The ability to communicate clearly and to identify effective communication has never been more important than today in our hectic, fragmented world. Fortunately, there is a simple approach to creating standout communication.
Using the tools of comprehension, credibility, connection, and contagiousness –the 4Cs– consultant and author Isabelle Albanese presents a method to make messages hit their intended target, every time. Ms. Albanese shares this straightforward, easy-to-apply framework in her new book The Four Cs of Truth in Communications:
Comprehension, the first C.
Your message or ad needs to be quickly comprehended by your intended target. If you have to explain what your ad or marketing message means, it probably will be less effective.
Credibility, the second C.
Your brand’s message must make sense to consumers relative to the way they perceive it. Consumers are smart and if you serve up a context for thinking about your brand that is completely implausible, you will lose them immediately.
Connection, the third C.
Consumers need to feel your message. They need to make a personal connection with what you are saying. They need to viscerally respond with, “that’s me!”
Contagiousness, the fourth C.
Consumers need to feel energized and motivated to do something based on your message, whether it’s to pass it on to friends and colleagues, to think about your brand in a different way, to find out more information, whatever, they need to act.
Ms. Albanese, a consumer insights professional certified by the Marketing Research Association as a Professional Researcher, developed the 4Cs method to help clients strengthen their internal and external communications and it has drawn rave reviews. Kelly Gronlund, senior insights manager at Unilever describes it, “The 4Cs approach takes the mystery out of understanding what makes communication effective. Using her methods helped the team develop communication that was stronger and more effective than when we started.”
Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of management says, “The 4Cs framework is startling in its simplicity. That, of course, is the power; it is easy to remember and easy to use. The 4Cs framework can lead to better creative executions, and better creative executions will lead to stronger business results.”
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