EXERCISE: Connect the dots

My former partner Rich Silverstein used to talk about effective advertising using the analogy of those dot-to-dot games we all used to play as children. It was important for us to join enough of the dots in our advertising to avoid confusion (and as a result rejection), but to leave enough dots for the viewers or the listeners to join for themselves. Into the gaps between the dots of advertising they should insert they own experience, hopes, fears, joys and sorrows, and thus embrace the communication by becoming a part of it.
—Jon Steel

The greatest achievement in advertising or marketing is getting people to think they came up with your idea on their own. Try this exercise to help them connect the final dots on their own, thereby allowing them to own it and make an even more convincing case.

  1. Bullet point everything you wish your customer thought about your product.

  2. Choose one thing that you really wished they would think.

  3. For your next marketing communication, focus on communicating all of the points except for that one point.

  4. Ask yourself, if there are any nudges you can do to get them to think about the one thing you took out on their own.

  5. Integrate it into your marketing program.