Decoding happiness

Much of marketing is focused on giving consumers crystal-clear messages. But what if people want to struggle a bit to digest the offer?

Some of our most compelling hobbies require decoding. The list is long: Crossword puzzles, playing the guitar, practicing soccer, learning a language, falling in love, running a race, advancing in a career, losing a parent, making love. The most joyous or memorable events of our lives require us to struggle a bit to understand what is going on, and we rarely "get it" on the first go. Twitter and Facebook, the hottest fads in the communication world, don't come with instructions and often befuddle new users for weeks. If you're good at your job, it likely took you a decade to get there. Learning to understand what is really happening is often part of the appeal, an instinct perhaps born from ancestors hunting or seeking mates in foreign clans in the field over the mountain.

Mouthing yes, eyeing no

NPR recently interviewed FBI agent Joe Navarro, a sleuth who specializes in decoding human body language to see what people really mean. Navarro suggests that humans, over millennia, became experts in shading the truth, and so we all must judge each other by watching the subtle signals of facial tics or body movement. A person who responds to you while raising one shoulder signals she is not sure of her answer; ask a friend to help you move furniture, and if he pinches his fingers over his eyes, his mouth may say yes but his hands are saying no. Physicians have been trained to learn that a patient, when asked about an ailment, should be watched for touching their neck; a little self-rub means they are hiding part of the truth.

We need to add up clues to understand our world because information flows toward us in fragmented bits, and the peers we would trust most often mask their motives because, well, surviving life is complex. Knowing that everyone shields the truth, we've all learned to decode. It's instinctive, required, and sometimes fun. So in the chess game of communications, perhaps it's worth a thought to give your audience a few layers to decipher, and let them expound upon your own hidden message.

Bonus stay or scholarship, just ahead

Who does this in marketing? Airlines and hotels with points programs that lead you to higher rewards. Multilevel marketing programs that engage salespeople by revealing layers. Catalog marketers who tailor offers over time based on what you've ordered in the past. Teachers, who provide tangled hierarchies of degrees to the students who unlock the most clues. Your boss, who hints at new power if you just keep hitting the goal.

Could any business do this for its customers? It's not completely direct, but you may snare more understanding from your audience if they remain curious about the happiness you can provide.