An examination of the concepts from the book, Made to Stick, presented to the Willamette Valley chapter of the American Marketing Association our March 10, 2010 luncheon. All the fun interactive portions and embedded videos have been edited out due to Slideshare limitations on animation and videos.

2. Why is this Urban Legend a Communicable Message? The Elephant Story

3. The Elephant Story In 1986, MkeleMbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

4. The Elephant Story – cont. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. t.

5. The Elephant Story – cont. Mbembestood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. � Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

6. The Elephant Story – cont. Twenty years later, Mbembe was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teen aged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing.

7. The Elephant Story – cont. Mbembesummoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe’s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

8. The Elephant Story – end The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

9. What is it sticky? Simple – it’s whittled down to its core Unexpected – it makes you pay attention Credible – it’s easy to believe Concrete – it’s easy to understand Emotional – it makes you care Story – it flows easily From Made to Stickby Chip & Dan Heath

10. Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives. Which is Stickier?

11. “I believe that this nation should commit itself, to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Which is Stickier?

12. What’s Sticky? Simple = Core + Compact Core Commander’s Intent BHAG (pronounced Bee-Hag, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal) From Good to Great by Jim Collins

13. Big Hairy Audacious Goals? To improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities. United Way It is our job to continually foster world-class, economically sound infrastructures as well as to quickly create principle-centered sources to meet our customer's needs. Online Dilbert Mission Statement Generator Respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Enron

15. What’s Sticky? Simple = Core + Compact Core Commander’s Intent BHAG “If you say three things, you’ve said nothing at all” Compact Proverbs Golden Rule: Be unto others as others would be unto you Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face A bird in hand is worth two in the bush Don’t Bury the Story Lead

16. What’s Sticky? Simple = Core + Compact Core Commander’s Intent BHAG Compact Proverbs Don’t Bury the Story Lead Simple doesn’t mean dumbed down It’s not a sound bite

17. What’s Sticky? Unexpected Gets Attention – Surprise! Breaks a pattern See FightGlobalWarming.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-_LBXWMCAM

18. What’s Sticky? Unexpected Get Attention – Surprise! Breaks a pattern Hold Attention – Highlights a knowledge gap Create a mystery they want to solve See Don’tPassGas.org: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=connRUHZ8r4

19. What’s Sticky? Concrete Helps to understand Makes abstractions memorable Provides hooks See Daily Show/Governor of Illinois: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YuCPtve3tw

22. What’s Sticky? Credible Helps people believe Internal credibility – Authoritative i.e. if Warren Buffet gave you a stock tip, would you take it? Uh, yeah! See Obama Endorsement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_NMZv6Vfh8

23. What’s Sticky? Credible Helps people believe Internal credibility – Authoritative External credibility – Convincing details MkeleMbembe 1986 Northwestern University Chicago Zoo

24. External Uncredibility

25. What’s Sticky? Credible Helps people believe Internal credibility – Authoritative External credibility – Convincing details Testable – Try it, you’ll like it! See Will it Blend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l69Vi5IDc0g

26. What’s Sticky? Emotional Undo Overwhelm Focus on the Single, not the Many i.e. Help sponsor a child, not million of children are dying

27. Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk Man Clings to Daughter as They Fall 13 Stories in Chile Earthquake 8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Central Chile 7.0 Earthquake Rocks Haiti Disease Stalks Haiti Quake Survivors Quake Devastates Stricken Haiti's Capital Pat Robertson: Haiti 'Cursed' By Pact with Devil Death, Despair Litter Haiti Streets Keeping Order in Haiti 8.8 Earthquake Strikes Chile, Tsunami Reported Major Earthquake Hits Haiti Quake-Devastated Chile Deploys Troops to Halt Looting Chile Earthquake Aftershocks Cause Panic Big Haiti Quake Topples Buildings, Many Casualties Strong Earthquake Rattles Chile

29. One easy thing to do $32 Million Raised by Feb 1 15% of Total

30. What’s Sticky? Emotional Undo Overwhelm Single vs. Many Power of association Tap into the things that people care about See Cyberbulling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG-7pldYvvQ

31. What’s Sticky? Emotional Undo Overwhelm Single vs. Many Power of association Tap into the things that people care about Appeals to their self-interest WIIFY – What’s In It For You “Here’s what we can do for you!” Two for the price of one! / Buy one, get one free!

32. What’s Sticky? Emotional Undo Overwhelm Single vs. Many Power of association Tap into the things that people care about Appeals to their self-interest WIIFY – What’s In It For You Appeals to their identity Opposite of WIIFY Ethics & Morals preclude enriching themselves Anything that feels unethical / makes them feel slimy

33. What’s Sticky? Story Simulation - Tells people how to act How to solve a problem Provides visualization Inspiration - Gives people reason to act Challenge to overcome obstacles Connection to get along or reconnect Creativity to inspire a new way of thinking See Girl Effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIvmE4_KMNw

34. What is your company’s Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story?

35. Made to StickChip & Dan HeathRandom House, 2007 Chip Heath, Professor, Stanford University Teaches a Made to Stick class, this video was made by his students: Choice: Stop the Bullets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIcSZtQVwYQ