Despite being released in 2013, one book that remains at the top of our reading list is “Contagious: Why Things Catch On” by Jonah Berger, a New York Times bestseller that highlights the value of word-of-mouth marketing. The book unpacks the dynamics of virality and how brands can achieve it – and the take-aways are perhaps even more relevant in 2024 than they were in 2013. Today, public opinion around a brand can spread like wildfire across multiple online platforms, instantly elevating or completely derailing its reputation. In fact, social media has become a cornerstone of modern marketing – Insider Intelligence projects Instagram influencer marketing spend to surpass $2 billion this year. TikTok is also estimated to cross the $1 billion threshold.
Berger organizes his book into 6 “STEPPS,” an acronym for Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Stories – all factors that he credits with making content “contagious” or likely to be spread, talked about, and shared through word-of-mouth marketing.
Social Currency
Why do we choose to spend hard-earned money on a product or service? More often than not, we are seeking to gain social currency, which we can then use to achieve desired perceptions from the people around us. If brands can give consumers a way to look superior while promoting their product, the consumer will often do it without thinking.
According to Berger, social currency can be broken down into three areas:
Find inner remarkability: Sharing something interesting, entertaining, or novel will be desirable to a consumer because it will in turn make them feel that they are being perceived by others as interesting, entertaining, or novel. Berger provides an example of Barclay Prime Steakhouse in Philadelphia, which at opening, offered a $100 cheesesteak. The concept was so original and novel it instigated word-of-mouth communication and allowed the new restaurant to become a major success.
Leverage game mechanics: If a customer’s experience with a brand is gamified, it is far more likely to be talked about in their daily lives. Think of the public’s recent obsession with collecting all available colors of Stanley cups or Lululemon products. If the consumer feels they are winning a game, they are more likely to talk about the product or perhaps post about it on social media.
Make people feel like insiders: It’s human nature to want to feel special. Creating a dynamic where the consumer might feel they have an “inside scoop” will prompt them to speak more frequently about a product or service in their daily lives.
Triggers
Triggers refer to the things we see in our daily lives that immediately make us think of a brand. As an example of the effectiveness of triggers, Berger cites a happy accident that occurred in 1997, when the candy company Mars noticed an unexpected increase in sales. Coincidentally, NASA had launched its Pathfinder mission to Mars (the planet) that year, meaning the daily news was constantly triggering consumers to think and talk about Mars candy bars.
If this trigger had created such accidental success for Mars, imagine the potential of triggers when they are intentionally planted by brands. As Berger states, “top of mind, tip of tongue.” Social currency seems to be the area that gets people talking, but triggers are what KEEP them talking.
Emotion
When we care, we share.
In advertising it becomes useful to elicit some type of emotion, whether that be shock and surprise, anxiety and anger, or nostalgia and compassion. All emotions in this case can be useful, even the negative ones. Ultimately, emotions are what drive action.
Public
This area refers to visibility and observability, as well as the human condition of imitation. Making products that are inherently visible to the public means creating products that advertise themselves. As Berger summarizes it: “built to show, built to grow.”
Take the example of Apple computers, which originally were designed to have the Apple logo facing the laptop’s user. Steve Jobs insisted on reversing the logo to face outward for one reason, observability. The Apple team realized that when people see someone else doing something, they are more likely to do it themselves – we are, at heart, imitators.
Practical Value
A promotional offer that seems surprising or surpasses expectations is far more likely to be shared among consumers. This tactic involves framing promotions and projecting scarcity or exclusivity. Berger claims that of all 6 STEPPS, this is the easiest to implement.
Stories
According to Berger, casual stories can often act as Trojan Horses in the world of marketing. Good customer service is better than any advertisement money can buy. In the age of social media, this area seems to become increasingly more relevant as brands constantly go viral for “story times,” both good and bad, posted by consumers on platforms like TikTok.
“Information travels under the guise of idle conversation.”
Give Contagious a read – it’s still great more than a decade later. If you’re interested in accelerating and expanding the online presence of your brand, 0to5 can help! Contact us today.
By Annmarie Ely
When you think of the interviews you have genuinely enjoyed listening to, what kinds of communicators come to mind? They probably captured your attention early on, got to the point, included interesting anecdotes or stories, and spoke with confidence. Are some people just great communicators, while others are destined to lose their audiences? According to Bill McGowan, being an engaging communicator is something we can all learn.
