Mark Twain is credited with a phrase that’s popular among cranky newspaper editors: “Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.”
(To be clear: this phrase is more often used as an admonishment than a reminder.)
One of the best practitioners of this, football personality John Madden, died this week. And while we don’t often reference sports figures or spend time memorializing in this space, it’s worth reflecting on Madden’s skill for a minute. Because as one person put it earlier this week:
“You can’t write the history of pro football without talking about John, you can’t write the history of television without talking about John, you can’t write the history of Fox Sports without talking about John, you can’t talk about the history of video games without talking about John.”
In other words, you can’t reference significant aspects of what we consume today without talking about John Madden. And that’s mostly because he kept it simple.
He used onomatopeia, easy-to-understand words, relatable concepts. He used a telestrator to show viewers what was going on. He slowed down the game of football so everyone could follow along.
In doing so, he built a branding empire.
There is, it seems, a lesson in that.
Most who read this newsletter operate in the world of consumer, building and investing in new brands and products that fill a specific niche or bring new functionality to market. Because we operate here daily, we’re steeped in the prerequisites that exist to understand a product’s benefit:
We know that probiotics are good for your gut
We know that monk fruit extract is a sugar replacement
We know that collagen is a protein that’s good for your skin
But what about the rest of the market?
Without knowing for certain, it seems this type of question is one Madden asked himself frequently. More often than not, he defaulted to “no.” And he did so with great success.
Madden, though, isn’t alone.
We’ve seen Eli Weiss and the team at Olipop talk about this, too. In fact, Eli tweeted about this earlier in the week:
(Side note: Cody Plofker is a great follow, too.)
What to make of this?
Put simply: If your customer doesn’t “get” your product, they’re less likely to buy it again.
That means it’s on you to figure out whether most who buy “get” it, and where you can do better in an effort to help more get it.
The trick, of course, is to be like Madden and figure out how to do that in a way that’s both fast and entertaining.