“By linking their product to an established behavior, they created a context that inspired consumption.” The campaign’s success coincided with the Kit Kat brand’s revenue doubling from $300M in sales to more than $600M in a decade. So, the company paired the candy with a daily habit for many adults: coffee,” says Berger. See what happened there? “People liked Kit Kat well enough, but they weren’t buying the candy. Some standards include rum and Coke peanut butter and jelly and the strategically aligned Kit Kat and coffee. Basically, triggers are a way of harnessing our tendency toward recency bias for a strategic purpose. Triggers link an idea or product to another so that thinking of one brings the other to mind. This is a form of cognitive behavior called recency bias. You may enjoy a particular restaurant, but if you’re not thinking of it when you’re hungry, you’re not likely to go there for dinner. Meaning, when it’s time to make a purchase, you’re most likely to buy (or act on) whatever is at top of mind. Jonah Berger, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, says 70% of what drives consumer spending is consideration.

Ideas that link to other ideas stay at top of mind The odds of influence increase by combining novelty with fresh ways of communicating that create associative triggers, and by seeking the right messengers to evangelize ideas.

Though it’s often impossible to predict what will catch on, we can all benefit from learning some basic tenets about what makes ideas stick. And yet, there is no formula for the convergence of new ideas and cultural appetite. Sharing ideas is an essential evolutionary practice. Whether you’re an inventor, an entrepreneur starting a new company, an employee pitching a new strategy to your team, or a parent trying to get your child out the door, we all need to persuade others to do things our way.

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