Book Review: “Fascinate” by @SallyHogshead, a guest post by @DaveConcannon

This is a guest post by Dave Concannon.  Learn more about Dave at the bottom of this post and how to win a signed copy of this book.
Sally Hogshead’s Fascinate is an analysis of how and why people become attracted to people and ideas, and how understanding these triggers can help you build a better rapport with your customers. Hogshead has years of experience developing brand strategies for Fortune 500 companies and now works as a keynote speaker for brands such as Starbucks and Microsoft. So what’s fascinating?

Seven Fascination Triggers

The author has broken fascination down into seven triggers -

• Lust – The primal animal brain which anticipates pleasure
• Mystique – No, not her. Unanswered questions draw us in
• Alarm – The threat of negative consequences cause us to act
• Prestige – We naturally gravitate towards symbols of rank and respect.
• Power – There is an instinct to focus on the things and people that control us
• Vice – The illicit is very attractive, people like to rebel
• Trust – We return time and again to reliable options

Every person or brand has a balance of these different triggers, some more than others. Perfume and cologne advertisements push Lust and Mystique, Banks vie for the appearance of Trust and Power, Insurance companies startle us with Alarm. The book delves through a few case studies of brands to see how they balance these seven triggers, and how with changing strategies they eliminate some elements while enhancing others.

Takeaways

There are some interesting takeaways from this book: People will pay an average of around $400 to be seen as more fascinating, and even the most sedate of people would be willing to make some moral compromises in order to make it happen. These are concepts to keep in mind when preparing any sort of marketing, branding, or PR exercise. Her hallmarks of a fascinating message reminded me of Guy Kawasaki’s “Rules for Revolutionaries“, here are a handful to keep in mind:

• Provoke Strong and Immediate Emotional Reactions
• Create Advocates
• Incite Conversations
• Force Competitors to realign around it

Practical value

One criticism I might have of the book is that while there’s a nice guide at the end to help you develop a marketing campaign using the Fascination triggers, it might not be practical for someone not already very well versed in marketing. The development questionnaire provided is a good brainstorming exercise though.

Final Opinions

Sally’s writing style is very enjoyable – it’s light, funny, and the examples and case studies are never too dry. I got a couple of interesting ideas out of “Fascinate” and it made me laugh in places. Thanks to Giang for getting me a copy!

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A note from Giang:

Dave Concannon is a Irish startup guy with an interest in all things Entrepreneurial.  He recently moved to the Bay Area. He writes book reviews and opinion pieces on his blog at http://www.apeofsteel.com.  He recently launched Lean Startup Feed, a great one-stop shop for resources on Lean Startup and Customer Development.

Dave is a good friend that I met through Mixergy and Twitter.  He is a book worm and I always enjoy reading his reviews on his site.  I am honored to have Dave’s review on my site.  Thank you, Dave, really appreciate it.

You should say hi to him on Twitter: @DaveConcannon.

Thanks to Sally, I have several signed copies of the book to give away.  Please help me promote this book review by sharing the post through Twitter, Facebook and leaving comments here.  I will select few random names and announce by July 1st.  Thank you.

Stay wonderful!