Start with an Unexpected Business or Product

Posted by Brendon
January 30, 2009

Unexpected messages follow naturally from an unexpected business or product. It is difficult to deliver an authentic unexpected message if your business and products are undifferentiated. If you want to deliver messages that have real impact and grab attention, maybe the best place to start is thinking about how you can make your business or products unique, differentiated, and unexpected – then an unexpected message will be both easier and more authentic.

In their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die brothers’ Chip and Dan Heath provide an example of Outpost.com who released a Superbowl commercial where wolves attack a marching band on the football field (included below). Humans are wired to pay attention to threats – such as wolves attacking – so clearly this commercial would have been unexpected and memorable. However, with no connection to the business or product it is questionable whether this unexpected message would have been effective. 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k40ViflvUgk[/youtube]

 

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Unexpected Business Models, Unexpected Messages, Unexpected Products, ,

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