Facts or Stories

A friend of mine is going to get a new MacBook Pro soon. Depending on the conversation, he frases his incoming acquisition in two different ways:

• I am going to buy a laptop which has a Retina Display, an Intel Core i5 processor, and a 1-terabyte SSD drive, or;

• I am going to buy a laptop that will allow me to write, code and design stuff I like—in a better way than I do now.

Everything we experience is seen through a lens—a moldable and adaptable lens. Somehow, we choose what we see through it.

Defining your world with facts and figures—as happens in the first example—allows to quantify how much time, money or effort a given life-change is going to cost.

On the other hand, perceiving the world with stories leaves figures aside and lets the subconscious decide for you, as it wants you to be that person writing, coding and designing—with a tool supposed to give you a better experience.

This is, in many cases, the reason why people buy expensive things. They tell themselves a story, one that creates an ideal world, achievable if they have that thing, no matter if it's a new house, a new laptop or a new pen. Also, it is the reason why people keep drinking Coke. Coca-Cola does not advertise a drink, they sell happiness.

Making it easy for people to create and share their own stories about your product is—with no doubt—a key factor if you want them and their friends to use it.