Rethink the Business of Creativity by Grais Ian; Shepansky;

Rethink the Business of Creativity by Grais Ian; Shepansky;

Author:Grais, Ian; Shepansky;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Figure 1 Publishing
Published: 2020-01-23T22:23:32+00:00


32. The Ping-Pong Ball Theory

People can only digest one message at a time. Don’t overwhelm your audience.

The Ping-Pong Ball Theory is one of our oldest and simplest tools, but it’s still as relevant today as it was twenty years ago.

If I throw you one Ping-Pong ball, you’ll catch it. But if I throw you five at once, you probably won’t catch any. The same goes for communication. If you tell me one message, I’ll hear it. But if you hit me with multiple messages, the whole spiel will likely go in one ear and out the other.

It sounds easy enough, but advertisers have been bombarding their audiences with too many Ping-Pong balls since the Mad Men era. When we write a creative brief, we ask our clients, “In one simple sentence, what do you want to say?” Too often, the sentence they come up with reads more like a laundry list: “My product is the safest and the simplest and will give you peace of mind and there’s a sale on right now!”

There is a solution for this phenomenon: Get your Ping-Pong balls in a row. Commit to saying one thing at a time, then send out multiple pieces of content to your audience, in order, one at a time.

Thanks to digital sequencing algorithms, it’s now easier than ever to break your messaging up into bite-sized, easy-to-digest pieces. People who “catch” a Ping-Pong ball (by clicking or spending time on your content) then receive the next ball in the sequence. First you might throw someone a high-level emotional brand message. If they catch that one, maybe throw them a unique feature or benefit. If they catch that one, they’re clearly interested and you can throw them an offer.

You’ll find this works in any creative business—think about your key messages, prioritize them, and deliver them in a powerful, consistent sequence. In a world that’s busier and noisier than ever, simplicity and clarity are the keys to breaking through the clutter. Attention spans continue to shrink, videos get shorter and shorter. You only have time to say one thing before your viewer moves on. But if you hit that one Ping-Pong ball just so—with the right amount of creative spin on it—you can still get your message across.



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