McGowan is a former journalist turned media trainer and communications coach who helps clients deliver their messages with “enthusiasm, conviction, and confidence.” His clients have included executives from well-known companies as well as professional athletes. He co-authored the book, “Pitch Perfect,” with Alisa Bowman to share lessons he has learned from helping clients improve their communication skills. These lessons, which are distilled into seven principles, can be applied to public speaking, interviews, or any important conversation.
Of the seven principles in the book, below are three that are especially relevant for PR and media interviews.
- Scorsese Principle – This principle, which McGowan named for director Martin Scorsese, is about approaching your communication like a film in the mind of the listener. McGowan suggests that speakers use anecdotes, visuals, and analogies to entice the listener to follow along. A great example of this principle is an analogy used by Lora Bartlett, an associate professor of education at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In an interview with The Hechinger Report, instead of simply saying teaching remotely while teaching in person is challenging for teachers, she used a compelling comparison. Bartlett compared the teachers’ experiences to having to drive a car while playing a driving video game at the same time. This memorable visual is a much more engaging way to share information. Consider how you can incorporate visual comparisons to help an audience understand or connect with your message.
- Pasta Sauce Principle – This principle is about “boiling it down.” McGowan recommends considering what is truly necessary to communicate your most important points. Could you cut a third? Could you cut half? Boiling down your message to the most important information ensures you’re getting across what you need to while still making the interview engaging.
- Conviction Principle – This principle is about believing in your message and conveying confidence. You can convey confidence by practicing avoiding phrases like “kind of,” “sort of,” and “like.” McGowan also recommends that speakers skip using industry jargon. If your topic is highly technical, make sure you’re communicating in a way that is accessible. Replacing industry jargon with clear, easy-to-understand language will allow you to reach more people and make the conversation appealing to a wider audience.
McGowan recommends practicing the seven principles and focusing on gradual improvement. He suggests watching interviews and speeches and trying to determine which principles are being used. When applying the principles, he recommends focusing on improving one at a time instead of all seven at once. McGowan suggests recording and watching or listening to yourself speak, when possible, to track progress and areas where you could continue to improve.
To read all seven principles and to learn more, you can find the book here.
By Colleen Martin
Recently, I dove into the NYT’s Bestseller, “Think Again” by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and bestselling author who explores the science of motivation, generosity, original thinking, and rethinking. A Philly celebrity in his own right, Grant has been the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school top-rated professor for seven straight years and is also the host of WorkLife, a chart-topping TED original podcast.
In “Think Again,” Grant discusses how things might improve in our work and personal lives if we keep an open mind. There are three key tools we cling to, says Grant, and those are evenly distributed between our assumptions, habits, and instincts, leaving out the most valuable, ‘having an open mind.’ Success rests in the power of knowing what we don’t know, says Grant, and releasing ourselves from our tunnel vision.
This rings 1000 percent true for me. One of my favorite activities as an agency is holding a company-wide brainstorming session. We pull together our designers, web developers, digital marketers, and the media relations team, get out of our silos, and put our heads together to develop a new product or company name. Undoubtedly, the best ideas and rethinking comes out of those meetings.
Bunking Our Assumptions
It is too easy to fall victim to our comfort zones and stick to what has “always worked.” Grant found that the higher a person’s IQ score, the more likely they are to fall for stereotypes because those with a higher IQ are faster at recognizing patterns. But those who are intellectually curious and open to new ideas says Grant, are often more successful. A recent study from UC Berkeley determined that emotional intelligence was four times better at predicting a person’s success than measuring IQ – and on average, those who have higher emotional intelligence earn $29,000 more than people who have low emotional intelligence.
In comparison, those who score lower on emotional intelligence (EQ) tests are more likely to overestimate their skills and dismiss their EQ scores as inaccurate or irrelevant.
Grant encourages us to have confident humility, the concept of being secure enough in our expertise and strengths to admit our ignorance and weaknesses. Grant says confidence and humility are often seen as opposites, but when we reflect on the leaders we admire most, chances are that they embody both of these qualities in tandem.
Not only does this open our minds to rethinking, but it also improves the quality of our rethinking. In rigorous studies of leadership effectiveness in the U.S., the most productive and innovative teams aren’t run by leaders who are simply confident or humble; the best teams score high in both confidence and humility – because they are keenly aware of their weaknesses.
How does this apply to the world of PR and marketing?
When we have the confidence to acknowledge what we don’t know, we pay more attention to how strong the evidence is and spend more time reading material that contradicts our opinions. Contrary to what most of us do daily, Grant pushes us to think like scientists – to look for where we might be wrong.
