marketing

When was the last time you remember paying attention to an ad or blog post for more than a few seconds (well, hopefully this doesn’t fall into that category)?

That is where the intersection of marketing and fascination plays a key role. As seen on the How to Fascinate website, “Fascination is a neurological state of intense focus, one that creates an irresistible feeling of engagement. It’s almost the same as falling in love.”

It has been said that as humans in this age of information, our attention spans are now shorter than a goldfish’s. However, seeing as I can easily sit down and binge watch a few seasons of Netflix, I refuse to believe that. I found my answer through a study done by Prezi – that our attention spans are not shrinking, they are evolving and becoming selective. It is now, more than ever, important for content to stand out, be compelling and more fascinating. With content that places individuals into a state of fascination, companies can capture the attention of their audience.

The same goes for people – What is fascinating about you? Why do people gravitate towards you? How do you play to your advantages to increase your influence? People can use this knowledge to help them network, gain influence and progress in their careers!

There are many different types of fascination, something Sally Hogshead (branding expert and author), dives into in her book, How the World Sees You. After reading how my fascination archetype helps me in my day to day, I went ahead and took her Fascination Advantage Personality Test. After answering the quick and painless 28 questions, you will receive your answers. In the results, you will see your:

• Primary and secondary advantages: describe your most effective modes of communication where you come across as influential and most fascinating
• Archetype: formed using your primary and secondary advantages
• Dormant advantage: the one that holds the least amount of potential for you to be fascinating

My results:

When I received my results, my initial reaction was one of shock – mostly because Prestige sounded a bit snobby and obnoxious. However, as I read through the description of each advantage and the archetype, I saw how relevant they were. They described me perfectly! My archetype, The Connoisseur is someone who uses their high standard for details and excellence combined with their passion to influence those around them. After my initial excitement for taking an assessment to gain more insight into how I influence others, a few thoughts came to mind. The biggest being that the assessment is a bit biased. The goal is to find out how the world sees you, what they find most fascinating about you, yet you take the test for yourself. I started connecting my experience with brands and marketing.

Imagine you are Company A, who is thinking of their branding strategy. The key is not looking internally, but first focusing on what your consumers think. Brand perception is key! To understand how your company is viewed in the eyes of the consumer, who would you survey? The internal company or your consumers? That is where I felt a slight disconnect with this assessment. If this was about how everyone else sees me, and I answering my own questions, wouldn’t the answers reflect how I view myself?

While replaying my reaction to the results, I remembered that none of it seemed new to me. As I reflected, I realized that as someone who put a heavy focus on improving myself to becoming a successful entrepreneur, I went through a lot of self-reflection. As Forbes writes, self-awareness is crucial for entrepreneurs. I felt that this assessment is more geared to those who have not spent much time self-reflecting.

Sally Hogshead does a great job relaying the importance of fascination in her book and is definitely something I would recommend to those who are on the path of self-reflection. When it comes to the assessment though, it feels biased to answer your own questions. It can be a good start to those who are new to the workforce. Fascination is an extremely useful topic and should be explored by everyone, whether done informally or through a more formal assessment.

Did you take the assessment? Comment below with your personal experience!