Marketing Profs

It's a marketer's dream. Customers are so passionate about your product they actually crave it. In fact, outside of the US, your product is the number-one consumed fruit.

However, here's where the dream hits reality. You're in the US, where two-thirds of US consumers have never tasted a mango. You've been hired to generate sales during the Mexican mango season—which is only four months long.

One thing is crystal clear: You have to get it right the first time. Or mangos will be out of season and you'll be out of a job.

That's the situation that our firm, Lewis & Neale Public Relations and JRS Consulting, faced when EMEX, an association of Mexican mango producers and shippers, retained it to conduct a four-month campaign (limited to Mexican mango season) to increase fresh mango visibility and consumption in the US.

Our in-depth research for Mexican mangos showed that exposure to mangos wasn't enough; the key to increased sales was consumer education about the purchase, preparation, usage, and benefits of mangos.

Knowing about the mango's many healthful benefits as well as learning how to select and cut mangos and use recipes for cooking with them reinforced the more emotional appeal of the fruit and invited people to try it.

Fast-forward to four months later: Mexican mango sales increased 13%, the result of a bilingual educational campaign conducted via the media and at retail point-of-sale, using powerful imagery as well as practical information about preparation suggested by the research.

The Mexican mango case study is an example of the power of the "Attraction Advantage," the term I use to describe the ability to attract—rather than pursue—customers.

That unique ability is based on understanding and harnessing the essence of what attracts people to your products and services, and making sure that your entire organization delivers on this essence. The Attraction Advantage enables a powerful connection with key constituents that competitors can't duplicate.

Simply put, you don't have to work as hard to attract customers because you are saying and doing things that actually draw them to you.