What makes some ideas stick, or work, (such as YouTube, Facebook, or even urban legends) while other, sometimes quite similar variations, fail to see the light of day?
To succeed ideas need a couple of standard ingredients, including the element of surprise, concrete imagery, and must somehow be emotive, writes Kristen Le Mesurier.
A few years ago, two brothers – one a university professor at Stanford and one a corporate education consultant – poured over hundreds of “sticky” ideas out of interest. They noticed over and over again that each idea had the same six principles in common: they were simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and they told a story.
I’d like to add another: luck. While, to quote Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) from Match Point, “hard work is mandatory”, there is still much left to chance, no matter how solidly an idea is executed.
I call it the “pub band” analogy. I’ve seen dozens of bands, whose musicians ooze talent and passion, and whose material is often superior to many signed acts, yet they just cannot get a break.
99 times of out 100, I’d say the signed acts, unlike the “unnoticed” pub bands, were in the right place at the right time, and were spotted by someone (like an A&R rep, a music critic, a celebrity), who decided they had “it”.
Luck counts for a lot.
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