In their fabulous “Made to Stick” book, The Heath brothers explore how to create ideas which persist, spread and take hold. One of the simplest devices they describe is how to tap into an existing schema. If you have a complex concept, and only a short opportunity in which to convey it, you can make use of existing concepts which already have a hold. If I mention Gok Wan, there is a strong chance that you have some ideas about what Gok’s brand is about. In fact, whether you love him (like RubyStar Associate Al ), strongly dislike him (like RubyStar Associate Melissa), or feel largely indifferent about him (like RubyStar Associate Isla) you probably know a bit about what he does, have a sense of his views on women and body image, know what he thinks about people feeling the need to spend huge amounts on designer clothes, and maybe even know that when he says “bangers” he isn’t talking about sausages. So….. if you were a accountant whose service is about radical transformation, making the most of your existing assets, taking an honest, humorous and non-nonsense approach and helping people to play to their strengths, you may be able to get that across coherently by describing yourself as “Gok Wan, for your finances”. This type of approach can be incredibly effective – for instance, do any of these brief descriptions give you a strong impression of what a company does, and how? “Like Chilli Sauce for your marketing”, “The marmite of business coaches”, “aspirin for your HR headaches”. You get the idea! A note of warning…… like many devices this one is best used sparingly and wisely… and steer clear of any examples that start “like Viagra for your business/marketing/finances/home/car etc- these are massively overused and liable to consign your emails to the spam filter!