6 Lessons From Contagious (Why Things Catch On)

Garth Beyer

1) The moment you start paying people to share or putting a monetary value to them, then they’ll never do it for free again. Many managers rely on monetary incentives or prizes for good work ethic and behavior. Not only is it costly, but as soon as you do it, people won’t continue the behavior for anything less. Instead, focus on social currency. That’s why promotions and cool new titles work better than a pay raise in terms of employee satisfaction.

2) Social currency can be accomplished in three ways. First, sharing something amazing. Snapple facts are remarkable, as in, worth remarking to others about. Second, turn it into a game. Metrics that show people where they are in comparison to others (think Insurance provider rates and frequent flier miles) gives them status, which they’re happy to talk about. Third, make people feel like insiders by giving them something that’s scarce like Cadbury is or exclusive like a speakeasy.

3) Accessible thoughts lead to action. Music you play in a bar can sway people to order more French wine (if French music is playing) or German wine (if German music is playing). Essentially, we have to leverage triggers, but I’ve noticed when we’re so focused on making something out of this world, we forget about making it also top of mind.

4) For as much as I bash the lizard brain and encourage you to ignore the little voice inside your head saying you’re not good enough, any marketer can use the lizard brain to their advantage in a good way. Quite plainly, people share articles, stories, products that get the lizard brain going (excitement, amusement, anger, anxiety, etc,.). The sad insurance Superbowl ads didn’t get shared as much because sadness doesn’t spark the lizard brain.

5) Interesting, surprising and novel doesn’t lead to more buzz than average, uninteresting, and “meh” products because the latter is often ongoing and the former is more immediate.

6)If promoted, telling others helps us celebrate. If fired, telling others helps us vent. Sharing emotions helps us connect.

Book by Jonah Berger. Worth the read.

 

Stay Positive & Marketing Is About Spreading Love

Autonomy Is Overrated

Garth Beyer

The recent book you read was likely written by two or more people, even if there’s only one author name on it.

The viral YouTube video you shared last week took at least two people to make.

The witty design of a website that wowed you required more than a couple of people to build.

We don’t need more independence or more alone time. The epiphanies you go off on your own to have no longer compare to the ones you can have when you go off with a few friends, stay late with a handful of coworkers or talk with strangers.

You’re better of working to be less self-sufficient than more, and see what happens. We’ve spoiled autonomy by comparing ourselves to one another. “You think you’re better than me?!”

With groups, partnerships, and communities we have a better opportunity to make something remarkable, to have epiphanies that really matter, and create something incomparable.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Fear Dependence (It’s Now Your Best Option)

If Given The Option

Garth Beyer

It’s better to be up than down. Optimistic attitudes, smiles, and focusing on what works is contagious.

It’s better to be on than off. Quit plainly, if you’re on, you’re functioning. Off days are the worst.

I bet you will agree with these two, but push back on this… It’s better to be out than in.

In feels safe. It’s your comfort zone. In means you’re analyzing, you’re consuming information, you’re gathering opinions, preparing for the out, the risky, the accountable actions.

In feels good.

Yet, you wouldn’t let yourself stay down, right? Nor off, correct? So, why in?

In a world of infinite knowledge, infinite emails, infinite blogs posts to consume, we feel the need to digest more before we can regurgitate something creative and original.

I’m all for yin and yang. An off day here and there makes the on days way better, but too many off days in a row… nothing good comes from it. Nor does anything good come from always taking things in.

Today, show out some love. Do something risky. Write something new.

 

Stay Positive & Get Out There

Something You’ve Never Done Before

Garth Beyer

It felt nice being told I would be doing something I’ve never done before. Being told made it easier for me. Someone else made the choice. Someone else picked me.

There are two interesting epiphanies I had from being told.

First, I had to do things I’ve never done before to get asked to do things I’ve never done before. I’ve made a habit out of conquering the unknown and she knew I would be able to handle it. In reality, she didn’t pick me at random. I gave her a reason to.

Second, if we merely wait for someone to pick us, someone to force us into a new space, someone to tell us we’ll be doing something we’ve never done before, we’ll be waiting a very long time.

Opportunities to charter new territory and dare greatly are nearly always self-proposed.

 

Stay Positive & Do Something That Scares You Everyday, Build That Momentum

Not Knowing What’s To Come

Garth Beyer

While there are a lot of “two types” scenarios. Here’s possibly a new one for you.

There are two types of people in this world.

1) The people who get excited about not knowing

2) The people who stress and freak out about not knowing

Though it shouldn’t be, it’s still surprising the people who are excited even though they don’t know about their future, their work, the way people view them, etc,. are often the happiest, often the ones who things happen to “work out” in the best way possible for.

 

Stay Positive & HT to Donald For Reminding Me Scary Can Be Exciting

 

In The Box Podcast

Episode 8: Grunt Work, All-Inclusive Resorts, Misinformation And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we talked about our obsession with time, the importance of symbols to brands, all-inclusive resorts, bitching about grunt work to colleagues, how comedians are truth-tellers, and how we can best prevent misinformation. Enjoy.

Episode 8: Grunt Work, All-Inclusive Resorts, Misinformation And More

Not bitching about grunt work – Does bitching about grunt work help you connect with others or does it hurt their view of you?

Symbols – How important are symbols to a brand?

All-inclusive resorts – Are all-inclusive resorts really all-inclusive?

Comedians – Can we take a minute to recognize how important they are to a healthy society?

Time – How obsessed should we be with time? and why are people so obsessed with time?

(Mis)information – What are the best ways to prevent misinformation from being spread?

 

Stay Positive & If You Like What Your Hear, Please Subscribe And Leave A Rating

Wassupp And How Do You Happy?

Garth Beyer

The Heinz ketchup bottle I used over the weekend has a “How Do You Happy?” label on it. Heinz wants you to interact, to share what makes you happy or so I think that’s what it wants you to do, it wasn’t very clear.

Heinz, rather, whatever agency behind the not-so-creative idea is appealing to the mass that uses ketchup, but it doesn’t transfer over well. Not every ketchup user is happy, wants to be happy or cares to share what makes them happy – they just want some ketchup with their fries.

Budweiser has made some wacky commercials. The ones that stand out to me are the Wassup commercials. At the time of the commercials, the phrase “Wasssuppp” was the most popular term Budweiser drinkers used, not all, but enough to make a commercial about it. “Wasssupp” became a trigger for drinking Bud.

Heinz is attempting to turn what makes you happy into a trigger for wanting to use Heinz ketchup. While you can’t argue happiness isn’t universal, trying to get millions of people to associate a bottle of ketchup with their own happiness isn’t logical because everyone’s answer to what their happy is is different.

What’s the difference between “Wasssupp” and “How Do you Happy?” – a shared experience. Budweiser took a common phrase said by Budweiser drinkers (and beer drinkers in general) and turned it into a trigger. When someone says “Wassupp,” you think of Budweiser. When I say what’s your happy? Ketchup isn’t up there.

The guideline: treat different customers differently. Understand what they value, not in terms of personal happiness, but in terms of their desired experience. Bud is better to drink with your buddies. Ketchup isn’t better to eat when you’re doing what makes you happy, unless of course, eating fries is your life’s purpose.

 

Stay Positive & Shared Experiences Was Everything (And Still Is)