Lupta pentru atentie: spune o poveste!

Multi se intreaba de ce au succes Tolontan si Cabral in blogosfera. In afara de faptul ca ambii au acces la mai multe canale de comunicare (presa scrisa, TV, online) ambii stiu sa spuna povesti. Daca pe 90% dintre bloguri mi se sterpezesc dintii cand citesc posturile, blogurile celor doi mi-au retinut intotdeauna atentia pana la capatul articolelor.

Dau doar exemple: un post scris de Tolontan (“Poveste cu 130 de milioane de euro. Poveste cu oameni, trusturi şi decizii. Poveste despre urcări şi căderi. Poveste despre definitivul care durează o zi. Povestea acestei zile.”) care cred ca ar trebui predat la toate scolile de jurnalism si un post al lui Cabral, cel datorita caruia a reusit sa devina primul blogger care il intrece pe Zoso.

Dar de ce au povestile succes? Asta o sa explic in randurile urmatoare.

1. Lupta pentru atentie

Prea multa informatie

In 1923, Claude C. Hopkins, unul dintre cei mai importanti practicieni si teoreticieni ai publicitatii, scria:

“Tineti mereu cont de aceste lucruri. Lumea se grabeste. Persoanele carora ne adresam au prea mult de citit. Ele sar trei sferturi din ziarul pe care au dat bani. Nu au de gand sa citeasca limbajul vostru de afaceri decat daca dovediti prin titlu ca merita sa faca acest lucru. Oamenii nu trebuie sa se plictiseasca atunci cand citesc. S-ar putea sa asculte politicos la un dineu discursuri tinute de celebritati sau povestea vietii lor.
Dar cand citesc, isi aleg singuri compania, subiectul. Vor sa se distreze sau sa aiba un folos. Vor sa economiseasca bani, sa devina mai frumosi, sa-si usureze munca, sa manance bine si sa poarte lucruri de calitate.”

Din 1923, lucrurile s-au inrautatit. A aparut televiziunea, internetul, telefonia mobila. Suntem bombardati cu informatii. In 2007, Associated Press a angajat o companie pe nume Context pentru a studia obiceiurile de consum de stiri ale tinerilor.(2) Concluzia?

“Participants in this study showed signs of news fatigue; that is, they appeared debilitated by information overload and unsatisfying news experiences. Ultimately news fatigue brought many of the participants to a learned helplessness response. The more overwhelmed or unsatisfied they were, the less effort they were willing to put in.”

Aceeasi idee a fost subliniata si de Malcolm Gladwell: ” In societatea noastra, am ajuns sa fim coplesiti de numarul mare de oameni care ne solicita atentia. Exista acum pe internet milioane de site-uri web, firmele de cablu difuzeaza in mod curent peste 50 de canale de programe TV, iar, daca aruncam o privire in sectiunea cu reviste din orice librarie, vedem sa exista mii de reviste care ies saptamanal si lunar, pline pana la refuz de publicitate si de informatii. In publicitate, acest exces de informatii este numit problema “aglomerarii”, iar din cauza acestei aglomerari a ajuns sa fie tot mai greu sa faci mesajele sa aiba aderenta. Mare parte din ceea ce ni se spune, din ceea ce citim sau vedem se pierde din memorie. Era informarii a creat o problema a aderentei.”

Pe scurt, in cuvintele lui Kevin Roberts: “Consumers are neck deep in information. That’s the grim truth of twenty-first century marketing. ”

Atentia noastra este limitata

Richard Dawkins, genetician: ” Computerele in care traiesc memele sunt creierele umane. Este posibil ca timpul sa fie un factor limitativ mai important decat spatiul de stocare a informatiei, fiind obiectul unei concurente dure. Creierul uman, ca si corpul pe care il conduce, nu poate face mai mult de un lucru sau, cel mult, cateva lucruri deodata. Daca o mema aspira sa capteze atentia unui creier omenesc, atunci trebuie s-o faca in dauna memelor “rivale”. Alte servicii pentru care concureaza memele sunt timpul ocupat in emisiunile radio sau de televiziune, spatiul pe panourile publicitare, coloanele de ziar si rafturile de librarii.” 

