If you ever wonder why Fox News is so successful at convincing people, it’s because they take complex subjects and boil them down into the simplest black and white explanations and present them in 10 minutes or less—usually 2 minutes. Some would argue that this is a bad thing. I agree with those people. It fails to take in all sides of an argument or encourage critical thinking.

But, when it comes to marketing, simple is better. We are in the convincing business, not in the education business, and the two should not be confused. Fox certainly understands this. Most marketers do not understand that customers only care, and can process, one thing. So, communicate that one thing well—solve their need. Don’t bog them down. They want to move on to whatever is next in their life anyways. If a magazine ad has more than 5 sentences, I don’t read it. I can’t. I’m trying to get through the magazine so that I can move onto the next one, so that I can get to bed and get as much sleep as possible, thus resulting in a higher degree of efficiency at work the next day—which creates more work. You get the idea.

What if the key to selling a product was boiling down complex technological concepts so that a technophile can understand why you are better? And, your brand and company depend on it. Would you develop a jargon filled ad? Apple gets it.

UPS uses a whiteboard to simply explain why you should choose them in real world terms. No details necessary—the consumer will fill in the blanks. If they don’t, then they weren’t your target anyways. If they want more information, they will seek it on their own

Need to explain why global warming matters? This guy gets it: