Why do Harley Davidson motorcycles and Apple iPhones truly stand out today?

And what makes the marketing efforts of Geico insurance and McDonalds restaurants really suck?

The answer is simple.

Harley and iPhone understand the power of pull. They have created gravitational force that literally pulls customers and prospects to them. Stop and ask yourself:

–       When was the last time you saw a television or magazine ad for Harley Davidson motorcycles? My guess is never. Yet, their tribe is as strong as ever.

–       And, I’ll bet the last time you heard about iPhones in the media, it was a news story about customers lining up at a Mac store to get the newest version of the iPhone 4.

Meanwhile, Geico and McDonalds continue to push their advertising drivel, slogans and little green lizards into our faces. Seth Godin calls this ‘interruption marketing’.

Let’s face it. The days of big advertising to everybody are long gone.

Smart companies – and smart charities – are creating what I call communications gravity because they’re doing something really spectacular, really different and really compelling.

Just look at kiva.org. Here’s an idea whose time has come. Connect an everyday philanthropist like you or me with someone in the developing world who needs a small hand up to get her life on track.

Simple. Elegant. And freaking brilliant.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to do a little (or a lot) less pushing. And spend that time and energy figuring out how to make our causes and our organizations way more compelling and fascinating.

It’s really hard to do this. But, creating gravity is becoming more necessary every day.