OUR JOB IS IMPACT

 

 

In 1953, an unknown writer called William Golding wrote a novel.

He sent it to around twenty publishers, one after the other, and one after the other it came back.

The rejection letters said “absurd, uninteresting” and “rubbish and dull”.

Eventually, a young editor at Faber & Faber read it.

His name was Charles Monteith and he liked the book, he agreed to pay £60 for it but said it needed changes, his main problem was the title.

The book was called: ‘Strangers from Within”.

Monteith thought this was dull, he asked Golding to think of a new title.

The story was about children on an island, so Golding wrote a list of possibilities which summarised the plot:

Island Impact.

Hunt the Island.

They Came to an Island.

Island Refuge.

Offspring of an Island.

The Foster Island.

Beast in the Jungle.

The Isle is Full of Noises.

Fun and Games.

Beast on the Island.

Trouble Island.

The Beast on Coral Island.

Island Trouble.

Island Story.

My Island.

Let’s Play Islands.

Smoke on the Island.

New Coral Island.

Coral Island Renewed.

Nightmare Island.

The Island’s Mine.

An Island of Their Own.

All these titles summarised what the book was about: children on an island, but Monteith thought they were all still dull.

Then another young editor came up with a title that wasn’t just a summary of the contents of the book.

His name was Alan Pringle and he realised the job of the title wasn’t to summarise the story. The job of the title was to provoke the reader, to capture the mood of the story in a way that made it sound intriguing.

In short the job of the title was to make people want to read the book.

He suggested the title: ‘Lord of the Flies’.

It didn’t mention islands, or hunting, or trouble, or beasts, or children. It didn’t fill any of the requirements of summarising the story. But it did capture the mood in a way that sounded gripping and unsettling.

The book went on to sell many millions and is now a set text in the school curriculum.

It’s worth remembering the lesson of that title.

When conventional wisdom says our job is to summarise the contents of the brief, or the consumer insight, or the brand. Remember our job isn’t any of those things.

Our job is to stand out, to provoke, to get noticed, get remembered.

Our job is impact.