Creative tension creates buzzworthy brands

There's a guy I know who's a "Social Network Architect". He used to be a "Social Network Analyst" until he wrote a book. Now he's an architect. His given name is Scott Degraffenreid. His book is The New Art and Science of Referral Marketing: Embracing the N.U.D.E. Model. It can be purchased at www.DocMurdock.com if you're interested.

Anyway, he makes sense, and then backs it up with solid statistical manipulation of very large databases. His NUDE model speaks to four attributes of a business or brand that generate almost all referrals: Novelty and Utility, Dependability and Economy. Tension exists in each of those pairs.

Scott believes a balance of all four are required to establish a "Tipping Point" ( a score of 315 out of 400), and that the tension of the paired attributes are important to establish high scores. (Don’t ask me how these scores are derived - Scott doesn't even attempt explanations of the statistical processes involved, thank goodness.) For instance: If all you offer is utility, no one will spontaneously refer your business to a friend. Too mundane. Not buzzworthy.

But if your product or service is all novelty (think Pet Rock) someone might mention it but probably wouldn't recommend it. It becomes a joke, or at the very best, a fad.

So it's really the tension between novelty and utility that will generate legitimate referrals.

If referrals are your objective, I recommend branding on the side of novelty, and them making sure your messaging contains strong benefit-oriented copy that people can remember and pass along to reinforce the novelty of the brand with utility.

More about Scott's findings about referrals in the next blog.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding. www.signaturestrategies.biz