Picture yourself on a hot day drinking an ice-cold Coca-Cola. Delicious and refreshing, right? Sure. While you’re enjoying your ice-cold coke can you guess how many catch phrases Coke has used? Maybe it would help if I told you that Coke created their first catchphrase in 1886. Now, how many do you guess? Maybe you’re rattling off some in your mind like – It’s the Real Thing, or Catch the Wave, or Have a Coke and a Smile, or Things go batter with Coke, or Always Coca-Cola. I know, it’s a hard question. The answer is 59. Coke has had 59 catchphrases over the past 135 years. Ok. One more quick question before the open. How many catchphrases have you, personally, had?
Welcome to Swimming in the Flood; a podcast where we develop the resilient leader’s mindset by navigating difficult currents in business. My name is Trent Theroux.
Miriam-Webster defines catchphrase as a word or phrase that is easy to remember and is commonly used to represent or describe a person, a group or an idea. Have a Coke and a Smile works perfectly on this front because it describes both a product AND an idea in only six words. The phrase is simple. Have a Coke and a smile. Two great things that go together and easily roll off the tongue.
A 2008 study performed by psychologist Richard Harris, asked hundreds of US college students to think of a movie from which they like to quote. 100% of the participants could think of a movie, nearly all were able to correctly identify the source. Here’s what’s cool. 70% of the movies were comedies. Participants usually repeated the quote to family and friends who had seen the movie and 67% of them reported feeling “happy” because of the quote.
Think about this for a minute. We all can quote movies of some sort. Why? To make us happy. To make us laugh. Why do I say, “Sex Panther, 60% of the time, it works all the time.” Because it’s fun to crack up with my friends. Imagine how it would be if your customers were able to quote you?
Think it doesn’t happen? How many of you remember this add (Where’s the beef?). Right, it’s from the Wendy’s commercials in the 1980s. Now how many of you remember this. From the 1984 Democratic debate? (Clip) That’s Senator Mondale quoting the commercial in front of a national audience. Wouldn’t we all love to have this happen? Have a catchphrase that resonates on people’s lips. A simple saying that people repeat and recognize you for.
Dr. Christopher Peterson in Psychology Today wrote,” Catchphrases tap a common, rich, and indeed vivid understanding, and they offer up an implied metaphor, likening the situation in which they are used to the situation in which they originated.” I’m going to test Dr. Peterson’s thinking right here. Close your eyes for just one second. (Note: don’t do this if you’re listening while driving.) Close your eyes and tell me the image the comes to your mind when I say, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” Can you picture the kids on the mountaintop? Flower children of the 70s, most of whom are in their 70s now. Can you hear the song in your mind?
What can we as Developing Resilient Leaders learn from a hippie commercial? Well, it’s not the song, it’s the phrase. Red, white and you. It’s the real thing. Along the highway anywhere. These simple phrases evoke an emotion, a curiosity, a reaction that’s positive to both the person speaking and the person listening.
Here is my unscientific, non-peer reviewed, resilient leader theory on evoking an emotion Are you ready? Got your pencils out? Here’s it is. Create a catchy catchphrase. You heard it. Create a catchy catchphrase.
The theory is simple. Here’s how it works. There are two phrases I use with regularity every day. First, when someone asks me, “Trent, how are you?” My enthusiastic response is, “I’ve never felt better in my life!” This response has two effects. We know, I know, that the person asking me how I am doing it because they’re conditioned to ask that question. Don’t we all do this? “Hey, how you doin’?” My response immediately breaks that rut. And second, the enthusiasm in my voice sets the tone for how I want the conversation to go.
One simple phrase has an immediate and positive impact on my conversations. Now, some people will answer back, “that can’t be true.” Or, they look at me like I’m full of crap. From there, I can explain what has me feeling good. With one sentence, I’ve changed the flow of the conversation into something I am controlling with a positive energy.
If you’re skeptical, try it out on the next phone call you receive. “Hello.” “Hi. This is Sue from Mega Conglomerate Business. How are you doing today?” “I’ve never felt better in my life!” A stunned pause. “Really, why is that?” “I feel great because I have the power not to take cold calls during the day. Thank you for calling. Have an awesome day!” Click. The last part of that is optional, but the first part will get people’s attention.
Here is my second catchphrase. When people ask me what I do, I respond, “I Develop Resilient Leaders.” Period. Full Stop. What often happens next is one of the greatest reactions you can get from a potential customer. I hear these three great words every vendor wants, “Tell me more.” “So, Trent, what do you do for work?” “I Develop Resilient Leaders.” “Tell me more about that.” Or, “What is that?” Either of those responses is an opening for your potential customer to learn about your business in a way that doesn’t sound like a sales pitch.
Let me give you a contrast. “So, Bob, what do you do?” “I’m Vice President of lending at Great Big Boston Bank.” Period. Full stop. Crickets. Do you think there’s much conversation after that? Most likely no. The reason why is that we all have some preconceived notion of what the VP of lending does. And many of us have an image in our mind of what Bob the lender looks like.
What would happen if Bob the lender gave a different response? “So, Bob, what do you do?” “I put money on the street.” Period. Full stop. “Tell me more about that.”
That might not be the right phrase, but the change opens the listener up to be more interested in what service you are providing. The simple catchphrase will engage the asker in a conversation and isn’t that what we are really trying to do? Start conversations?
Your personal catchphrase needs to roll off your tongue like it’s your native language. I Develop Resilient Leaders did not roll off my tongue until I had months of practice. Actually, it started this way. I was at a workshop for speakers and this munchkin size woman from Australia with a very squeaky voice asked me what I talked about. The description of my services went on for more than a paragraph at which point she cut me off and said, “You don’t know what you talk about do you?” And, she was right.
I hadn’t yet figured out how to describe what I teach people. I needed a phrase that could communicate in very short order what I did and how it helped other. Once Developing Resilient Leaders was created a wanted to climb the highest mountain and scream it out loud and sing it for the world – just like those flower children.
You knew I couldn’t let you go without one verse. C’mon sing along. I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
Folks, thank you for listening to Swimming in the Flood. Resilient leaders face challenging currents and it is tough navigating, but with one tack or another we can get there together.