Brawn and beauty?

Published in LaZOOZ - Strategy, Marketing and Innovation Newsletter, Issue 48, By Ari Manor, CEO, ZOOZ

Contrary to intuition, more is sometimes less.

When we want to stress the advantage of any product / service / brand, especially if it is one of our own products, we tend to shower it with praise and highlight its numerous benefits. For example – a smart and economical telephone, courteous and efficient banking services, a fast and user-friendly computer application.

Unfortunately, our customers’ brains (and ours as well) are not suited to these kinds of messages. In fact, our brain is fairly lazy. It is accustomed to storing new information with existing information, tagging it to a word that already exists in memory. This makes it possible for our brain to quickly and efficiently store and access the new information it encounters. True – it’s a bit superficial, but that’s how our brain works. In emergencies, this superficiality works in our favor. For example, when a large animal suddenly materializes in front of us and we associate it with the word “monster”, and then run for dear life or hide. These mechanisms served prehistoric man quite well, and have not changed much since then. As proof, even today, when you meet someone new, you try to categorize him and ascribe him to a familiar classification: “basketball player”, “singer”, “manager”, etc.

In addition, when a potential customer’s brain encounters one of your products / services / brands, he tries to ascribe it to one clear word. It’s much easier to store it with one positive word, together with one main advantage. When you try to promote two (or more) advantages – it gets confused, or it doesn’t believe, or doesn’t remember. Or it thinks that you don’t actually significantly excel in either of the two advantages you stated.

Take three car manufacturers for example. One claims that his car is the fastest of them all. The second claims that his car is the most fun, and the third claims that his car is both fun and fast. Guess which of the three messages is the least compatible for storage in the brain? Which message is too complex? Sounds the least credible? Which message will be left in the dust by its competitors?

Clarity is an asset. It enables the message to be optimally received in the brain. So, the next time you try to send a message to your customers – try to stick to one clear advantage. This has served Volvo (safety), Mercedes (luxury), Dominos (deliveries), Max Brenner (chocolate), Toshiba (sharp picture), Panasonic screens (size) …for many years. Stick to one word, one advantage. Send out one clear message and make it easy for the brain. Don’t settle for more.