Special Metaphor Minute: The Perfect Metaphor

(This topic is just too timely to hold for next month, so here is a second November Metaphor Minute.)

What do an obituary, an election, and a newspaper have to do with the perfect metaphor? Let me begin with the obituary…

Triggered by an Obituary & Current Events

A recent New York Times obituary reminded me of two authors you should know if you really want to appreciate the  power of language to successfully influence and persuade others to achieve desired outcomes: Al Ries and Seth Godin.

 Al Ries died October 7 and was the co-author of “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” (1981). Seth Godin is the author of “Purple Cow” (2004).  In my view, the many positioning and branding books that followed are just variations on their ground-breaking ideas.

What they wrote is very timely both for recent current events and for the mission of The Metaphor Minute.

What “Positioning…” Teaches

Ries’s main message was that when people think of you or your brand, there needs to be a single word/phrase they would automatically use to describe or associate with you.  For example, Volvo = Safe. BMW = Performance, Mercedes = Luxury., Hallmark = When you care to send the very best,  Fedex = Overnight. Successful marketing, he claimed, depends on finding an empty position in a buyer’s mind and becoming the first to fill and then own that position.

In  that Ries  obituary, Ravi Dhar, Yale marketing professor said that “…the strength of Mr. Ries’s work in positioning was how it forced marketers to try to simplify their messages in order for them to be heard…that’s his big contribution…But simplifying is not easy. Complexifying is easy.  Simplifying is hard work.”

The same obituary pointed out that his daughter Laura Ries extended her father’s concept of positioning by adding an emphasis on visual imagery, which she described in her own book, “Visual Hammer,” (2015).  “He talked about owning a word in the mind, but we found over time that words weren’t enough, that to get someone’s attention, a visual was much more powerful. “ [Emphasis mine. Think the Nike Swoosh.]

[Side story: When I went out on my own some 35+ years ago, I used Ries’s principles to figure out my own positioning. How was I going to differentiate myself among the many presentation firms then in the market, most of whom were focused on improving delivery skills.  My answer came from a client who said, “You know, other courses I’ve taken taught me to wave my hands when I speak. You taught me to think.”  Bingo.  Whenever a prospect asked me how I was different from every other company, I just said, “Other firms focus on waving your hands. I get people to think.”  They would then ask me to elaborate and, more often than not, I got the business.]

What “Purple Cow” Teaches

In “Purple Cow,” Seth Godin uses this analogy to explain his main thesis. (I am paraphrasing): If you are driving in the country and you see many fields of brown cows, after a while they all look the same and you begin to ignore them, but, if on the next curve, you suddenly see purple cows, you instantly notice them. Takeaway: The goal of every good marketer is to create “purple cows.” His book expands brilliantly on that principle.

Metaphors marry the best of both these marketers. They

• Conjure simple mental visuals and instant associations
• That fill a space in a listener’s mind
• In a unique, attention-getting way

Enter The Election

Since the mid-term election, the losses by candidates backed by former President Trump have been headline news in virtually every media outlet across the political spectrum, including the far right. As a result, the former President himself was being called a loser in those stories and editorials. The consequences and implications of those losses are still being discussed and analyzed today.

How best to describe this unexpected state of affairs?

The Perfect Metaphor

No doubt your preferred print, broadcast, or online media had some varied descriptions characterizing the magnitude and implications of Trump’s losses.  For example, I saw him described as the Emperor With No Clothes, the Biggest Loser, etc.

However, in my view, none that I saw or heard matched the impact and resonance of the underlying metaphor in The New York Post, a publication deservedly known for its clever no-holds-barred cover headlines. Their take on the new political situation?  “Trumpty Dumpty.”

Perfect Metaphor! Here’s why…

First, the original children’s rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

• In Ries terms, The New York Post finds a simple, open position in a reader’s mind: Trump as Humpty Dumpty
• In Miller terms, the metaphor parallels perfectly the point it wants to make and is easily and instantly understood 
  • “Sat on a wall” – Trump once seen as large, invincible and above everyone
  • “Had a great fall” – Devastating bad election results for candidates he backed, turning his brand overnight from winner to loser
  • “Couldn’t put Humpty together again” –  Calling into question not only his personal credibility, power, and relevance, but also the future of the currently broken Republican party
• In Godin terms, the “purple cow” is the clever and creative rhyme that immediately captures your attention 

Your Turn

As Professor Dhar noted, complexifying is easy…simplifying is hard work.

Metaphors make that work easier.

• What fresh, simple metaphor can you use to “position” your product, or service in the mind of your buyers?
• How can you also make that metaphor a “purple cow?”

 

Anne Miller

Make What You Say Pay! – with Metaphors

P.S. Capitol Photo by Ajay Parthasarathy on Unsplash

(If you also saw an egg photo in your email, that Photo is by James Kern on Unsplash) 

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