Seventeen Years of the SLICED Framework ~via Eric Zimmett
Seventeen years is a long time to keep refining a framework, and that’s a big part of what makes what Eric shares here meaningful. The best frameworks don’t just organize thinking, they capture hard-earned lessons and help others move faster and smarter. /Ted
Early in my career, I began what would become a pattern of thinking upstream of the platform.
One year into my first job in radio sales, I started questioning the differences between media environments — radio, newspapers, and later social media. That questioning eventually led to concepts like echoic (sound) versus iconic (visual) media and to the realization that different forms of media influence people in different ways.
SLICED grew directly out of the environments I was working in: Radio helped clarify Echoic influence, online directories clarified Directional influence, social media clarified Social influence, and the geographic capabilities of media channels reinforced the importance of Location. Each experience with a new platform expanded my media worldview.
Over time, these observations became a framework:
SLICED Behavioral Media Map: A framework for understanding how different forms of media influence behavior across stages of brand experience.
SLICED is a media classification system that explains the primary ways media influences human behavior. Each “slice” represents a distinct type of influence rather than a step in a funnel.
SLICED
S — (Social) Influence created through people, communities, and visible participation.
L — (Location) Influence created through proximity, presence, and physical context.
I — (Iconic) Influence created through recognizable visual identity and symbols.
C — (Creative) Influence created through ideas, storytelling, and attention-generating content — generating interest where it does not yet exist.
E — (Echoic) Influence created through sound, repetition, and auditory memory.
D — (Directional) Influence created when someone actively searches for a solution. The need already exists and the consumer is actively seeking a solution.
If we’ve crossed paths at any point in the past 17 years of my work, there’s a good chance I mentioned my SLICED framework.
The SLICED framework remained unchanged for 13 years, until I saw a need to expand it further. Not with a new letter, but with another dimension.
In early 2026, I introduced a new dimension to the framework — the behavioral phases of brand experience.
Three Behavioral Phases
Each form of media is perceived differently depending on where someone is in their relationship with the brand.
Only a small portion of the market is actively in-market at any given time. Most brands overfund the small group actively looking and ignore the much larger group that is not currently in-market.
1. Pre-Purchase Phase
This phase exists before purchase or experience. It is where the relationship with a brand begins.
Most consumers are passive and not actively exploring for new brands or experiences.
2. Post-Experience Phase
After someone experiences the product, service, or place, their perception of the brand changes. Media reinforces memory and encourages repeat behavior.
3. Identity Alignment Phase
Over time, the brand becomes part of a person’s identity. Symbols, communities, and shared experiences reinforce belonging and advocacy.
Identity Alignment
Identity is the stabilizing layer of behavior. The "Holy Grail" of marketing, and in many ways for individuals as well. We are all trying to discover our identity. Something magic happens when a person feels at home with a brand.
Once identity forms, exploration and discovery largely disappear, and behavior stabilizes around belonging. People move from “I bought this” to “I’m someone who does this.” Identity formation leads to belonging, tribe, and advocacy.
Over time, the brand becomes part of a person’s identity. Symbols, communities, and shared experiences reinforce belonging and advocacy.
Identity is where media influence and behavior begin to intersect.
I eventually became just as interested in what happens after identity forms — the habits, rituals, and environments that stabilize behavior. That curiosity eventually led me to develop a separate set of habit frameworks focused on how behaviors form and change. I’ll explore those in a future post.
