Curse of Knowledge

Back in August Marc sent us a reading list. One of the books on this list was ‘Made to Stick’.

Since December we’ve been rating our campaigns on the SUCCES scale of stickiness.

The other day I went back through the book and noticed the ‘Curse of Knowledge’ and realised how important this concept actually is.

When you’re trying to come up with something new and innovative for a brand, it’s often very easy to get wound up in the details. To think that the public would actually care that certain retirement homes have plugs at waist height, for example.

That’s why it’s always so useful and refreshing to show ideas to people outside of the industry. My flatmates for example, a civil servant, a banker and a full time rower. More often than not their reaction will simply be “What?” Proving that whatever witty, insightful angle my partner and I have found, is quite simply failing.

It’s always useful just to get an outside view on whatever you’re creating to make sure it passes what the CD from OMD told last week: the “Giveashitability” test. Would the public actually give a shit about what you’re saying?

That’s where the curse of knowledge is at its most lethal. You’ve got to sort through the shit and make sure what you’re communicating is interesting, and not so abstract that it looks far removed from the product you’re selling.

So, personally, I’ve had to reiterate to myself “The Curse of Knowledge” to make sure that I’m not losing the plot, and therefore the viewer.