Rethinking Is a Skillset, But Also a Mindset
Grant explains and defines the various modes we fall into on autopilot that can blind us to the best ideas, strategies, and insights.
- Preacher Mode – We go into preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy; we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideas.
- Prosecutor Mode – We enter prosecutor mode when we recognize flaws in other people’s reasoning; we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case.
- Politician Mode – We shift into politician mode when we’re seeking to win over an audience; we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents (teammates/customers/clients)
Says Grant, “We get so caught up in “preaching we are right,” “prosecuting others who are wrong,” and “politicking for support that we forget to rethink our views.
The solution – and the best way for us as PR and marketing professionals, is to think like a scientist!
- Ask a question
- Perform research
- Create a hypothesis
- Test your hypothesis
- Make an observation
- Analyze results to draw a conclusion
- Rinse, repeat!
Scientific thinking, says Grant, favors humility over pride, doubt over certainty, and curiosity over closure. As we question our current understanding of things, we become more curious about what information we are missing. This method of thinking pushes even the most confident among us to pause, take a breath, and “rethink” our approach. When you question your knowledge and strategies, says Grant, you become motivated to seek new insights, which can broaden and deepen your learning – and make us even better thinkers for our clients.
Crocs. Cake Pops. Uggs. Snuggies. What do all these have in common? Well, you probably hated them before you loved them. Uggs were ugly, Cake pops were foreign, and Crocs were for geezers.
Turns out, these products had some genius behind them. That genius is called ZAG.
So, what is ZAG? Marty Neumeier describes it in his book, Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands, as the embodiment of what it means to be different.
Today, we all have a need for speed. Amazon ships overnight, Seamless delivers everywhere, messages send in seconds, and what used to take years to discover is now accessible with the click of a button. What comes with this fast-paced lifestyle is a heck of a lot of marketplace clutter.
Every day, the app store is flooded with new products, services, and indications that there really is no limit to progress. Peruse the supermarket isles and you’ll find twenty brands of toothpaste, thirty kinds of chips, fifty different cereals. Where do we even start?
As we struggle to block out all the clutter, we gravitate towards what’s really useful, or what seems the most interesting. In Neumeier’s words, we crave what is different, what stands out. In his book, he outlines seventeen checkpoints to breach before you can fully own your ZAG. Here are some of his main points that you want to keep in mind when creating a product and bringing it to market.
Hit ‘em where they ain’t
Imagine yourself standing at home plate, bat in hand. When the pitcher throws the ball, you swing hard and aim for the gap in right field, not directly at the shortstop.
As we speak, there are people out there looking for help, and they may not even know it yet. Locate a job that needs doing, and do it. Don’t try to squeeze your way into an already jam-packed market. The open spaces are there. You just need to find them, and the crowd will love you for it when you do.
Be the only [BLANK] that [BLANKS]
Today, when you wake up craving a waffle, all it takes is a trip to the freezer to satisfy that hankering. Sixty years ago, that wasn’t the case. When Eggo invented the first toaster waffle in 1953, they were able to say, “We just made the only waffle you can toast.”
As Neumeier puts it, if you can’t say you’re the “only,” go back and start over. Without your “only” statement, you can’t have ZAG.
A poor name is a drag
Though it won’t make or break you, a strong name accelerates your product’s popularity. Find a name that’s meaningful but catchy, interactive but understandable. Think Apple, Google, Nike, Oreo. Fun to say but filled with meaning, these names have become staples in household conversation.
What wave are you riding?
Today, trends come and go like waves. If you see the water swell, get in front of it and ride that wave home. When online shopping surged, eBay came around. Because today’s youth is addicted to smartphones, Pokemon Go was able to take over. Harness that momentum and bring your product to all the tanning, happy beach bums.
Let the revolution begin!
There’s always a bad guy. It’s just a matter of finding him and using him to your product’s advantage. Crocs are not cute sandals, cake pops need no fork, trendy boots freeze your toes and average, sleeveless blankets fall to the floor. These first four examples had clear enemies they used to propel their product forward. Find your enemy and prove that you are not them.
Who loves you?
Every product needs a community, but it’s not enough to simply identify your target market. Make an emotional connection with your customers and establish a loyalty that lasts. Chances are, if you remember their coffee order, or know they hate pickles, they’ll trust you with their daily indulgences.
Be brutal
Exercise self-discipline, and know when to say “no.” By trying to take on new competitors and expand your brand, you may put yourself on a playing field you’re not prepared to dominate. That, and you risk confusing your customers. Stick with your ZAG, and be careful before stretching yourself too thin.