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How to Create a Magnetic Brand

Posted by on 08 January 2014
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Today, marketing messages are coming at you everywhere you
go. In fact, customers are bombarded with thousands of marketing images and messages
every single day - more than 5,000 to be exact, according to researchers. When you're standing in line at the grocery
store, when you're driving down the street, when you're watching TV and, whenever
you're online, someone is trying to sell you something. This leads to 'communication
fatigue''meaning we are bombarded by so many messages that we end up ignoring
more to keep our heads from exploding.

So, what does this mean for your brand? It means crafting the
best marketing campaign in the world may not cut it anymore, if consumers are
not interested in what you have to say. It's not enough to stand out in a
crowd--your brand also has to draw that crowd in. According to Fast Company,
this is known as Magnetic
Branding
, which causes the consumers to pursue your products.

Instead of trying to get the average person to view your
marketing, you put into motion strategies that will attract them to
it. If you're Apple or Google, virtually anything you do is pulling people
towards you, but most brands don't have that kind of mystique. However, there are ways to create it.
Here's how:
Utilize Popularity

When Dodge was approached by Paramount Pictures to use Will
Ferrell in his character as Ron Burgundy, you might not have blamed them
for turning down the idea of having a buffoon pitch their vehicles. You
also might have thought Dodge management would have a nervous breakdown when
Ferrell as Burgundy went on national talk shows declaring their cars were 'terrible.'
Nobody takes this character seriously, but they do go out of their way to see
him. The gamble paid off in a big way as Dodge sales spiked by as much as
35 percent. This is a short-term brand strategy, but if you have a quality
product that's being ignored, as Dodge had with its Durango SUV, it's worth
teaming up with someone who can make some noise to create the buzz that brings
you sales.

Whatever you're marketing to consumers has to have a certain
level of quality in place that will make buyers interested in coming back for
more. You can't just make grand claims about your brand and not be able to back
them up. To create a belief system that sticks, you must be focused,
consistent, and passionate about your products--and communicate those qualities
to your potential buyers.

Female consumers are traditionally marketed to with images
of beautiful women whose looks are unrealistic. That fact of advertising can be
intimidating to an average woman's self-image--a fact reflected by that
reported that only two percent of the female population would describe
themselves as beautiful. So, Unilever realized they had a huge marketing
opportunity; they had to find a way to help women feel better about the way
they looked.
A worldwide campaign called 'Real Beauty,' launched
in 2004 on behalf of their Dove product line. The campaign, which showcased
real women instead of supermodels, hit a real emotional nerve and was a success;
sales skyrocketed by 20 percent in the next year. The Dove campaign case study
makes it clear that when you can identify and meet a huge need in your target
audience, you create a powerful attraction that is the hallmark of the Magnetic
Brand.

About the Author:
Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and
print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing,
and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR's blogs
including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business
Analysts
, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,.
She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where
she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She
can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc
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