Do The Twist
The power of being unexpected, odd, and one-of-a-kind
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Consider the word "twist." The noun, not the verb. (Also... not the Chubby Checker dance.)
One of the Merriam-Webster definitions for Twist is:
a: an unexpected turn or development
weird twists of fate—W. L. Shirer
b: a clever device
questions demanding special twists of thinking—New Yorker
c: a variant approach or method
a kind of twist on the old triangle theme—Dave Fedo
Every one of these definitions is magical for marketers and content creators. If you’re hoping to earn an audience's attention, it's an excellent practice to ask yourself if you have employed some form of twist.
Without a twist, you’re predictable.
Without a twist, you’re generic.
Without a twist, you’re not memorable.
None of these are good outcomes.
Stories Need Twists
If you’re telling stories, there have to be unexpected moments. Surprises!
”An unexpected turn or development.” Without a twist, stories are bland and forgettable.
Option 1: “Ted gets his haircut every two weeks, and he always gets it cut the exact same way. Ted had to give a huge presentation to his company’s board of directors, and he got his regular haircut right before. The barber did a great job, and Ted looked great for the presentation.”
SO BORING! There is no twist.
Option 2: “Ted had to do a huge presentation to the board of directors and he wanted to look great, so he went to his longtime barber right beforehand. The barber sneezed while cutting Ted’s hair and accidentally shaved a giant stripe into the top of Ted’s scalp.”
Now I kinda want to hear how Ted handles the presentation with a giant chunk of his hair missing. How about you?
Twists earn and hold attention. We want to find out what happens next.
Ideas and Products Need Twists
If your idea or product is twistless, why should I choose you instead of your competitors? Ideas and products need “a clever device” to stand out and be memorable. What are you offering and what makes it special or interesting?
Margaret is an egg farmer. Eggs are a commodity. She sells generic eggs. Why should I choose Margaret’s eggs? Maybe it’s price. Maybe it’s location. Both of those are risky differentiators because they are easy for others to copy or undercut.
However, if Margaret only sold eggs with two yolks, her eggs would suddenly be very different from everyone else’s. (I just Googled it and apparently one in every thousand eggs has two yolks!)
You know you’ve got a good twist when you can talk about your idea or product in a sentence like, “I’m like a regular egg farmer, but all my eggs have two yolks.” Obviously, the “but” is the signal of the twist.
Twists differentiate your products and ideas from those of others. They give people a reason to choose you over the alternatives.
Formats Need Twists
If you’re producing content—as a marketer, a media company, or a creator—your formats should have twists, or you will get lost in a sea of sameness. There are countless interview and chat shows, innumerable email newsletters, and endless social accounts. What makes yours different? What makes yours easy for audiences to tell others about?
Sometimes it could be a location. Jerry Seinfeld’s interviews are all in cars and coffee shops. Sometimes, it could be combining unusual elements together. Hot Ones mixes celebrity interviews with eating increasingly spicy chicken wings and hot sauces. Sometimes, it can be a format that is not usually paired with the subject matter. There is a tennis instructor named Conor Casey who mixes comedy with tennis instruction on Instagram - it’s the comedy that sets him apart from every other tennis instructor online.
Can you find an element from another genre of content and apply it to yours? Can you use a convention from a well-known format and use it in an unconventional way in your content?
Twists are what we remember. Twists are what we talk about. Hot Ones without hot sauce is another celebrity interview show.
Brands Need Twists
It’s very similar for your brand. Do you have a “variant approach or method?” Or do you do things the way everyone else does them?
A variant approach or method can apply to many areas. It could be who you’re serving. “Every grocery store is open to all shoppers, but Mini Shoppers™ is only for kids.” (Note: this is not a real business and it is also a horrible idea.)
It could be the processes for delivering value to your customers or a unique set of values that inform how you run the company. Something needs to be a variant, or you can’t stand out from the crowd.
Look at your positioning and ask yourself how many other companies in your industry could use the exact same language. Or are serving the exact same audience. Or have the exact same values. Or promise the exact same outcomes.
What makes you weird, unusual, and interesting?
Maybe it’s time to stop burying it and instead put it in the spotlight. (If you don’t have anything weird, unusual, or interesting about your brand… it might be time to hire a DifferentiAgent :-) )
Twists celebrate the parts of your company that are unique and can’t be copied by others. They are your authentic differentiators.
What’s Earned My Attention Recently
Here are a few fun tennis comedy clips from Conor Casey (h/t Sean Morrison for introducing him to me). Apologies if you don’t enjoy tennis humour! 😜🎾
I’m going to be at Podcast Movement Evolutions in Los Angeles next week, speaking about Unconventional Strategies for Brave Podcasters on March 28th. If you’re going to be at the conference, I can promise a smorgasbord of unusual and potentially unpopular (!) ideas to make stronger podcasts that stand out.
This is a good reminder.
If you're boring, your audience will get bored.
If you're interesting, your audience will get interested.
Great one - and it came just at the right time while I'm prepping a pitch! Rethinking parts of it now!
I do however, have Chubby Checker in my head now, and not sure I want it there all day...