What do people talk about more?: Cereal or a vacation to Fiji. Seems pretty clear right…the more exciting an experience, the more you and I are likely to talk about it. That might be true for the first week after you return from vacation, but in the long run, people actually talk about things that are meaningfully integrated into their life on a regular basis and there’s a strong reason for this.

Improving “me time”

In Jonah Berger’s book “Contagious” he names these events that are part of our regular routine “triggers.” The takeaway from some people is to try to connect your organization or cause to a trigger that appears more regularly in a person’s life. For a candy bar like Kit Kat, this meant successfully connecting itself to a daily coffee ritual which lead to a huge increase in sales. What made this work so well for Kit Kat was that it took the daily coffee ritual and made it feel a bit more special and self-indulgent. It was time for you, and Kit Kat knew how to make it more about your pleasure. In some cases, a brand can connect itself to a daily ritual like this and enjoy a profound trigger effect. The key to doing this is finding a natural fit that brings more value and enjoyment to the ritual. Putting a logo on a coffee cup doesn’t count.

Febreze discovered the power of a trigger when researching how housewives were using their product. Millions of dollars of advertising that focused on eliminating odors was not connecting with consumers. Research into heavy users of Febreze revealed that housewives were spraying the bottle at the end of a cleaning ritual, giving the room a final fresh touch. It was a weekly routine and the product gave the person cleaning the room a sense of satisfaction, in part because it left an indelible trace that reminded everyone in the house that someone had cleaned.

Shifting your perspective

Trying to integrate into people’s lives in a meaningful way is what every organization should be trying to do. Not because you are able to sell more product or get more money. That might be the result, but let’s not have that be the goal. Why not try to help people create more joy with their actions; help them make the story in their head more meaningful. Shifting to this mindset is the first step in trying to find the right trigger for your brand.