Cruising north on a residential street, a small voice tells me to slow down. Instinctively I look up ahead where the police officer routinely shoots radar from a well-covered side street.
The cop wasn’t present but his message was still delivered.
In advertising, they call this “self-induced frequency”. It’s a message that resonates so much that the audience hears or sees it in their mind without it actually playing.
Moms have been on to this for years.
It’s the reason I hear her say, “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” every time I see a refrigerator door left open. Years of consistent repetition drilled that one home.
However, self-induced frequency only works if the message is consistent.
Cops are supposed to write tickets. If I got pulled over speeding tomorrow and the officer approached the car with a solid high five and an Amazon Prime membership, then the little voice would surely start to dissipate.
Everyone is telling a story.
We all have a friend who gets excited about the latest and greatest thing. One month it is Indie Rock and the next it’s muscle cars. The enthusiasm is always there but that is the only consistent aspect. It’s hard to jump on a bandwagon that’s only going to roll for a few more weeks.
The key to our story being received is a consistent message given with proper frequency. I don’t know what my friend truly loves because it’s always something new. On the other hand, I always slow down driving up that one street because of the consistent message that cop has told me for years.
Telling frequent stories is easy. Telling one with consistency is hard. In a way, moms and cops are blue-collar story tellers. By keeping their heads down and doing the work, their consistent efforts pay dividends for years to come.
What kind of story are you inducing?
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