• by Janie Curtis , January 21, 2011

Usually, when you hear that a brand has "mojo," it is presumed to refer to those brands that have some particular magic to them -- think iPad, The Nook or even an innovative beverage brand like Izze soda. For the rest of the other less obviously exciting brands, getting some mojo to help kick-start flagging market performance seems like an impossible dream.

Now this dream can be a reality; every brand can tap into its own sources of mojo and put some zip back into its performance.

Our study of the success formulas of leading cross-category brands revealed eight sources of mojo that have one thing in common: they transcend the traditional marketing formula of a solid brand positioning and an efficient activation plan.

These eight sources of mojo include everything from Brand Experience and Brand Access to Advocacy and Ingenuity.

Brand Experience has pretty much become the entry point for successful brands across categories; however, some brands still fail to recognize that there is more to brand experience than making sure that the brand lives up to its promised deliverable. Buying a Mini is so much more than buying a fuel-efficient, economical, small car. Mini drivers are part of a club that is proud to "go small" and rebel against the perceived status attributed to driving larger vehicles.

A second source of mojo is called Personal Progress and is focused on how brands actually help enhance or progress people's lives, such as helping to liberate them from hard work or to live healthier lives. Weight Watchers, which not so long ago was a dying brand, regenerated enthusiasm among would-be dieters by rebuilding its audience's sense of self-esteem and personal potential, which, in the long run, was more motivating to women than a pure weight loss message.

Equally important as a source of mojo is Advocacy. Advocacy comes from a brand's deeply held values and drives activities from the brand that let the consumer know that it cares about more than just making sales and making money.

Cause marketing initiatives are one way a brand can show its Advocacy or value system to consumers. It is important to approach the definition of a brand's source of Advocacy Mojo from an understanding of its inherent value system and how that can be used to directly build mojo from the inside out.

A program like Electrolux's "Vac From the Sea" initiative is a very powerful use of Advocacy mojo. The initiative, which features vacuums designed from plastic waste removed from the sea, shines a spotlight on the issue of excess plastic pollution that is contaminating seas around the world.

Nor is mojo the exclusive property of large, high budget brands. A great example of a smaller brand that has huge mojo is Izze Soda. You only have to visit its website to feel the mojo that emanates from its brand experience, its ingenuity, its advocacy and its life role. Izze has a lot of mojo!

Identifying which of these eight sources of mojo is most important to the success of a particular brand and how to activate it most effectively is critically important if you want customers and prospects to choose your products and services over competitive offerings.