guarantees. As usual, that pesky curse of knowledge is to blame. So we get an extraspective view.
    Whether it is marketers, designers, politicians, new product developers...to deliver that message (or product) well, we must test, evaluate, and validate.
  • Posted on 6/13/2007 at 12:17 AM Accepted
    I think also that the concept of "Simple" is very important here. If your message was that you were "THE low price airline"...well...that doesn't leave all that much room for interpretation. And as a previous post suggests, that darn curse of knowledge will often tempt us to create a message that is far more complex than this. I wrestle with this myself and am working on (not yet found) a solution.
  • Posted by matteo la rosa on 6/14/2007 at 6:45 PM Accepted
    Sometimes, for the bigger projects, we measure the 'destination' of our messages just telling it to friends and colleagues.
    It is effectively very important to avoid the Curse of Knowledge, questioning people from outside your work and your area. Obviously it's not the definitive solution, but it helps, surely.
  • Posted by Drew McLellan on 6/19/2007 at 2:52 PM Accepted
    I might also suggest that sometimes letting the consumers take your message is "their" direction is part of the sharing of the brand.

    While none of us want our marketing messages to be twisted into a joke or something offensive, sometimes the consumer takes it is a place you never imagined.

    Harley is a great example. They didn't create the communities of passionate users. The passionate users did.

    Drew
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