The Concreteness Principle
Translate abstract benefits into pictures people can visualise and remember
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 84%
Allan Begg's 1972 study read people two-word phrases, half abstract (like 'basic truth') and half concrete (like 'a white horse'), then tested recall. People remembered 9% of the abstractions but 36% of the concrete phrases, so you are roughly four times more likely to remember something you can visualise. Begg's explanation, still true today, is that vision is our most powerful sense, so picturable language is sticky while abstractions evaporate a minute after hearing them. The marketing move is to translate an abstract objective into a concrete image: Red Bull said 'gives you wings' not 'gives you energy'; Apple said '1,000 songs in your pocket' not 'a gigabyte of memory'. Great copywriters convert the intangible promise into something the audience can see.
Origin
Built on Allan Begg's 1972 concreteness-of-recall experiment, which Shotton applies to modern brand copy through Red Bull and Apple's classic lines.
Core principles
- 01People remember concrete visualisable phrases roughly four times better than abstractions
- 02Vision is the most powerful sense, so picturable language sticks
- 03Abstract benefits are understood but forgotten within minutes
- 04A concrete image out-persuades a technically accurate abstraction
How to run it
- 1
Identify the abstract benefit
Pin down the intangible promise you currently lead with, such as focus, productivity or storage.
Pro tip If the word cannot be drawn, it is abstract.
- 2
Find the physical image
Search for a concrete, visualisable thing that captures the same benefit.
Pro tip Wings for energy; a full pocket for storage.
Watch out Coming up with the image on the fly is hard; deliberately brainstorm many.
- 3
Rewrite the claim
Recast the headline or tagline around the concrete image rather than the abstract term.
- 4
Choose picture over precision
Favour the visual phrase even when a technical term would be more exact.
Pro tip '1,000 songs in your pocket' beat 'a gigabyte of memory'.
- 5
Test for recall
Check whether people can repeat the message minutes later, not just understand it.
Pro tip Understanding is not remembering; measure recall.
In the wild
Rather than the abstract claim 'Red Bull gives you energy', the brand chose 'Red Bull gives you wings', an image people can instantly picture. The concrete phrasing made the benefit memorable in a way an abstraction never would.
→ A durable, highly memorable brand line built on a visual, not a spec.
When Apple launched the iPod it did not say it held a gigabyte of memory, an abstraction no one can visualise. It said '1,000 songs in your pocket', something you can picture, translating the technical capacity into a concrete, sticky benefit.
→ An iconic launch message credited with making the iPod's value instantly graspable.
Common mistakes
Selling the abstraction
Leading with words like focus or productivity leaves people understanding but not remembering the message, so it fails to stick.
Choosing precision over picture
Opting for the technically exact term over the visual one sacrifices memorability for accuracy few buyers care about.
Is it for you?
Best for
Any brand whose core benefit is intangible and needs to be made memorable in advertising or packaging.
Not ideal for
Highly technical B2B contexts where a precise specification genuinely matters more than recall.
From the transcript
“people can remember on average 9% of the abstractions, but 36% of the concrete phrases”
“Red Bull didn't say Red Bull gives you energy, which is abstract. They said Red Bull gives you wings”
From the episode
11 Psychology Tricks From the World’s Best Brands - Richard Shotton - #1053
Richard Shotton