Mystery is a powerful tool that creates a powerful desire in a person to discover the answer. Used properly it creates a kind of gravity to make a prospect want to spend his time and energy to learn more and creates buzz.
I often drink Rolling Rock beer. For people unfamiliar with Rolling Rock, on the label is a prominent number “33”. What does it Mean? The truth is that no one really knows what the 33 on the label means. Some speculate that it was the year Prohibition ended, another claim that there are 33 steps to the brewmaster’s office, and still others believe it was simply an erroneous number on the form sent to the printer that produced the bottling labels. In any case, the origin is not as important as the fact that it created a mystery that has people still talking about it today, almost 80 years later.
Several years ago I went to the Denver aquarium with our grandson Dominik. Throughout our walk through the aquarium there were free-standing pedestals was a QR code and the message “Scan Me” nothing else. At first, I resisted the urge to scan the QR code since it took some effort on my part to scan the QR code. However each time I saw the sign I asked my self what could be so important that the Aquarium would go to such great lengths to promote. Finally, I gave in and used an app on my smartphone to scan the QR code. Mystery solved t was the menu from the aquarium’s restaurant.
In one of the best examples of creating a mystery for a business involves a story about one of my mother’s employers named Jeff Shore. Back in the late 40’s and early 50’s just about everyone smoked cigarettes. Most people used matches rather than lighters at the time to light their cigarettes. Mr. Shore was an insurance salesman and had hundreds of matchbooks printed up with only the words “Who is Jeff Shore” printed on them.
The matchbooks had no title, phone number, address, or any indication that might answer the question “Who is Jeff Shore”. He not only gave his matchbooks to his customers but would also be sure to leave them everywhere he went. Random people would pick up a matchbook, read it, and a discussion about who was Jeff Shore would begin. Obsessed by the mystery of the message many would ask their friends if they ever hear do a guy named Jeff Shore. Occasionally someone would say “Yea Jeff is that insurance guy”.
Mystery can create a very sticky message that makes a person want to know more.
How can you use mystery to create a desire in people to know more about you or your product?
