I've been reading through Jonah Berger's book Contagious and one of the six attributes that determines whether some brand or idea becomes viral is its proximity to triggers. For example, when you say "peanut butter," you may automatically think "jelly." That's because we're used to peanut butter being paired with jelly. Okay, so how does that work for branding? |
Still, the idea was great. "Coffee is an available and often-occurring trigger, and, once KitKat is seen as part of the coffee routine, it will sell better."
And it did.
That made me think about other triggers. For example, every time I see a gecko, I immediately think of Geico. "So stop calling me!" Trouble is, I see a gecko, like, once a decade. If I did see one around here, it would have a very short time to live. Winter takes care of that.
So a gecko is not a very smart trigger for someone who doesn't live in the right climate for geckos. That said, I've noticed that Geico has recognized the ineffectiveness of the gecko, and switched its ads to annoying talking pictures (in YouTube ads) and romantic gals who declare Geico to be their newest and truest love (Spotify ads). Frankly, none of it appeals much. I'm waiting for them to come up with a trigger that's as endearing and humorous as the gecko and as available as...well...coffee.
Although, in my case, it wouldn't help much. I don't drink coffee.
Contagious itself is a good example of a trigger, because it was marketed using triggers. Jonah Berger told a story in a video interview with Daniel Decker of how Contagious came out during flu season, so, at an event in which Contagious was featured, Mr. Berger passed out special tissues. They were bright orange, the same color as his book cover, and they said something like: "Don't you wish your ideas were contagious?"
Wham! He just created two triggers. One: The color orange will remind people of the tissues, which will remind them of the book. Two: Every time people reach for a tissue during cold and flu season, they'll remember the orange tissues, which will remind them--again--of the book.
So what would be a good trigger for fiction, specifically, the speculative fiction that I write? I've been wracking my brain for ideas. Purple is my brand color, but purple (even deep, royal, almost-indigo purple) is shared with many other things, so, at best, it's only a secondary trigger.
I could pair certain related behavior with my product. Bedtime reading, for example. "Need a new bedtime book? Look no further than Yaasha Moriah's fiction!" Okay, that's cheesy. Plus, my book REFLECTIONS would not give anyone a good night's sleep.
Well, I'll keep my eye out for potential triggers, and post when I have ideas. Mwahaha! I love scrounging for ideas. It makes me feel devious.
If you can think of a neat trigger (for my fiction, for your product, or for anything else), share! I'd love to hear your ideas, and maybe you'll get my creativity working and we can come up with something AWESOME!