When we don't know we're doing it

Unconscious triggering

We all use ChatGPT nowadays. Don’t we?

Even if you don’t, you know that you can ask it to write all sorts of things. Here’s ChatGPT’s version of a polite ‘textable’ invitation to lunch addressed “to a client”:

“Hope this message finds you well. I'd love to treat you to lunch at [Restaurant Name] on [Date] at [Time] to express my appreciation and discuss upcoming plans. Let me know if you can make it.”

You possibly also know you can ask it to overlay a ‘style’. When I asked it to issue the same invitation “in the style of a familiar, intimate friend”, here’s what I got:

“How about a cozy lunch at [Restaurant Name] this [Date] at [Time]? It’s been too long since we’ve had some quality time together! Looking forward to good food and catching up. Let me know if that works for you. ”

But, perhaps you didn’t know that AI models are doing exactly the same style overlays but with images.

For instance, here’s what AI expert Lars Neilsen got when he asked a visual AI engine (Stable Diffusion linked with controlnet, in case you’re interested) to ‘reimagine’ what a classical Greek-style statue would look like dressed in various modern outfits.

Now, imagine what sorts of instructions Lars, or anyone, could give the ‘engine’. You could overlay emotional content by asking the engine to “Make her angry”, or you can get the image to create a response in the viewer: “Give her a seductive look”.

But, you can go even further. Take a look at this AI generated image. Do you notice anything unusual?

Here’s a clue. If you’re reading this on a phone, hold it at arms length. It helps if you squint. Can you see the word “OBEY”?

Yes, creepy, I know.

You can embed any words using this technique and, I don’t know about you, but I think it takes subliminal messaging to the next level. The technique is new, but the intent isn’t: the ancient Greeks knew that if they put verbal suggestions into their orations, people would listen.

Manipulating our unconscious thought processes is nothing new. And, embedding content isn’t inherently bad either. In fact, it’s how our minds decode anything presented to us — we look for meaning, and metaphor, quite automatically. Our challenge is how to use these tools productively - and to discern when they’re being used unproductively.

Question: What unconscious messaging would you want to build into your visual communications??

The same, but different

We’re all familiar with upselling: “Would you like fries with that?”

Some of us are susceptible to this, others less so. I am. When travelling, I’ll always pay extra for leg room, or skipping a queue. My tennis coach asked me today (jokingly), “If we had a machine that picked up the balls, would you pay extra for that?”. I probably would.

But some companies have made an art form of tiered value-adding. Take a look at the lower and upper ends of Australia’s top-selling vehicle: Toyota’s Hilux.

Is it even the same vehicle? They have different engines, drive trains, transmissions, body, trim, interiors, wheels. But, yes, they do share the underlying architecture and they roll off the same production lines. Both share the Hilux DNA of being ‘unkillable’ .

Perhaps most importantly, the top end benefits from the ‘no nonsense’ identity of the lesser sibling, while the lower end gets the rub-off from its big brother’s social desirability. Taken together, this outstanding ‘de-niched’ brand captures loyalty from legions of tradies as well as weekend warriors, so its demographic ‘capture’ is very wide indeed.

Question: How can you ‘option up’ and ‘de-niche’ your base level service to capture a wider range of audiences?

The Rules

I often ask my clients what they think their ‘secret sauce’ is. Some can tell me. Some can’t.

The more abstract an area is the harder this is. It’s easier if you run an airline, much harder if you provide aged care. One of the best examples I’ve seen of capturing the essence of a very intangible area is Pixar’s Story Artist, Emma Coats’s, summary of their “22 Rules of Storytelling”.

She distilled these from her colleagues and leaders over years, and then tweeted them over six weeks:

1. You admire a character for trying more than for their success.
2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about till you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was______. Everyday,______. One day,______. Because of that, ______. Because of that, _______. Until finally______.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal with it?
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard., get yours working up front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9. When you are stuck, make a list what you WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you: you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th – get the obvious out the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s a poison to the audience.
14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best? & fussing. Story is testing, nor refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How ‘d you rearrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ’cool.’ What would make YOU act that way?
22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical way of telling it? If you know that you can build out from there.

I’ve given them to you here in full, as they’re fascinating to any of us wanting to convey information (to staff, stakeholders, public). But, even more importantly, they illustrate how pithily any of us could compile a short-list of ‘essential ingredients’.

Question: What are the ‘rules’ that define the best services or products you offer?

Let my unconscious mind know that you’ve benefited from reading. Click the "Like" below. In fact, look above to see if you can find suggestions that compel you to do so (!).

This week, look all around you for examples of ‘nudges’ that expert communicators are giving you. They’re everywhere, and I’d love to hear your observations, so drop me a line.

Until next Friday,

Andrew