Podcast Summary: Marketing Made Simple – "Why That Worked" #33: Snipd—What Your Brand Name is Really Saying to Customers (RE-RELEASE)

Release Date: August 20, 2025
Hosts: Donald Miller and Kyle Reed, powered by StoryBrand

Main Theme of the Episode

In this episode, Donald Miller and Kyle Reed analyze the podcast app "Snipd" to explore how a brand name and tagline shape customer perception. The discussion centers on the "curse of knowledge"—the tendency of brand creators to assume their audience understands industry-specific ideas or jargon. The hosts break down best practices for clear, effective messaging so that brands resonate with potential customers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Guessing the Product from the Name "Snipd"

• Kyle challenges Donald to deduce what the product "Snipd" is, highlighting how ambiguous names create confusion.
• Donald’s Guess (01:51):
  "It is a home circumcision kit."
• Both agree the name “Snipd” more strongly suggests cutting than anything to do with AI or podcasting.

Core Insight:

A product name should immediately inform the customer what it does. If you have to explain it, the name is likely unclear.

2. Snipd’s Functionality & Tagline

• Kyle explains: Snipd is a podcast app using AI to collect, summarize, and save key moments from podcasts (02:59–03:52).
• Tagline: "Remember everything you learned from podcasts."
• The app allows users to "snip" (save) moments while listening, generates summaries & notable quotes, and emails highlights to users.

Core Insight:

Even with a helpful tagline, if the name doesn’t connect, the product’s purpose may remain unclear.

3. Brand Vulnerability to Competition

• Donald: Notes that a niche app like Snipd could be disrupted by larger podcast platforms like Spotify (04:25–04:34).
• Kyle: Praises the app’s communal, crowdsourced highlights feature—like Kindle’s community highlights for ebooks (04:37–05:19).

4. The 'Curse of Knowledge' in Branding and Messaging

• Donald explains Lee LeFever’s ‘Curse of Knowledge’:
  Brand creators project their insider understanding onto customers who are hearing about the product for the first time (05:37–07:05).
  Memorable Example (06:20):
  Donald taps out the rhythm of "Love Me Do" to illustrate that what’s clear in your head can be unclear to others:
  "As the tapper, it's obvious to you... but all they're hearing is the beat."
• When insiders explain the product, they can never "unlearn" their internal knowledge, making unbiased messaging difficult (07:29–08:52).

Core Insight:

Approach your messaging from a totally uninformed perspective, as if you don’t know about the product.

5. Practical Ways to Avoid the Curse of Knowledge

Kyle asks: "How can business owners ‘play the tapping game’ with customers?" (08:52–09:13)
Donald’s advice:

• "Say what it is. Sing out loud."
• Use literal, descriptive taglines: e.g., "Snipd: the podcast summarizer." (09:01–09:13)
• Always clarify the product’s category and what it does.

6. Framing Features as Differentiators

• Health Bar Example (12:23): Donald helped reposition the tagline from a negative ("needs to be refrigerated") to a positive differentiator:
  "Real food needs to be refrigerated."

• Donald: "What you're saying is every other bar that you buy is not real." (12:53)

• Another Example:
  Gina’s skincare tagline:
  "Look five years younger and age more slowly."
  Honest, clear, and requires little explanation.

• Peanut Butter Example (15:03):
  A jar labeled “Simply stir and serve”—clear direction that frames a potential negative (oil separation) as easy to overcome.

7. Clear Central Messaging vs. Ambiguous Branding

• Billboard Example (16:57–19:32):

  • Billboard: "Sitting the fence? Hire a cowboy."
  • Donald: "If he would have said, 'Hire a cowboy to build your fence,' he would be making more money."

• Lesson: Small businesses must say clearly what they do because their brands lack the universal recognition of major brands. (18:44–19:12)

• Donald:
  "Say what you do. The difference between you making twice as much money might be just the fact that you need to clarify your message so customers engage." (24:46)

8. Direct Calls-to-Action and Thought Leadership

• Donald stresses:
  Use action- and outcome-oriented taglines or headlines:

  • "Order our cheeseburger. It's the best in town." (20:07–20:34)
  • "Take your family to a baseball game." (22:39–22:44)
  • "Interior design that will make your friends jealous." (21:52)

  "When you put words in somebody's brain, your thoughts [are] thinking for them." (22:10)

9. How Potential Customers Actually Discover Products

• Kyle shares (23:01):
  He learned about Snipd through a description focusing on his problem:
  "Have you ever wanted to remember what you're listening to? We'll do that for you."
• Donald: Messaging should focus on the problem you solve, not just what the product is (23:40–23:54).

10. Practical Takeaways for Listeners

• Curse of Knowledge Audit: Rate your brand’s messaging clarity—on a scale of 1–10 (24:10).
• Test with Outsiders: Try the "tap test"—can outsiders guess what you do from your branding/messaging?
• State Your Offer Clearly: "Say it clearly. Put your thoughts in your customers’ heads so they don’t have to guess." (24:35–24:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Donald: "The point is: whenever you're coming up with the name of a product, you don't want to have to say what it is." (02:59)
• Donald: "If you're not around, then they're hearing something and they don't know what it is." (03:13)
• Donald (on curse of knowledge): "That's how you sound... it's like, well, it's in your head. All I'm hearing is the beat." (06:37)
• Donald (on message clarity): "Say what it is. Sing out loud." (09:01)
• Donald (on taglines): "Billboard: 'Sitting the fence? Hire a cowboy.' If he would have said, 'Hire a cowboy to build your fence,' he would be making more money." (18:57)
• Donald: "Think for the customer. Don't ask them to think." (22:28)
• Kyle: "As small businesses, we love small businesses here, and we don't want them to waste money on marketing and messaging because they're not being clear." (24:29)
• Donald: "The difference between you making twice as much money might be just the fact that you need to clarify your message so customers engage." (24:46)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:41 – Name guessing game: "Snipd"
• 02:59 – Snipd’s functionality and initial confusion over name
• 05:37 – Introduction of ‘curse of knowledge’ and the tapping game
• 12:23 – Health bar and taglines as differentiators
• 16:57 – Small business branding and the importance of being specific
• 20:07 – The power of action-oriented, direct messaging
• 22:28 – “Think for the customer. Don’t ask them to think.”
• 23:01 – How a real description of Snipd connected with Kyle
• 24:10 – Practical exercises to test brand messaging clarity

Actionable Insights for Listeners

• Conduct a “blinded” test: Ask someone unfamiliar with your brand what they think you do, based solely on your name and tagline.
• Use literal, descriptive language in your headlines, taglines, and calls to action.
• Frame potential negatives as differentiators (e.g., "needs to be refrigerated" as a mark of quality).
• Recognize and combat your own “curse of knowledge”—write, edit, and review messaging from the perspective of a complete outsider.
• Remember: Every word you use in branding and messaging costs you clarity and potentially, revenue. Say it simply, say it clearly.