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NEWSLETTER ISSUES
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The Magic of Semantics: The Quickest Way to Change Perception
3 min read - 1 Quote, 1 Lesson, 1 Book
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Read time: 3 min
At a glance:
Quote: Perception over intention
Lesson: Learn when and how to change a name
Resource: A book about Alchemy
Quote
"It is not what you meant to say, but it is what your saying meant."
Walter M. Miller Jr.
The Patagonian Toothfish is on every expensive seafood menu, but you wouldn’t know it.
In 1977 an American fish merchant named Lee Lantz was scouring fishing boats in a Chilean port. As a wholesaler he became excited when he spotted a menacing looking, five-foot long toothfish that inspired him to ask “That is one amazing-looking fish. What the hell is it?”
When he tried a bite of the fish, it had almost no flavor. He surmised that its attributes was a perfect match for the American market. A texture similar to the cod, richness of tune, with the mild flavor of a founder. It could serve as a blank canvas for any chef.
He renamed it to Chilean Sea Bass, because it sounded exclusive. in 1980 a company who struggled with the rising cost of halibut bought the entire stock from Lantz. From there, it quickly went up the food chain. In 1990, the Four Seasons served it. 2001, is was Bon Appetit’s dish of the year.
The rest, as we say, is history.
Image Credit: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-ross-sea-toothfish-fishery/
Lesson
The story about the Patagonian Toothfish is not unique. Monkfish was once Goosefish and Orange Roughy was once Slimehead. When you change a name, you can change people’s perception of it, ultimately influencing a new behavior. Sure you can try and change the meaning of the name and not change the name, but how big of a battle would it be to change the meaning of the word slime?
In this issue, I will layout a framework of WHEN and HOW to leverage the magic of semantics.
Magical, because it’s not rational, there is nothing fundamentally changed, but its perception is shifted, which is able to affect real behavior change. Brand work doesn’t have to be reasonable, it just has to work.
When you want a shift in perception and behavior, change the name
WHEN should you think about changing a name:
Current name has a negative meaning
Current name is not an accurate description
Current name is limiting
Current name has baggage
Current name is hard to pronounce
HOW could you change the name:
Include a geographical or topographical adjective (“Pilchards” was changed to “Cornish Sardines” and instantly became more valuable. Not only that, it reinvigorated the entire Cornish fishing industry.)
Change the language. It becomes more exotic and thus more premium (An “ice-cream parlor” can immediately charge more if it was a “Gelateria”)
Introduce a new descriptive term and retain part of the name as an anchor to the category (In healthcare, particularly in orthopedics, the term “bio-resorbable implants” have baggage in the industry for not working very well - it wasn’t strong and it didn’t really resorb into the body. But when a startup introduced a technology that is dramatically different that actually worked, they called it Bio-integrative instead of using the same name, changing its perception and stayed away from the negative connotation of the existing term.)
Use descriptive words from the point of the view of your target audience (When a college in California wanted to increase the percent of women with computer science majors, at the time, only 10% - the first thing they did was to change the name of the intro course from ‘Introduction to programming in Java’ to ‘Creative approaches to problem solving in science and engineering using Python’. This course went from a most despised course to the absolute favorite - not squarely from the name change, but it was the lead domino to fall.)
Conclusion
Is a name or a description limiting the potential of a product, a service, a program? Think about how you can change the name and immediately change the perception and behavior of those you seek to influence. The nature of our attention affects the nature of our experience and a name is an immediate way to direct our attention.
Resource
Want a book that tickles your imagination? This book inspired this issue and I've shared just a few of the many examples that shows us the irrational nature of humans.
A great read for anyone who is into human behavior and what we can do/ have done to influence it
Ways I can help you:
Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growth
Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist
Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand
Supercharge Your Message: Contrast & Happy Endings
3 min read - 1 Quote, 1 Lesson, 1 Post
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Read time: 3 min
At a glance:
Quote: We love logical thinking, but humans are innately not that
Lesson: Make any message more powerful
TikTok: An example from Alex Hormozi
Quote
"The human mind does not run on logic any more than a horse runs on petrol"
Alchemy - by Rory Sutherland
Lesson
Learn how to use psychological concepts to strengthen any message you deliver. Something you can apply right away to any communication. A presentation? A social media video? Or breaking news to your team? This works.
Messages delivered correctly can influence the behavior you want, messages delivered spectacularly can inspire a movement.
“I have a dream... that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Most people deliver their messages the way they think others want to hear it, not the way they actually want to hear it. This results in the message falling flat, failing to garner attention, or influence an intended behavior.
Effective strategies don't have to be complicated
Here are two strategies you can apply simultaneously
1. Contrast
When two contrasting ideas are presented, the impact of the second is elevated. Just like when your hand is dipped in cold water before dipping into room temperature water, your hand feels warmer than a hand that's just in room temperature water. The same is true for visual contrasts. Looking at the image below, the grey square in B seems darker than the grey square in A, because of the contrasting background.
Image credit: Research Gate
Also, contrasts deliver surprises and is crucial to grabbing the attention of the audience. We are hardwired to spend more cognitive energy to contrasting information.
2. Happy Endings
In a 2013 study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, it was shown that most people preferred to share good news first, then the bad news because they are trying to "sweeten the palette", however in the same study, most recipients of good and bad news preferred to hear the bad news first. When you get the bad news out of the way, you can shift the focus permanently to the good news.
So what does this mean?
When delivering a message, first understand what you want to emphasize, then craft a contrasting anchor at the beginning of the message.
Examples:
Product ad
Pain, nightmare, and problem
Gain, dream, and solution
Sharing a serious idea
Funny story
The consequential and serious big idea
Good new and bad news
Share the bad news first
Share the good news and solution for the bad
Selling a coaching service
The time and effort required to be successful
The benefits of coaching and the new you
Convincing spouse to splurge on a vacation
The monotony and fragility of life
The experience to cherish forever
Conclusion
Just a tiny bit of adjustment to your message delivery can deeply impact the outcomes of that delivery. Simon Sinek once said - there are only two ways to influence human behavior, manipulation or inspiration... so please use these strategies for good!
TikTok
Here is a video of Alex Hormozi talking about an application of these strategies.
Ways I can help you:
Subscribe to Healthy Brand Mondays: Leverage brand thinking to accelerate your growth
Download free guides and tools: Learn from my years of experience as a brand strategist
Work with me: Be a podcast guest or hire my services for your brand