Hi friend – Rob here.

Today in Salmon Theory+: a summary of 'The 48 Laws of Power', by Robert Greene.

A book for those of you with, er, machiavellian inclinations.

But i swear we will only ever use it to fight the good fights!

Let's get into it.

📝 TL;DR:

1. Find ways to keep repackaging your story
2. Aim for a minimum of 10% weirdness at all times
3. Consider the underlying fears of your audience
4. Showing is a more powerful signal of trust than telling
5. Create just enough tension but never too much

1. Find ways to keep repackaging your story

Having a brand can be a superpower, except when that brand limits what you can become instead.

Within companies, your brand can become a hindrance if people refuse to adapt it to keep up with the times.

(Case in point, when you say your brand is all about "value" except of course in dire economic times so are many others... what else ya got?)

But it's equally true with people, especially if you come from a specialist background and want to build from there.

One answer: to make constant change and adaptation a core part of what your brand really is.

Keep a deep philosophy consistent, but then keep refreshing the skills you gain to execute it.

If you come from social but believe fame should be earned, then position yourself as an earned media person, not just a social person.

Real power is when you can keep re-packaging a story without letting go of what makes it true.

2. Aim for a minimum of 10% weirdness at all times

There's a known psychological effect which is called the Pratfall Effect.

Basically, it suggests that when you show something that is seen as a flaw, or just a bit off, you're more likely to be trusted.

And while the above idea is about how feeling too polishes creates envy, and envy can be a distraction, suggests something useful for us too.

That appearing too perfect can actually turn people off because they think there's something going on you're not telling.

Whereas if there's one thing the last 15 years of brands getting more casual on social shows, is that when done well you can win people over.

When the Empire State Building tweets that it is fine after an Earthquake in NYC, you can't help to feel a bit more fondly about... a building!

But this wouldn't be possible if they tried to sound too perfect, or heaven forbid, not show some personality and humour and plain weirdness.

Joel Stein talks about how weirdness wins, and this is a prime example of how indeed it can.

3. Consider the underlying fears of your audience

This is a deep truth from the worlds of psychology and indeed psychotherapy, which can help us better understand audiences.

Consider a simple thought experiment around Gen Z through a simple exercise around asking why beyond the surface level.

There seems to be a discourse now, predominantly by *double checks notes* middle aged men, about how lazy Gen Z are.

They don't want to commit to work; they are entitled; they don't take anything seriously; all that usual stuff.

(Let's not talk about how this was the exact same discourse around Millennials some 5-10 years ago, guess we need a new generational enemy.)

Now, my question here is: let's assume that all of these things are true, but why is that?

Is it possible that:

• A lack of commitment to work is a natural response to growing up in an environment with deeply low trust in institutions?
• The sense entitlement comes from a fear that if you don't fight for your boundaries, no one else will, so might as well go for it?
• The "not taking anything seriously" is a basic but fundamental coping mechanism to a world that has stopped making a lot of sense?

The point here is simple, go beyond superficial and symptomatic traits when evaluating an audience.

Ask what else might be going on, and what might explain these attitudes and behaviours (assuming they are real).

Chances are, overt traits often come from deep fears, and we do ourselves a disservice if we don't even entertain that in our audience work.

4. Showing is a more powerful signal of trust than telling

One of my favourite advertising factoids is about why Brazil has so many visually rich print and out-of-home advertising.

I hope this isn't apocryphal, but it seems to be related to the general lack of literacy across the country.

You see, if people can't read, you can't communicate with them through words, so the visuals have to do the hard work.

I sometimes wish we assumed more stuff like this from our audiences, if nothing else because images can be more universal.

But also, a right image suggests a brand doesn't need to tell you what it's about, it can simply show it and people connect the dots.

(And if they connect the dots themselves, they are more likely to believe it, and if so, they are more likely to keep you in their minds.)

In the world of brands, and some parts of culture in general (like movies), we've become too used to trying to over-explain everything.

When a great movie often keeps the ending open, as is the case with Inception.

And a great brand doesn't have to tell you every single word for you to get what it's for, as with Microsoft's "We All Win".

As Will Smith says in the movie 'Hitch', "the secret to a kiss is going 90% of the way, then wait for them to come the other 10".

Possible creep alert aside, it's not terrible advice when thinking about communications.

5. Create just enough tension but never too much

A few months ago i was listening to an interview with Will Grundy, of adam&eveDDB, about the award-winning CALM work.

And one of the things he said in there stuck with me: if you're gonna punch someone in the face, get ready to apply some ice after.

This is the fundamental dynamic between any work that tends to work: no tension, no release.

This is why emotional advertising tends to work harder than non-emotional advertising.

There's often jeopardy in it, and you don't know where it's going to go, but the release pays off so you feel good about the brand.

(Peak–end rule innit.)

And this need for contrast, more than the need for consistency (or heaven forbid being "a positive brand") is an often underrated tool.

People perceive pleasure and positive things in relation to the contrast they make with negative things that happen before or after.

Which is why someone who felt the emotional intensity of a film like this then is much more likely to feel, weirdly, positive about the brand.

Too much tension and you might turn people off, as they may not give you the benefit of the doubt that it will be worth the wait.

But just enough tension, by playing with contrasts and sometimes doing it to an extreme, that's where the real magic happens.

📝 TL;DR:

1. Find ways to keep repackaging your story
2. Aim for a minimum of 10% weirdness at all times
3. Consider the underlying fears of your audience
4. Showing is a more powerful signal of trust than telling
5. Create just enough tension but never too much