I heard this quote from Dale Carnegie and it stopped me in my tracks, as this is what I believe in and it is what we do for our clients, but Dale sums it up in one simple sentence.
Dale says “The only way on earth to influence people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it”.
In a nutshell, this is what we believe marketing is all about. It is showing your customers you understand them and then simply give them what they really want.
Sounds easy and it is, once you know what your customers want. The problem is, when you ask them that question, they don’t know what they want!
Think about this for a minute. If I was to ask you, why did you buy that holiday? That car? That designer jacket? Can you tell me what the want was that you were fulfilling?
The answer is never the features and benefits, it is also never about how good the deal was, deep down it will always be emotional and linked to a want.
What is really interesting, is that most people will try and explain the reasons behind their buying decision in a logical manner, but rarely are they correct. It is not that they are lying to us, it is just that the buying decision was made in the unconscious mind and the conscious mind doesn’t know why we do what we do. For example, a ‘want’ behind a buying decision for a Rolex watch would be significance (to look and feel good in front of my peers). But the rational brain is never going to say that and we are never going to tell someone that either! So in the marketing of a Rolex watch, we need to be selling a promise to fulfill on our ideal customers want to feel significant.
It is important to craft into marketing messages, words and images which will influence our customers buying decision – which is the ‘want’ we are fulfilling on.
The way we at Brandonian approach this is to first think about the underlying emotional response we would like customers to have when they buy a product or service.
We categorise these firstly into the best fit from these four underlying emotions –mastery, control, belonging, or the individual. Let me explain each.
Mastery is about how your product or service will help the customer find a new or better way, enable a transformation, or just be there to save the day. This is based on the skills or the mastery you have in your industry, or it could be the mastery using your product or service will empower your customer with.
Control is a very strong emotional response that is linked back to the want to feel secure and safe, knowing that someone is looking out for you. Products or services that set the rules for their industry, create new ways for how their customers interact with their product or service, or that selflessly put their customers first, all foster a feeling of control that fulfils on human needs like safety, stability, certainty and recognition.
Belonging is a really powerful underlying emotional response, as it is about making people feel part of the group, club or community. Thinking about how your product or service helps people feel part of something bigger than themselves, will help to unlock the want you are fulfilling on. It could be to simply join in and have fun, blend in a little by doing what they know works, or perhaps experiencing a want or need for a deep connection that will build self-esteem and self-worth.
The individual is the opposite emotional response to belonging, you want your customers to feel as if the product or service is tailored to their wants and needs. Do you have the information and the individual understanding to know what your customers really want? Do you have the experience to deliver them a simplified solution to something that is seen as complex? Or can you deliver them freedom or fulfillment for a deeper understanding of themselves in the process?
This is the process we use to help unlock the human wants that we then build into all brand touch-points. It can be tricky, but when done right your customers will say things like, ‘it just feels right to buy from you’, or ‘you get me!’
Good luck and get in touch if you need some help working out your clients wants!
Yours in stronger brand connections,
Belinda Vesey-Brown
Founder and Brand Strategist