1. MKT 389
CONTENT THAT CATCHES ON

2. PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION
• How did the owner of Barclay Prime get people to talk about his
restaurant? Why do you think his choices represented good ones?
• Give me an example of a social epidemic. Something that diffused
through a population. An idea that caught on.
• Think about the example. What role did „betterness‟ play in the
epidemic? What role did price play? Advertising?
• What role do you think social transmission plays (WOM) in things
catching on? Give me an example of a recent behavior change or
action you took because of WOM.
• What have you passed on/socially transmitted today? This week?
Why did you pass it on?
• Why is it wrong to focus on the messenger as opposed to the
message when it comes to social transmission? What does this
mean? What can „Will it Blend‟ tell us in this regard?

3. DEVELOPING CONTENT
THAT CATCHES ON
Why do some things catch on and
others don‟t?
What role do WOM, social
transmission and social influence
play in all of this?
Berger‟s STEPPS
Heath & Heaths focus areas for
making ideas stick
Visual content that catches on
Value and viralness

4. CONCEPTS
WOM
Social Transmission
Social Influence
Why do we care (as
individuals)?
Maslow‟s Hierarchy

5. CONCEPTS
WOM
Social Transmission
Social Influence
Why do we care (as
marketers)?

6. CONCEPTS
WOM
Social Transmission
Social Influence
How do we react to others
„caring‟?

7. WHY DO SOME
THINGS CATCH ON?
Inherently „better‟ or
„superior‟
Value is clear without need
for stories
A problem is solved in a
convenient, effective, efficient
way
Does anyone use a handheld
calculator anymore?

8. OTHERS CATCH ON BECAUSE
OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Social „selling‟ is real
Social influences and
influencers have enormous
power, ability, capability for
things to self-replicate
Happens every day
Big question is HOW?
Contagiousness and Sticking

9. BERGER’S
CONTAGIOUSNESS
STEPPS:
Social Currency
Triggers
Emotions
Public
Practical Value
Stories

10. SOCIAL CURRENCY
What we choose to talk about
influences the way people see us. No
different form the choices we make
about clothing, cars, etc.
As social beings we want to be known
for our ideas and what we stand for
intellectually.
How does it make you look if you are
first to know? To share?
Buzz factor

11. TRIGGERS
Use of subtle clues to remind us
of other thing
Heuristics, prompts, calls to
action
Simple statements or ideas that
keep things top of mind
Top of mind=top of tongue=WOM
Value based summaries! (Needs
driven…)

12. EMOTIONS
Emotional messages get shared
more frequently (Not to be
confused with social currency
which is about the self
interest/share imperative that
drives social sharing)
Funny is not the only emotion!
Scary
Infuriating
Touching
Others?

13. PUBLIC
Visible but much more
than visibility
Social proof
Can the thing being
shared provoke
behavioral changes that
are visible beyond the
message itself?

14. PRACTICAL VALUE
Useful
Needs are met
Represents a „good
deal‟ monetarily or
otherwise
Low effort high return
Easily understood and
explained so it can be
passed on to others

15. STORIES
The broader narrative to wrap the
idea in
Think of them as social packaging
for concepts
Contains all of the previous (social
currency, triggers, emotions,
public/social proof, value)
Why? Because stories can be
retold easily…it‟s what we do
socially. Stories are more likely to
be contagious.

16. HEATH & HEATH ON
MAKING THINGS STICK
Focus areas:
Simplicity
Unexpected
Credibility
Concreteness
Emotional Value
Stories
(SUCCESS—my
acronym not
authors‟!!)

17. EXAMPLES?
Will it blend?
It‟s a snap?
Twerking girl
Picard let it snow
Coachella Lie Witness
Taylor Swift Goat Duet
Taylor Swift Grammies
NFL Bad Lip Reading
Carrie Coffee Shop
Wrecking Ball Chatroulette
Songs in Real Life/Steve Kardynal
http://mashable.com/2013/12/27/viral-videos-2013/
http://adage.com/article/the-viral-video-chart/digital-marketing-top-10-viral-adstime/145673/

18. VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
THAT CATCHES ON
Some are calling the next phase of social media “visual
sociality”
Preference for visual messaging and storytelling
(Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat etc.)
What vehicles are available?
• Still photos
• GIFs and short video
• Video
• Memes (written too)
• Infographics

19. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING
Pinterest visual storytelling page
GE Tumblr
Samasara
NY Humane Society
JetBlue SoFly
Experience JetBlue
Discussion:
How would you describe the relationship between
visual storytelling and social media?
What story is JetBlue trying to tell with it‟s
Instagram page?

20. INFOGRAPHICS
Been around a long time!
William Playfair…know who he
is?
Edward Tufte is the father of
modern data visualization
Why so compelling? Why do
our brains crave them?!
What do they do for
storytellers? Listeners?
Some great examples…

21. QUALITATIVE OR
QUANTITATIVE?
Can be one or the other
or both
Most people think of
them as purely
quantitative and based
upon complex datasets
but this is not always
the case
Can even be narrative
driven and lead viewers
through a story that
ends in a value
judgment!

22. MORE OFTEN A COMBINATION
OF ALL OF THESE THINGS

23. INFOGRAPHICS AND SOCIAL
MEDIA
Maslow‟s hierarchy and share
imperative combined with social
media have created the „perfect
storm‟ in order for infographics
to explode in popularity.
Why?
How would brands or marketers
use them for storytelling?
Creating content that gets
shared?

24. CONTENT MARKETING
AND INFOGRAPHICS
Why do you think marketers
like them?
Content marketers in
particular?
What role does credibility play
in the choice to convey
information or data with
graphics?

25. INFOGRAPHICS AND
MARKETING
Brands can use
infographics to start
conversations and
share complex
content in easy, and
easily replicated,
ways that also
provoke
engagement.
Quiz infographic

26. INFOGRAPHICS AND
MARKETING
Illustrative
infographics
Fun fact
infographics
Facts related to
brand
Provides context for
discussion and
sharing

27. INFOGRAPHICS AND
MARKETING
Product information
infographics
Good for competitive
comparisons

28. INFOGRAPHICS AND
MARKETING
How to infographics
Directional

29. INFOGRAPHICS AND
MARKETING
Maps
Can market places or
locations

30. FOR NEXT WEEK
Use piktochart or visua.ly to create an infographic for one of
your fan sites.
Use data to tell a story.
Find the data any way you want.
Brainstorm possible ideas…