Finished reading Made to Stick and enjoyed its many valuable insights about “Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die,” as the subtitle says. I hope to write at length about some notions like how objects can have intentions, and how smart the section was on remembering to appeal to people’s more noble sides, the impulses higher up on Maslow’s chart.

But first a quick reaction: Yo, dudes, you forget about basic memorability! The power of poetry. The magic of music. The allure of beauty. Names like Yahoo and Google “stick” in part because they’re fun to say, in part perhaps because we’re wired to enjoy baby babble talk (Barbie! EBay! Marilyn Monroe!) See Baby-Talk Brand Name Generator. ///Aside: I wish someone would invent mini-exclamation points. Lowercase … no higher than small letters. I feel stupid putting a full-size exclam after Barbie.///

We remember songs because they’re catchy … we remember slogans that have rhyme and rhythm … we remember objects whose elegant simplicity makes them pleasing to the eye … We remember fabrics, foods, and all sorts of products for their appealing feel.

That’s why toys and games add bells, whistles and “action” elements … and why TV shows once had theme songs that still run through my head.

Even the sound of a car door shutting with beautiful precision can make that car “stick.”

So, yes, apply the other rules and tools but don’t forget the final, sometimes most important step … Make it sing or shine.

Remember the sensory dimension.

Funny thing is … the simulated duct tape on the cover emplifies just that!

See previous post on Made to Stick: Hot to Plot: Turning Points