Branding, Selling and Mr Maslow
When the chips are down,
Just restart your engines, folks!
I was reading advertising news on a website when the new global campaign of Levi's caught my eye. More about that in a bit. But it's evident that the US recession is definitely affecting branding and brand perception. Considering that the Trust Virus is biting into the retailers' pie and consumer confidence is at its lowest, it is definitely not the best scenario to sell jeans, is it? Or for that matter any other product which would not give you direct satisfaction.
That's very basic economics. Create Utility which drives Demand and from which one can derive Satisfaction. Satisfaction: fast becoming a key word in selling. Let's delve into this a bit deeper. It was in 1943 that this guy presented a paper A Theory of Human Motivation to understand human behavior, it's needs and curiosity. That led him to design the hierarchy of needs, which can be applied to consumer demand. Yes, we are talking about Abraham Maslow.
Source: Wikipedia
Through this very simple figure, Maslow has compartmentalized human needs into five stages. The division is not strict and not all needs need to be met in order to proceed to the next higher stage - it is just a matter of priority. Only when your physiological and security needs are met, will you think on building your personality or esteem. If there are fewer jobs around, if your real estate investment comes crashing, if you can't fulfil the basic needs of your family then you won't be spending on items of personal care and luxury like say a pair of branded jeans. Maslow's priority set is very adaptive and can be applied while designing a concept, figuring out your target audience and communicating to them.
Coming back to what I started with, now how will you communicate with your primary audience for Brand Levi's in the US. It was definitely tricky. The economy is down in the slumps, confidence and self-esteem at a low, what will you tell them: Go Forth. Taking American poet Walt Whitman's creative genius, America, they have taken a stand. Take a look at their new campaign:
After Living Unbuttoned, that's quite a stand. Check out their website, it's a successful community building drive, for sure.
Coming back to Maslow and creating demand, coupons were an easy way to do the same. And according to statistics, use of coupons and vouchers has gone up by 51 per cent among 18-24 year olds. Saving and cutting costs is of primary importance - again following Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I recently discovered community space built by Wal-Mart to cater to their primary target: Moms.
Wal-Mart has created a forum called Eleven Moms that advise and share tips on savings, deals and offers. Quoting from their website:
We've spent lots of time interacting with and seeking to understand how people use these tools and in what ways the Walmart brand can be relevant and provide value. It quickly became obvious to us that many communities exist that focus on saving money which is core to our brand promise. We felt we could best participate in the conversation by helping to foster the growth of people and forums in this space.
Now, they are a little more than eleven moms on this platform discussing value shopping on a Wal-Mart platform is sure helping the brand and the consumers.
I think wherever human minds are concerned, like in the science of buying and selling, psychology can never be far behind. Read more...





