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The lure of fascination

Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead

How do you market your company, your product or yourself? How do you stand out against all the alternatives for our attention?

Biology professor David Dilcher noted “flowering plants were the first advertisers in the world. They put out beautiful petals, colourful patterns, fragrances, and gave a reward, such as nectar or pollen, for any insect that would come and visit them.”

Our children get attention when they scream in the supermarket; marketers get our attention when they offer a discount, and a flashing light catches our eye. However, none leads to lasting emotional connection or a sustained change in our behaviour.

Neither awareness nor interest is enough to make us buy. Just as flowers must fascinate insects, and books must fascinate readers, you, your product, and your company must fascinate. If being “the best” might have gained attention in the past; there are simply too many “bests” available today.

The increasingly distracted consumer needs a more powerful form of connection, fascination.

The economic environment in which we live evolves. A long time back, we were in an environment where commodities and products were all we traded. Then we evolved to a service-based economy, the information economy, the knowledge economy, and in 1999, Pine and Gilmore alerted us to our arrival at “The Experience Economy”.

Hogshead asserts, in a most engaging way that we have now reached the “Fascination Economy,” where we must find new ways to differentiate ourselves. “Companies that can help consumers feel more fascinated in their lives, or more fascinating in their relationships, not only will win the sale but will earn consumers who actively seek out those products,” she asserts.

It was the late Maya Angelou who remarked, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Fascinating people, companies and products get bigger budgets, more customers and more sales, because of how they make us feel.

The thesis of this book is that anything, and anyone can become fascinating by applying some of the following “seven triggers”.

“Lust,” the desire or craving for sensory gratification;
“Mystique,” the lure of a puzzle, or an unanswered question;
“Alarm,” the threat of immediate consequences;
“Prestige,” the earning of respect through symbols of achievement;
“Power,” the ability to command others;
“Vice,” the temptation of “forbidden fruit,” that cause us to deviate from our usual habits or behaviours; and
“Trust,” the comfort of certainty and reliability.

Each trigger has a different energy that can add to your message. Alarm adds immediacy, or even danger. Mystique adds curiosity where Power adds respect or fear, and so on. If you cannot get a decision based on reason and wisdom, this is a case for Lust, which is visceral but is not without fascination. Lust turns “I really shouldn’t” into “I really shouldn’t, but I will anyway.”

The context will determine which of the seven triggers is appropriate, but considering all of them will reveal what works for your audience. “Once you understand how the triggers turn otherwise meaningless things into intense captivations, you’ll realise how fascination directs decision making,” Hogshead explains.

Can everything benefit from the seven triggers, even a product nobody likes?

Jägermeister, the German digestive liqueur, is a drink that has become popular despite its noxious flavour. Sales have grown by 40% a year since 1985. Prior to that, it was a slow-seller and only among German immigrants.

In 1985, Sidney Frank, its importer to the US, came across a derisory article in the Baton Rouge Advocate claiming Jägermeister was “Liquid Valium,” with opium, Quaaludes, and aphrodisiacs. Rather than tackling the article, Frank copied it and posted it in college bars all around the country. The response? Sales have grown by 40% a year since 1985 with the help of the “Vice” trigger.

The Blair Witch Project, the fictitious, virtually no-budget ($35 000) horror movie, had millions of fans guessing about the truth of the tale. The movie used “Mystique” throughout the filming - even the actors did not know what would happen next. The Mystique creating a near-hysteria for answers and the movie grossed $248m.

The “Alarm” trigger works because of the threat of consequences, but only if we dread the consequences.
How do you convinced American teenagers not to drive drunk, at an age when they do not believe they will ever die? Advertising genius, Luke Sullivan, solved the problem.

The advertisement he created has a picture of a teenage boy on the way to prom, with his corsage-wearing date at his side. The headline reads: “If the thought of losing your life doesn’t keep you from drinking and driving, imagine losing your licence.” In the photo, the boy is being driven to prom… by Mommy.

Hogshead’s agency was challenged to revive the stature of the extremely high-end jeweller, Harry Winston. “A woman might own a Harry Winston necklace for years and still be lucky to encounter only ten people who could fully appreciate it,” she explains. The “Prestige” trigger has no effect if no one knows.

On visiting their flagship store, Hogshead tried on some of the world’s most iconic pieces of jewellery:  A forty-carat ring once owned by Jackie Onassis. A $10m necklace, worn by the actress when she accepted her Academy Award. “I found out that there’s a thrill in wearing the Earth’s most precious offerings. At that point, the headlines almost wrote themselves:
People will stare.
Make it worth their while.
RSVP your regrets to the ordinary.
Watch the women watching the men watching you.

The book is, well, fascinating. It is also remarkably practical. The last section, titled “The Fascination Plan of Attack: How to Make Your Own Messages More Fascinating.” It is a step by step guide.

Readability:       Light --+-- Serious        
Insights:           High -+--- Low
Practical:           High --+-- Low


 - Fin24

*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works. Views expressed are his own.

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