Home The Book The Authors Excerpts Reviews Articles Blog Contact


Archive for the 'Emotion' Category

“Choice” video

Check out this video. Don’t want to give anything away. It’s got quite a visceral punch. (via one of Chip’s students at Stanford)

Mercy Corps’s thoughtful use of concreteness

When you give to Mercy Corps, they follow up with an email that gives you a concrete vision of how you’ve helped. For instance: “Your support of $40 provides a Zimbabwean family clean drinking water for two years.”
Lots of charities have figured out that, in soliciting donations, they need to anchor abstract amounts of money in […]

“Canoe Man”

There are 6 principles of sticky ideas, and folks, Canoe Man has all 6. It’s no wonder why this bizarro tale has captivated the UK public.
Robert M brought it to our attention with this introduction: “Man vanishes at sea in 2002, only his battered kayak is found. Wife and two sons mourn, then wife claims life […]

The Partition of Africa

Here’s a story we received from Peri Chinoda, an AP & Honors World History Teacher at Hume Fogg Magnet High School in Nashville:
Background Information: In 1885 the Chancellor of Germany, Otto Bismarck, convened a meeting attended by 13 European colonial powers including the USA and the Ottoman Empire. The Africans whose land was to be […]

Research: Stories make your brand stronger

Readers of Made to Stick could have predicted this outcome, but it’s interesting nonetheless: Brandweek reports on a research study that concludes stories work better than product positioning in advertisements. [Thanks to Francois at Zoommedia for the link!]
From the article:
One such pattern was that a campaign like Bud’s iconic “Wassup” registered more powerfully with consumers […]

Wyoming Libraries Mudflap and Idea Judo

Check out this very clever campaign for Wyoming’s libraries. (One bumper sticker offers a more literate twist on a classic: “You can have my book when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.”) And the mudflap girl is a must-see (and, while it would be stretching it to call her a must-buy, she is indeed […]

The Screaming Man in the Four Stroke Engine

Here’s one of our favorite stories so far from the “100 books for 100 stories” contest.  There are still plenty of books to giveaway, so make sure to tell your teacher friends: Email us — heaths@fastcompany.com — a story of a lesson that stuck and we’ll ship you a free signed copy of our book.  […]

Unsticking Baby Einstein

The research is in on Baby Einstein videos: “For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as “Brainy Baby” or “Baby Einstein,” they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.”
Concrete enough for ya?  But if the enduring appeal of the discredited “Mozart Effect” […]

Tanzania post-mortem

Chip and I had an incredible time in Tanzania.  So, let me start by saying this: You know that feeling you get when a full explanation would take 25,000 words, but you’ve only got 500, and you’re afraid to oversimplify, but you’re also afraid to give a vague “neat experience” summary, and this causes a […]

Conversation starter: Proudly made in China

Chip and I have been emailing back and forth with Jeff Delkin, the owner and cofounder of a startup company called Bambu, which makes lovely housewares out of bamboo and other renewable materials.  He’s said a couple of things that inspired us, and Jeff gave us permission to share them with you.
 A few months ago, […]