Malcolm Gladwell, autor: ” Cu alte cuvinte, oameni fiind , nu putem manipula concomitent decat o suma limitata de informatii. Dincolo de o anumita granita, suntem depasiti. ma refer aici la capacitatea intelectuala- abilitatea noastra de a procesa informatiile brute. Dar daca stam sa ne gandim, apare ca un fapt evident ca avem o anumita capacitate de canal si cu privire la sentimente.”

George Miller, psiholog: “Se pare ca avem o anumita limita interna care este fie dobandita prin invatare, fie este programata in sistemul nostru nervos si care ne restrange capacitatile de canal.”

Timpul nostru este limitat

Jonathan Halls, jurnalist si trainer : ” Everyone I know complains about not having enough time. Perhaps what’s changed is we have too much information and stimulus to sift through.The obvious result of this is that we feel we don’t have enough time. Researchers have found that one of the biggest issues for content creators is competing for the time of consumers. It’s a competition for time. We know that when someone surfs the Web, they spend on average, less than thirty seconds on a web page. They’ll skip heavy blocks of text. They’ll probably not read to the end of the sentence. The majority will not even scroll down.  And they’ll hunt for keywords rather than read a paragraph. Gee, we know this from our experience with email, don’t we? I’ve lost count of how many people email me with questions that I’d answered in a previous email.”

The Bottom line: traim in era atentiei

Kevin Roberts: “Pana in 1990, devenise clar ca traiam intr-o era a atentiei. Existau deja mii de canale tv, filme, posturi radio, ziare si reviste. Milioane de siteuri web. Miliarde de telefoane, faxuri si e-mailuri…Mult prea multa informatie!
Oamenii sunt coplesiti de multitudinea de alegeri pe care trebuie sa le faca. Uitati de era informatiei. Atentia umana a devenit principala modena de schimb.”

Chris Anderson: “It’s all about attention. That is the most valuable commodity. If you have attention and reputation, you can figure out how to monetize it. However, money is not the No. 1 factor anymore.
Attention and reputation are two non-monetary economies. The vast majority of people online write for free. We’ve tried paying some of our bloggers and they thought it was insulting. They’re not doing it for the money, they’re doing it for attention and reputation, or just for fun.”

Ce-nseamna concret asta? Nobody wants to read your shit!

Pressfield: ” Here’s the #1 lesson you learn working in advertising : Nobody wants to read your shit. Let me repeat that. Nobody–not even your dog or your mother–has the slightest interest in your commercial for Rice Krispies or Delco batteries or Preparation H. Nor does anybody care about your one-act play, your Facebook page or your new sesame chicken joint at Canal and Tchopotoulis. It isn’t that people are mean or cruel. They’re just busy.
There’s a phenomenon in advertising called Client’s Disease. Every client is in love with his own product. The mistake he makes is believing that, because he loves it, everyone else will too. They won’t. The market doesn’t know what you’re selling and doesn’t care. Your potential customers are so busy dealing with the rest of their lives, they haven’t got a spare second to give to your product/work of art/business, no matter how worthy or how much you love it.(…)This is the new world we are communicating in.  People don’t want to give you time.”

2. Solutia? Spune o poveste!

De ce este important sa stii sa spui o poveste?

In primul rand pentru ca povestile sunt forma prin care ne organizam informatiile inca din copilarie.

Jerome Bruner, psiholog la New York University: ” La trei-patru ani copiii nu sunt probabil capabili sa urmareasca intrigi si scenarii complicate. Varianta narativa, cred acum psihologii, este pur si simplu esentiala pentru ei.(…) Copiii inventeaza povesti pentru a ” integra evenimentele, actiunile si sentimentele intr-o singura structura. Este singura modalitate de organizare a lumii, de organizare a experientei, de care dispun. Ei nu pot asimila teoriile care organizeaza lucrurile in termenii cauzei si efectului, ai relatiilor, asa ca le transforma in povesti si, chiar atunci cand incearca sa inteleaga ce se petrece in viata lor, ei folosesc versiunea povestita a experientei lor ca baza pentru reflectiile ulterioare. Daca vreun element nu este prins in aceasta structura narativa, el nu este retinut prea bine si nici nu pare a fi accesibil pentru dezbaterile ulterioare.”

In al doilea rand, informatia se integreaza mai usor in cadrul povestilor.

