| You have something to sell, maybe a product, maybe | | | | suggesting that you dress up in a tiger suit and |
| a political message, maybe its yourself, but everyone | | | | pounce on people as they take their lunch in the park |
| is ignore you. In order to stand out of a crowd, | | | | but this is the effect you want. Your customer's |
| things need to get a little bit weird. | | | | undivided attention. |
| Try This Now | | | | The seller's biggest enemy is not their competition |
| Take a good look around and make a list of all the | | | | but desensitization. This is the process that trains the |
| objects you can see that are blue. Take your time, | | | | brain to ignore things that were once new. If you |
| there is no hurry. | | | | walk into a room with a weird aroma it will seem |
| Got your list? You've probably got between five and | | | | overpowering at first but after five minutes in the |
| fifteen objects. Now shut your eyes and think of all | | | | room you will forget it entirely. This is desensitization |
| the red things you saw when making the list. The | | | | and its happening all the time. |
| weird thing is that you will be able to think of one or | | | | Drowning Not Waving |
| two objects but if look around now, you will see just | | | | How many adverts have you seen today on TV, in |
| as many red things as blue things. | | | | the paper, on the internet? Hundreds probably. So |
| The human brain is an amazing filter and will ignore | | | | many that we have become desensitized to anything |
| anything it doesn't consider important. This is why | | | | that looks like an advert. Big companies can spend |
| when looking for blue objects, you ignored the red. | | | | tens of millions of dollars coming up with striking visual |
| This is very useful for the brain as it can focus on | | | | images, quirky names and big stars to get our |
| the important thing but it is a nightmare for | | | | attention but how can the small guy do it? How can |
| advertisers and sellers. Unless the customer is already | | | | you trigger that 'weird things' part of the customer |
| looking for you, they are not going notice you. In | | | | brain and still be run a serious business or get a |
| order to beat human nature, weird things need to | | | | important message across? |
| happen. | | | | You don't have to be zany or do weird things. The |
| I Blame Saber-Toothed Tigers | | | | secret is to see what you have learnt to ignore. |
| Caveman Gog is walking through the forest back | | | | Start by looking at where you going to be. If you are |
| towards the cave. Its been a long, fruitless day | | | | shop, look at all the store fronts in the area. If you |
| hunting antelope and he is tired. Too busy worrying | | | | are planning an print advert, look at all the adverts in |
| about how he will attract a mate if he can't catch | | | | the magazine or paper. Make a list of what they |
| any food he doesn't notice the tiger until its too late. | | | | have in common. Their shape, their layouts, the |
| Gog's brother, Zog, is also walking back through the | | | | words, the fonts and colors they use. Now compare |
| jungle, empty handed. Suddenly he stops in his | | | | them all. |
| tracks, fully alert. His brain has just noticed a weird | | | | What you are looking for is not the differences but |
| thing, something odd and out of place. A patch of | | | | the similarities because this is the forest where a |
| shadow that isn't right. Carefully he raises his spear | | | | weird thing can stand out. You want to be a tiger in |
| and throws it into the shadow. A tiger stumbles out | | | | the forest, not a tree. If everyone else's sign is |
| of the undergrowth, the spear in its neck, and it falls | | | | square, use a round one. If other adverts have long |
| dead at Zog's feet. That night Zog had a lot of fun | | | | product descriptions, keep yours to three words or |
| showing off his new tiger skin rug to all the cavegirls. | | | | less in a font 72 points high. Being different is the |
| Modern humans are descended from those cavemen | | | | first step in making sale. |
| who could spot the unusual because the unusual killed | | | | Attention Is Only The Start |
| those who didn't. We may live in a generally safe, | | | | Leaping out of trees whilst dressed in a tiger suit will |
| hi-tech world but our brains are very similar to those | | | | get you attention but it won't make you a sale |
| of our cavemen ancestors. Our brains are tuned to | | | | unless you are selling tiger suits. How you get |
| pick up the unusual or weird things around us. | | | | people's attention has to fit with the product you are |
| Try To Kill Your Customers | | | | selling because it is just one ingredient in the recipe. |
| For your advert or product to stand out, you need | | | | But like adding mentos to diet coke, throwing a few |
| to trigger the "Warning! Weird Thing Alert' part of | | | | weird things into the recipe can produce something |
| brain that allowed Zog to spot the tiger. I'm not | | | | special. |