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unexpected element

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novel and surprising

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one way to make ideas stick is to make them unexpected

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the minivan ad

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set up a pattern

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we are all thinking it will be a normal minivan ad

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they showed things that we expect in a normal minivan ad

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a child coming back from soccer practice

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temperature controlled cup holders

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like a garden path

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when we get into a routine, we think we know what is going to happen

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then out of nowhere they broke that pattern

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that novelty got our attention

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rules

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1. violate expectations by breaking a pattern

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Double Tree hotels

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mid-priced hotel

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pretty nice rooms but not amazing rooms

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they do one thing to break that pattern

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when you check in they have freshly backed chocolate chip cookies

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its very unusual and so people remember it

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it's different from the pattern of what we would expect

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2. it's not about doing something crazy

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we often think we have to do something completely odd

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dress up in a chicken costume

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go down to the subway and throw fake 100 dollar bills in the air

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that would be surprising, but it wouldn't hold their attention

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3. open up a curiosity gap

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a mystery where people want to know the answer

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encourages them to lean forward to find out more

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they want to watch the rest of the ad to figure out what is going to happen next

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The Blair Witch Project

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1999 horror movie

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three student film makers who had disappeared while making a documentary about a local legend called the Blair Witch

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viewers were told that these three hikers were never heard from again though the video footage was found a year later

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everything about it made it seem like it was real

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people wondered it was a real movie

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it opened up a curiosity gap

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we often think that giving more information is better advertising

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but this often pushes people away

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but repetition of the curiosity gap can dull surprise

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the sequel to the Blair Witch Project, Book of Shadows, got bad reviews