Made To Stick: How To Talk About Clean Energy Effectively With The SUCCESs Framework
Want to make your clean energy messaging stick in people’s minds?
Here’s the SUCCESs framework from the best-selling book ‘Made to Stick’ applied to the energy transition.
Book Cover - Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. (Photo by Tegan Tallullah).
A ‘sticky’ idea is one that people pay attention to, that they understand, remember, tell other people about, and change their opinions or behaviour in response to.
Pretty powerful, right?
‘Made to Stick’ by Chip and Dan Heath is one of my favourite books. It made me think about effective communication in a whole new way. The authors have studied hundreds of sticky ideas and found what they have in common. This makes up their SUCCESs framework.
I’ve been working in communications for my whole career, almost 9 years at this point. So I definitely had plenty of thoughts about how to get a message across in a clear and memorable way. But the framework in this book blew my mind with how simple and powerful it is, and how many examples they have to prove it.
In this post, I’m going to apply their framework to the clean energy industry.
Making messages stick with the SUCCESs framework
First up, here’s Chip and Dan Heath’s SUCCESs framework for sticky ideas, and my summary of each point:
Simple: This is the hardest part. You need to ruthlessly strip back everything that isn’t serving the one main point.
Unexpected: To grab people’s attention, say something unexpected to surprise them. Then hold their interest by opening curiosity loops.
Concrete: Sensory concrete details make things more memorable. You can even share abstract wisdom through them, like the proverb ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’.
Credibility: You need people to believe what you’re saying is true. Authority, stats, social proof. But letting people ‘see for themselves’ is even better.
Emotions: People need to feel something in order to care, so tap into a strong emotional response.
Stories: Our brains use stories as a mental flight simulator, preparing for what we’ll do in different situations. To change behaviour, share a story.
Applying the SUCCESs framework to clean energy
Next, let’s think about how these principles can be applied to clean energy.
To make it more specific, let’s say we’re talking to homeowners about why they should consider clean energy home upgrades.
Simple: Focus on the one benefit that is most relevant to the audience. For example, how combining solar panels and a home battery would help protect them from crazy spikes in energy prices. When explaining how the technology works, simplify it as much as possible. Don’t get lost in the weeds of technical details that few people understand or care about.
Unexpected: Perhaps you could show people who aren’t stereotypically associated with climate action speaking about why they added solar panels to their home, e.g. a working-class dad, a farmer, a pensioner. Show that people from all walks of life - especially those similar to the target audience - are doing this.
Concrete: Use concrete and sensory language when describing tangible zero-carbon products and the benefits of clean energy. E.g. keeping your home cosy and warm without high bills, the heat battery is smaller than a washing machine, the solar panels shine when the sun catches them.
Credibility: Remember that social proof is often more compelling than stats and studies, but both are good. Positive reviews, testimonials and case studies are very strong - especially when they’re from people the target audience can identify with. E.g. you could say ‘X% of people using a heatpump have reduced their heating bill by over 20%’ and then follow with a direct quote from a happy customer about what that means for them.
Emotions: Tap into people’s emotions and consider the ‘hierarchy of needs’. This could mean messaging that appeals to people’s need for security and anxiety about energy costs the rising cost of living. Or empathy for people less fortunate than them who are struggling to heat their homes in winter. Or maybe you can tap into people’s aspirations and identity by showing a zero-carbon home as a prestigious and desirable goal. Anything that makes people laugh is also really memorable, and this would hit the ‘unexpected’ point too so even better!
Stories: Gather and tell positive success stories (case studies) about people who invested in clean energy home upgrades and how their life is better as a result - more comfortable home, lower bills, peace of mind, the pride of doing their bit for the climate, etc. Also, tell stories to put the problems into human terms and inspire empathy. Recently I was speaking with someone from the energy-poverty charity National Energy Action and they told me they had helped people who were putting their children to bed in coats because their houses were so cold there was ice on the inside of the windows. (I know, it’s shocking). That kind of story is way more powerful than ‘X% of low-income households can’t heat their homes in winter’.
What do you think? If you work in the clean energy sector, how could you apply this framework to your own communications?
And if you need help refining your messaging or writing content for your clean energy business, check out my services page to learn more.