Tuesday's opening keynote was delivered by Chip Heath from Stanford University. Chip talked about how to make things stick.

In his research Chip has identified a number of ideas/concepts that are naturally sticky. For example: You Only Use 10% of Your Brain. He asked the audience who had heard that? Almost 100% of the audience had. Chip asked, "Who conducted the research study on that?" Other sticky myths: The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space.

But what makes these myths stick? Can we reverse engineer them to learn how to make our ideas sticky? One thing we have going for us is that these urban legends don't have blogs, advertising, newsletters and pr assistance. Imagine what a sticky idea with corporate backing could do.

Chip listed some of the basic foundations of Sticky ideas. Sticky ideas are: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories.

Think about the previous statement, "You only use 10% of your brain." That's unexpected.

How do you stand out in crowded markets? Let's look at hamburgers. How about the Heart Attack Grill in Tempe, AZ. Heart Attack Grill embraces the opposite tendency within culture today. We know that fast food is bad, but they take the opposite approach. The Heart Attack Grill serves the triple bypass burger and a number of other fatty foods. The unexpected approach that the Heart Attach Grill builds tremendous word of mouth.

However is having a great product enough to garner significant WOM?

Look at the Ritz-Carlton. While they test very high and have a great product, it doesn't get people talking. Perhaps the unexpected will give people something to talk about. Now look at DoubleTree, it's a standard hotel, but there is something unexpected about them, it gets people talking. DoubleTree provides their customers fresh-baked cookies.

What gets people taking about the Toyota Prius? Not the mileage, not the hybrid drive....people talk about the key. What's interesting is that with all this technology and environmental aspects of the car, it's a basic fundamental thing that people talk about.

Getting back to the Ritz, what could they do that was unexpected? They developed the "Big Night In". Rather than having guests leave the hotel to eat dinner, they encourage guests to eat at restaurant on property. This includes an in-room champagne toast and appetizer from the restaurant. Now there is something for guests to talk about.

Shifting gears, Chip then talked about concrete ideas that embed themselves in our minds. For example take the urban legend about the stolen kidney. When we here this story we have the ability to pass that on to friends with amazing clarity. Now think about your the last PowerPoint you saw, can you recall that with clarity?

This is the challenge that business faces, many times your ideas/concepts are not concrete, they are abstract. Are there tangible, concrete elements that can be included in your statements? A term like High Quality is abstract.

Chip analyzed the mission statement from Eddie Bauer: "To give you outstanding quality, service, and value, and guarantee that we may be worthy of your high esteem. While that is a decent statement, it's not tangible." That statement could be applied to almost any service business. What makes it unique? Nothing. However once you hear the stories about who Eddie Bauer was and what he did, suddenly the brand takes on a tangible existence. Why not convey those stories?

There is a reason that abstraction is so pervasive. The curse of knowledge. As we become experts, we find it difficult to imagine what it's like to not be an expert. When you talk to your 11-year-old son about a video game, you're on the other side of the curse of knowledge. Your son can't fathom your ignorance on the subject.

Sticky ideas are also very emotional. Identity is a powerful motivator. Think about road-side litter. The target market is the 18 to 30-year-old truck driving male. How do you get that target market to care about litter?

The campaign that was created featured the tag-line, "Don't mess with Texas." Texans are a very patriotic people. Once they made the connection that littering was 'messing' with Texas the target market responded.