Made to Stick for the feed: the Heath brothers' six principles, applied to content in Muscat

Every brand in Muscat has the same quiet frustration: you post something you’re proud of, people watch for a second, and a day later nobody remembers it. Why do some messages stay in people’s heads for years, while most disappear before the next scroll?

That’s the question behind Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (2007) by brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath. They studied urban legends, proverbs, classroom lessons and successful campaigns, and found that ideas which stick tend to share the same six traits. They sum them up as SUCCESs: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories.

The book isn’t about social media, but it reads like a manual for it. Here’s our short version, and how we use it in content production for brands in Oman.

The villain: the curse of knowledge

Before the six principles, the Heaths name the problem. Once you know something well, you can’t easily remember what it was like not to know it. They describe a well-known experiment in which people tapped the rhythm of famous songs on a table and expected listeners to guess them easily. The listeners mostly couldn’t. The tappers heard the melody in their heads; the listeners only heard knocking.

Brands do this all the time. The owner knows why the product is special, so the video skips straight to features, jargon and a logo. The viewer, who knows nothing, just hears knocking. Every principle below is a way to break that curse.

1. Simple: find the core

For the Heaths, simple doesn’t mean dumbed down. It means finding the single most important idea and having the discipline to drop everything else, even good things. They borrow the military idea of commander’s intent: if the plan falls apart, what’s the one thing that must still happen?

For a reel, ask: if the viewer remembers only one sentence, what should it be? "Same-day delivery anywhere in Muscat." "Dental whitening in one visit." Then build the script around that line and remove anything that competes with it. One video, one message.

2. Unexpected: break a pattern

Attention starts when something breaks our expectations. The Heaths show that surprise grabs attention, but curiosity holds it, by opening a gap between what people know and what they want to know.

In practice, that’s your hook. Start with the moment that doesn’t fit: the chef throwing away a perfect-looking dish, the tailor measuring a customer twice and then cutting nothing. Then make the viewer wait for the answer. A question in the first seconds ("Why do we reject half of every date harvest?") keeps people watching to the end.

3. Concrete: make it visible

Abstract words slide off the brain. Concrete images stick, because people can see them. The Heaths point out that proverbs, fables and the best teaching all rely on specific, sensory details.

So swap adjectives for things the camera can film. Not "premium ingredients" but the saffron being weighed. Not "fast service" but a timer on screen from order to table. If a stranger couldn’t picture it, it isn’t concrete yet.

4. Credible: let people check

Why should anyone believe you? The Heaths suggest that authorities and statistics aren’t the only route. Vivid details make a claim feel true, and "testable credentials" let the audience check it themselves: try it and see.

For brands in Oman, that might mean showing a real before-and-after with the customer’s permission, letting viewers see the kitchen, or inviting them to test the claim: "Come in and taste the difference before you pay." A claim people can verify is worth more than one you simply repeat.

5. Emotional: make them care

People act when they care, and the Heaths show that we care about individuals far more than about big numbers. They also suggest appealing to who your audience is and wants to be, not only to what they get.

That’s why a video about one bride getting ready, one family business opening its doors or one student finding the right course usually beats a list of figures. Pick one person and let the viewer feel what changes for them.

6. Stories: give people a simulation

Finally, stories work because they let us rehearse situations in our heads. The Heaths describe three plots that keep inspiring people: the challenge (an underdog overcomes an obstacle), the connection (people bridge a gap) and the creativity plot (someone solves a problem in a new way).

Your clients already have these stories. The café that survived a slow first summer. The customer who came in sceptical and left a regular. Film them honestly, and they’ll do more for your brand than any slogan.

A quick checklist before you post

1. Can you say the core message in one sentence?
2. Does the opening break a pattern or open a question?
3. Could a stranger picture what you’re describing?
4. Is there something the viewer can check for themselves?
5. Is there one person to care about?
6. Is there a small story with a beginning, a struggle and an end?

Want to know how sticky your Instagram really is? Ask us for a free Instagram analysis. We’ll send you a short, honest report on WhatsApp.

Summary and commentary by the NoOr team, based on Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (2007). Ideas are paraphrased, not quoted.