Nassim Taleb: “ We like stories, we like to summarize, and we like to simplify i.e. , to reduce the dimension of matters. Explanations bind facts together. They make them all more easily remembered; they help them make more sense. The problem of narrativity, although extensively studied in one of its versions by psychologists, is not so “psychological”: it is more generally a problem of information. Information wants to be reduced. There is another, even deeper reason for our inclination to narrate, and it is not psychological. It has to do with the effect of order on information storage and retrieval in any system.”

Darpa, o agentie americana unde lucreaza unele dintre cele mai puternice creiere din lume, a ajuns la concluzia ca informatiile se integreaza cel mai bine in povesti: “Like people, such a story-telling system would be able to “retrieve and reuse stories to construct an appropriate interpretation of events, not because the stories have the most detail, but because they convey the aspects of a situation that are most important in determining a decision.

Making sense of a complex situation is like understanding a story; one must construct, impose and extract an interpretation. This interpretation weaves a commonly understood narrative into the information in a way that captures the basic interactions of characters and the dynamics of their motivations while filling in details not explicitly mentioned in the input stream. It uses story lines with which we all have experience as analogies, and it simplifies the detail in order to communicate the crucial aspects of a situation. The story lines it uses are those the decision maker should be reminded of, because they are similar to the current situation based upon what the decision maker is trying to do.”

In al treilea rand, oamenii adora sa li se spuna povesti.
Annette Simmons : ” Atunci cand spui o poveste care ma impresioneaza, imi daruiesti atentie umana- ceea ce ma leaga de tine, imi atinge sufletul si ma face sa simt ca traiesc.”
Somerset Maugham: ” Bucuria de a asculta povesti este la fel de fireasca naturii omului ca si bucuria de a privi un dans.”

In al patrulea rand, povestile hranesc lovemarkurile.

Kevin Roberts: ” Povestile hranesc Lovemarrk-urile. Ele reprezinta modul in care ne explicam lumea si dam valoare lucrurilor pe care le iubim. Stim cu totii ca o poveste buna spusa la momentul potrivit ne poate face sa ne razgandim sau sa exclamam acel “acum inteleg” adevarat. Lumea informatiilor este o lume dura, in care cu greu, obtii o schimbare a unei actiuni sau emotii. Lovemark-urile folosesc povesti pentru a ne arata de ce informatia conteaza. Cuvantul “continut” ma deprima. Nu are niciun punct de vedere. Este lipsit de energie. O eticheta generica pentru un lucru generic. Este pentru cei care au devenit fani ai comoditatii. Povestile au o valoare foarte mare in afaceri pentru ca tintesc acolo unde trebuie. Tintesc oamenii. Nu poti spune o poveste fara personaje, fara emotii si fara detalii senzoriale.

In al cincilea rand, cine spune cea mai buna poveste castiga.
Howard Gardner, psiholog:  ” A key, perheps the key, ti leadership is…the effective communication of a story.”
Tom Peters:  “ Whoever tells the best story wins.”
What’s your story?

Cum arata o povese buna?
Howard Gardner: “ Nu este simplu ca o povestire sa-si castige audienta. Cu totii am auzit multe povestiri si destul de multi de mai multe ori. Majoritatea povestirilor si bancurilor nu raman multa vreme in memorie pentru ca sunt similare cu ceea ce lumea a auzit altadata, lipsindu-le nota distinctiva. Ideal, o povestire noua trebuie sa contina suficiente elemente familiare pentru a nu fi respinsa instantaneu, dar trebuie sa fie indeajuns de inedita pentru a atrage atentia si a imboldi mintea.
Ca regula generala, atunci cand cineva se adreseaza unei audiente eterogene sau diverse, povestirea trebuie sa fie simpla, usor de identificat cu ea pentru ceilalti, rezonanta emotional si evocatoare a unor experiente pozitive. Incercati sa va ganditi la povestirile care nu prezinta astfel de trasaturi. Daca este prea complexa atunci este foarte posibil sa nu fie inteleasa de unii membri ai audientei. Astfel, in contrast cu povestirile mai simple, cele complexe gasesc cu greu un public receptiv, ca sa nu mai vorbim de anduranta.”

