The 'Focus' Method | Making Your Brand the Inevitable Choice
In one of the best scenes of the movie Focus, Will Smith’s character, a master con artist, sets an irresistible trap. He challenges a wealthy gambler with a seemingly impossible bet - the gambler can pick any player on the football field below, and his partner, Jess (played by gorgeous Margot Robbie), will guess the number on their jersey.
Confident in his odds, the gambler agrees and scans the field, finally locking onto a player. But when Jess coolly announces the number '55,' he's stunned. A quick look through his binoculars confirms the unbelievable truth: the player he chose is indeed number 55. The bet is lost.
How did she 'guess' it? It wasn’t a guess. It was a setup. All day long, Will Smith's perfectly coordinated team had subtly exposed the gambler to the number 55. It was on a janitor's uniform, on posters in the hotel lobby, on the lights of a passing bus. The number was planted in his subconscious so that when the moment came for him to choose a player, the one with number 55 felt like a natural, personal choice.
This isn't just a clever movie trick... No, it's a masterclass in how sophisticated, modern branding works.
The goal isn't to force a customer to choose you with a flashy ad at the last second. The goal is to make your brand so familiar, credible, and top-of-mind that when the moment of decision arrives, choosing you feels like the most natural, obvious, and safest choice they could make. It feels like their idea.
So, how do you plant your "number 55"? Here is a professional's checklist.
Part 1:
Choose Your Number (Your Core Story)
In Focus, the con couldn't begin until the team decided on their target: the number 55. It had to be one, single number to ensure the message was clear. Your brand is no different. Before you can become famous, you must first decide what you want to be famous for. This is the critical first step where you choose your brand's "55."
Your Mission: Can you state your core purpose in a single, memorable sentence?
Your Key Messages: Do you have three consistent messages that appear in all your communications?
Your Point of View: Do you have a unique perspective on your industry that makes your story interesting?
Part 2:
Plant the Seeds (Building Credibility & Visibility)
This is the execution phase - the patient, professional work of placing your "55" into the world. The team in Focus used jerseys and signs, while our tools are stories and credibility. Every media feature, every expert quote, is the modern equivalent of that number on the concierge's uniform - a subtle, powerful seed planted in a trusted environment.
This is the art of Public Relations, and it's effective because it builds trust. Consider this as well, Nielsen’s research consistently shows that earned media (such as articles and expert recommendations) is one of the most trusted sources of information.
Earned Media: Has a credible publication featured your brand or your leaders recently?
Expert Commentary: Are your experts being quoted in articles, providing value and insight?
Strategic Amplification: When you get a great media placement, do you reshare it across all your channels (LinkedIn, your website, newsletters) to maximize its visibility?
The Payoff - Your Inevitable Moment
The climax of the con in Focus is the moment the gambler "chooses" the number, triggering the payoff. For your brand, this payoff moment happens every time a potential customer needs to make a decision.
After months of thoughtfully placing your message in the world, building familiarity and trust one step at a time, the choice becomes clear. When your future customer is at their own high-stakes moment—making a decision on who to hire, what to buy, or who to partner with, all the seeds you've planted will pay off. Your brand will be the inevitable, obvious answer. It will feel like their idea. And that is the most powerful position a brand can be in.
If you’re ready to become inevitable, you know who to call.