Most conversations can be described as small talk. These conversations are less about finding interesting things to say to make us look good than they are about filling conversation space.

So what do we talk about? Whatever is top of mind if a good place to start. We talk about topics that are usually going on in the surrounding environment. We saw the bulldozers on our drive in, so construction is on our mind.

Boring daily activities happen more often than a trip to Disney. These everyday activities make those products (ziplock, moisturizer, etc.) more top of mind and, as a result, lead them to be talked about more.

Top of mind means tip of tongue.

So rather than just going for a catchy mesage, consider the context. Think about whether the message will be triggered by the everyday environments of the target audience.

Try associating your product will something, such as a day of the week (Rebecca Black song Friday) or anything that happens often. If you succeed, everytime that day will come, some people will think about your product.

But beware that the association isn’t overused already. For example, Friday will mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Some will think about Rebecca’s song, but others will think of other songs. Others will think about their glass of wine and others will think about their countryhouse and what they need to pack for the weekend.

Monday, for example, doesn’t have as many associations. By using this as their company name, Monday.com make sure to stay top of mind when it matters (on Mondays and not on Saturdays or Sundays when no one is in the office).

Frequency, however, must also be balanced with the strength of the link. The more things a given cue is associated with, the weaker any given association. It’s like poking a hole in the bottom of a paper cup filled with water. If you poke just one hole, a strong stream of water will gush out. But poke more holes, and the pressure of the stream from each oopening lessens. Poke too many holes and you’ll get barely a trickle from each.

Triggers work the same way. The color red, for example, is associated with many things: roses, Coca-Cola, and fast cars, to name just a few.

-Contagious, p.75