What Copywriters And Other Marketers Can Learn From The Enduring Myths of Urban Legends

As a marketer, you are constantly striving to break through the clutter and get your message noticed.

Fair enough. But once you do, how do you get your message remembered?

And repeated to others?

It's a question that bugs every copywriter. The other day I found part of the answer. And it's exciting!

I was talking with World Copywriting Blog Executive Contributor Jim Van Wyck. Telling him about something I was really excited about.

"STOP!" he screamed. "You're doing it!"

I had no idea I was doing anything, besides telling him a story about a book that a client had told me.

It turns out what Jim was referring to was the kind of story I was telling, which I had told to half a dozen other close friends and associates without thinking about it.

You see, there's a certain structure and a number of key elements to stories that routinely get repeated... become viral... go "word of mouth"... become Urban Legends... etc.

You're probably heard some of the actual stories:

• the stranger who wakes up naked a hotel room bathtub with a tube in his back, a cell phone, a message to call 911... and when he calls, is told that his kidney has been harvested, and not to move until an ambulance arrives
• the Nordstrom salesperson who gave a demanding customer a refund on tires (or tire chains), even though Nordstrom's doesn't sell tires (or tire chains)
• Something (anything) funny a Southwest flight attendant said that breaks sharply from the usual announcements you hear on an airplane

Well, here's the question:

How would you like to create phrases, stories and scenarios for marketing that create in others the same irresistible urge to tell someone else?

Chip and Dan Heath have come out with a remarkable book (not the one I was telling Jim about, but the one Jim subsequently told me about) that, better than anything else I have ever seen, tells you exactly how to do it.

Their book is called Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.

They're both academics -- Chip teaches at Stanford, and Duke is a consultant and Duke Corporate Education, the executive education branch of Duke University.

But unlike most academics, they write about very practical material, grounded right here in the real world.

And what they have to say can make a huge difference for you.

A couple things I like about this book:

1) They take these attention getting, memorable and repeatable ideas and identify six key qualities

• they're stories
• they're simple
• they contain the unexpected
• they're concrete
• they're credible
• and, most important of all, they're emotional

2) The Heath brothers do something I've never seen before in a non-direct-marketing book: They refer to the ideas and copy of Old Master John Caples (the Dean of Direct Response Copy on Madison Avenue) on nine different pages.

Probably more important to you: The book is chock-full of examples (many of which you're familiar with, and all of which you can learn from). Plus, they show you step-by-step how to write your own "Urban Legends."

Which could be worth thousands... millions... maybe even billions to a business.

This book is a gem. If you want to be forgotten the moment after people read what you write or hear what you say, pass it by. But if you want to be memorable, get yourself a copy of Made to Stick.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Comments

[Andrew Cavanagh]

Using story telling to deliver your marketing message.

Why is it so effective?

I remember one time having dinner with an old Australian aboriginal.

He was telling us about how he got a lift with a farmer who was driving his old truck so slow eventually our aboriginal friend told him he could get out and walk faster.

This was a pretty funny story the first time.

The second time he told it in the same evening it was still fairly funny.

When he got on to the fifth time we were pretty much over it.

And I began to ask myself - "Why is he telling us this story over and over and over?"

Then I realized.

He's from an old traditional culture.

As little as 70 years ago they didn't read or write.

This is how they passed down their information - story telling.

Stories were vital to our survival as a race.

It's the way we passed down information about when to plant, where to find water, where to hunt and just about every piece of vital human knowledge.

It's no suprise telling stories should is so effective in delivering marketing messages.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

P.S. Check the author link below for a blog post on the secrets to story telling that multiplies your sales.

[Brendan]

Couldn't agree more: stories are probably single most reliable medium for getting your message across to customers.

Whereas features and benefits are good punch lines, there's little sale taking place without a story in which they're woven.

Overall, thanks a lot for a hint: I'll definitely look into this book. If it delivers at least half of what it promises, it can make all the difference in my sales copies.

[Michael A. Stelzner]

How might this apply in a business-to-business application?

[David Garfinkel]

Michael, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that says word-of-mouth advertising is more powerful than any other -- ultimately. Best-sellers and blockbuster movies are obvious examples, yet they may not seem relevant. A less obvious but more relevant example in the business-to-business realm is FedEx.

I actually believe FedEx is more reliable than other expedited delivery services, but I use it when I want to make an impression and get noticed. Reliability is a secondary reason for me.

Is this belief I have about, and impression I have of, FedEx: word-of-mouth/urban legend stuff, or "objective reality?" (whatever that really, truly is... )

Dunno. Could be both.

Here's my point, and the answer to your question: If you can get a compelling, memorable story passing the rounds in your niche that supports your business-to-business company, expect a call from Warren Buffett real soon.

Or at least a huge windfall for a long time to come!

Because once you understand the core-message concept of the Heath brothers and how to construct stories that stick, you're in a whole new league in creating compelling, business-attracting communications.