Fascinate Revise and Updated: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist by Sally Hogshead - Book Report

In her book Fascinate Revise and Updated: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist, Sally Hogshead focuses on the true definition of fascination and highlights why the concept should be at the forefront of marketers’ minds.  She explains that fascination is much more than just interest; being fascinating means to be completely captivating.  After introducing herself and her professional career, Hogshead discusses the Kelton Study of Fascination that was conducted to provide data for the book.  The main takeaway of this study is that brands should be helping customers feel more fascinating in their own lives while also providing them content and experiences to be fascinated by (Hogshead, 2016). 

Hogshead then introduces the Seven Languages of Fascination: Innovation (the language of creativity), Passion (the language of relationship), Power (the language of confidence), Prestige (the language of excellence), Trust (the language of stability), Mystique (the language of listening), and Alert (the language of details) (Hogshead, 2016).  Hogshead explains that brands fall into these categories which she also refers to as the Seven Fascination Advantages.  Once a company acknowledges which advantage category their brand lives in, they can clearly identify how the brand should be operating and how they should be communicating to consumers.  Brands can utilize their key advantage as the foundation for their overarching marketing strategy. 

Additionally, these seven languages can be implemented on the tactical level to appeal to specific consumer groups.  Hogshead explains this as “Advantage + Tactic = Specific Brand Message” (Hogshead, 2016).  For example, an Innovative brand can implement Mystique by revealing minimal information about an upcoming product launch to spur curiosity amongst target consumers.  Hogshead explains the benefits of each advantage combination and provides tangible tips for applying the tactics to hone marketing messaging.  Throughout the book, she draws on several examples to illustrate the ways brands have captured the fascination of their consumers by implementing these tools.

This book is crafted with a focus on marketing strategy and tactical implementation.  In her introduction, Hogshead reminds readers that more often than not, “you aren’t buying a product.  You’re buying the emotions, connotations, values and priorities of the brand” (Hogshead, 2016).  I agree that this is an important way to frame marketing communications for a brand.  As Hogshead states, “when people buy a product, they are paying for an intangible benefit” (Hogshead, 2016).  To be effective, marketing should drive consumers to make purchases because of the living, breathing brand rather than the product specs. When consumers are truly fascinated, they purchase products for the brand experience.  Marketing strategy should focus on communicating the way the product or service will make end users feel. 

Another interesting quote from Hogshead is “It’s tough to be better.  But far easier to be different” (Hogshead, 2016).  Here, she underscores the importance of differentiating your brand in the eye of the consumer.  While companies can’t always provide the number one product or service in their category, they can work to create a strong brand identity that focuses on their specific fascination advantage to stand out amongst competitors.  Honing in on the brand’s advantage can be helpful for creating more effective positioning and promotional strategies. 

Another quote from Hogshead’s book speaks to how present-day societal behavior is fundamentally different than that of the pre-digital age era: “Information is plentiful, and attention is scarce… your influence is determined by your ability to get people to take action” (Hogshead, 2016).  Through the last few years, our world has become over-saturated with information and content.  To cut through the noise and reach the ears of consumers, brand communication needs to very refined and precise.  Hogshead goes on to shed light on additional issues facing companies in the real world today when she identifies distraction, competition, and commoditization as the three main threats for brand communication (Hogshead, 2016).  To overcome these obstacles, brands should prioritize captivating consumers by differentiating themselves amongst competitors. 

After reading this book, I have a better understanding of how to efficiently work with versatile types of brands and I am inspired to develop unexpected and effective solutions to problems! 

References

Hogshead, S. (2016). Fascinate: how to make your brand impossible to resist. Harper Business.