Why a Simple Message Is Essential in a Noisy World
We live in an overcommunicated society, a world drowning in information where simply talking more does not solve our problems. Every day, thousands of messages create a dense fog of noise that the human brain cannot fully process. From the thousands of books published annually and millions of tons of newsprint consumed to the hundreds of thousands of television images flooding our homes, the sensory overload is immense. The marketplace itself is exploding with tens of thousands of individual products.
To survive this great mental traffic jam, the mind acts as a filter, screening out almost everything that does not align with what it already knows. Trying to change someone's mind is a losing battle; once an opinion is formed, the mind becomes like a dripping sponge that cannot soak up new, conflicting facts. To be heard, one must master positioning, which focuses on securing a specific mental space in the mind of the prospect rather than on the product itself.
The best way to cut through the clutter is to oversimplify the message until it is razor-sharp. In an overcommunicated society, "less is more" is the golden rule. You must stop looking for answers inside your product and start looking for them inside the prospect's mind. Consider a political candidate; voters will only remember one or two traits. For years, many people knew more about the "Mr. Clean" mascot than they did about Vice President George Bush, whose public image was limited to just a few basic traits that could stick in the mind.
When a brand tries to be everything, it often ends up being nothing. Chevrolet spends hundreds of millions on advertising, yet most people cannot distinguish between its many models. The more a company adds to its message, the more likely the consumer is to become confused and tune out. Success requires using sharp, focused techniques to find a "hole" in the market and secure a permanent spot in the receiver's memory.
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