Seth Godin: ” A great story is true. Not necessarily because it’s factual, but because it’s consistent and authentic. Consumers are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that’s just slapped on. Great stories make a promise. They promise fun, safety or a shortcut. The promise needs to be bold and audacious. It’s either exceptional or it’s not worth listening to. Great stories are trusted. Trust is the scarcest resource we’ve got left. No one trusts anyone. People don’t trust the beautiful women ordering vodka at the corner bar (they’re getting paid by the liquor company). People don’t trust the spokespeople on commercials (who exactly is Rula Lenska?). And they certainly don’t trust the companies that make pharmaceuticals (Vioxx, apparently, can kill you). As a result, no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the credibility to tell that story.

Stephen King: ” Dupa parerea mea, povestile si romanele sunt alcatuite din trei parti: naratiunea, cea care poarta povestea de la punctul A la punctul B si-n cele din urma la punctul Z; descrierea, cea care da nastere unei realitati senzoriale pentru cititori; si dialogul, cel care aduce personajele la viata prin vorbele pe care le rostesc. Poate va intrebati unde e locul intrigii in toate astea. Raspunsul- al meu, cel putin- este nicaieri.
Povestile sunt relicve, parti ale unei lumi preexistente nedescoperite. Datoria scriitorului e sa foloseasca uneltele din trusa lui pentru a le dezgropa pe fiecare cat mai intacta posibil.”

Somerset Maugham: ” O povestire buna trebuie sa aiba coerenta si destula verosimilitate pentru a sustine tema; ar trebui sa fie de natura sa asigure evolutia personajului, in care in momentul de fata rezida tot interesul fictiunii si sa aiba o rotunjime, astfel ca atunci cand in cele din urma este dezvaluita publicului, nicio intrebare sa nu mai staruie in legatura cu personajele create. Ar trebui sa aiba, asemenea tragediei in conceptia lui Aristotel, un inceput, un cuprins si un sfarsit. Intriga e manuita cu folos atunci cand trece neobservata. Este o modalitate de a indruma interesul cititorului.”

Povestile ne ajuta sa visam, iar visele sunt combustibilul motivatiei.

What’s your story?

L.E. iulie 2010, Kevin Roberts : What’s Your Story?

“Among the most effective ways of inspiring love in the hearts of consumers is through storytelling.

Stories play an indispensable role in the way we see ourselves. The philosopher Daniel Dennett has written extensively about how the capacity to tell stories is a key source of human consciousness. It’s also what makes humans unique from other animals. According to Dennett “our fundamental tactic of self-protection, self-control and self-definition is not spinning webs or building dams, but telling stories.”

Stories permeate our every thought. As psychologist David Schiffrin once wrote, “we dream in narrative, daydream in narrative, remember, anticipate, hope, despair, believe, doubt, plan, revise, criticize, gossip, learn, hate and love by narrative.”

So, it’s no wonder that stories have a seemingly magical power to captivate and inspire.

As technology has advanced over the centuries, our ability to use Sight, Sound and Motion to generate rousing narratives has advanced as well. And when it comes to telling stories that use Sisomo to create rich emotional experiences, Pixar is the uncontested king.

A recent Sunday Times of London story outlines the 10 surprisingly simple rules that Pixar follows when creating their modern masterpieces. The article is for subscribers only, but the rules are as follows:

1. Do Your Research
2. Stay True To The Materials
3. Never Compromise
4. Know Your Characters
5. Be Fearless
6. Make It Timeless
7. Consult The Experts
8. Keep It Simple
9. Ditch the Demographics
10. Break the Rules

For the Pixar team, the story comes first, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that the integrity of the story is protected.

Those who seek to create a Lovemark should take a close look at the Pixar rulebook. The way to inspire both respect and love in the hearts of consumers is to create something that isn’t just a commodity or a brand, but a profound entity with an engaging story behind it.

Just consider the difference between a commodity, like a drug store brand diaper, and a Lovemark like Pampers. When I think of Pampers, I’m brought back to the early days of eldest son Ben’s childhood in Casablanca – some of the most poignant and powerful moments I’ve ever experienced.

When a product can transport you to an emotionally significant place in your life story, it doesn’t matter what it costs or whether or not it performs better than its competitor. It will inspire the kind of loyalty that lasts decades and generations.”