Applying Fascination Triggers to Your Biz

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I am so glad that April chose Fascinate by Sally Hogshead for the ARTrepreneur book club. It puts into words things that we all basically know already, but maybe haven’t really thought about, and thinking about them is certainly very interesting.

We are all fascinated, whether only slightly interested or completely obsessed, with something – probably multiple things.  Bands you travel all over the place to see play live, TV shows you absolutely cannot miss each week, celebrities you love or love to hate…

Why are we attracted to these things? Do we really even understand what it is about that band that makes us spend hundred of dollars on a ticket? Do we have any real idea why a TV show about crab fishermen is so freaking awesome?

That is what this book is about – understanding why things fascinate us and how to make ourselves and our brands more fascinating to others.

“Anything, and anyone, can become fascinating.”

Fascination is, at least in large part, the key to success. Without triggering fascination, your product will fade into the background – and just become another “thing” in the endless sea of options, rather than the front runner in your category, field or area of expertise.

In her book, Hogshead covers the seven triggers of fascination and I chose three of the seven to talk about today: Lust, Prestige and Trust.

“Lust creates craving for sensory pleasure.”

Soft cashmere, delicious foods, tropic island sand between our toes … these are things we crave, love and appreciate.  In many cases, the things we lust after are “special treats” – not things we encounter or get to have everyday.

Perhaps even more interesting than how to make products more lustworthy was a lesson from the book about how to maintain lust. Hogshead talks about Godiva and how once they started offering their chocolates in more common and accessible places – their brand lost the lust factor. Once people could get it anywhere, it wasn’t as desirable, it wasn’t something that was a treat anymore.

The fascination with Godiva dropped off the charts once it was more widely available.

That is something we can probably all learn from.

“Prestige earns respect through symbols of achievement.”

An example of prestige that is outlined in the book comes from Grey Goose Vodka. According to Hogshead, Grey Goose “forced an entire category to realign” by pricing their vodka twice as high as “the other guys.”  This move alone, a higher price point, gave the brand an aura of prestige.

Other things that Hogshead tells us build prestige? Emblems and logos (this Gucci and Chanel) and limited availability of a product. Of course, celebrity endorsement couldn’t hurt either.

We are assured, in the chapter about prestige, that “the most authentic and lasting fascinations require you to earn them.”

Trust comforts us with certainty and reliability.

Trust is so important when it comes to selling anything, because in order to sell something someone must give their money to you and, as you may already know, spending money isn’t always easy. When we trust something we return to it over and over.

Hogshead cites consistency and repetition as trust builders. She uses McDonald’s as an example. Hogshead tells of a case in which a group of children were each given two sets of chicken nuggets, one set of nuggets were wrapped up like they would be coming from McDonalds and the other set was unbranded. When the children were asked which nuggets tasted better – guess what they said? The McDonald’s nuggets of course! But the truth is the nuggets were all exactly the same, just presented differently.

And isn’t it true that people tend to trust the name brands more than the generics? Those brands have a history and they all started somewhere, and from there they maintained consistency and utilized repetition. As the company built the brand, the consistency of the branding built trust.

You can see how these factors, lust, prestige and trust all play into fascinating people, so what are you going to do about it? How can you make your brand, your product and yourself more fascinating?

{You could probably start by reading the book, because I didn’t even scratch the surface here.}

About the Author: Hello! I’m Danielle, the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Administrative Assistant and summer intern and blog updater at The Merriweather Council. I enjoy sipping iced lattes, listening to boy band music, watching crime solving TV shows and putting things in hoops. I am often covered in little bits of thread and fabric but, well, ‘I want it that way’

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