Brands and Consumer Needs

A brand’s marketing is most successful if it manages to tap into our fundamental needs, and there is no barrier to brands doing this.

Brands And Consumer Needs
Consumer Needs What is a Need?
As we identify themes from groups of perceptions, we move towards deeper consumer needs. This is illustrated by Figure 1.2 (see overleaf). The figure shows an example of a supermarket. At the top level are listed a number of specific perceptions, such as convenient location, short checkout queues, and so on. Below these we have identified two themes. The three attributes of convenient location, efficient staff and short checkout queues all contribute to making a shopping trip faster, so they combine into a theme of speed. The family parking, range of trolley types and toilets are all facilities which help make the trip easier, or more comfortable. So we have two themes, speed and ease, which we have then combined on the lowest level into one major synthesis of ‘practicality’. A spectrum is apparent. The items on the top level are very specific perceptions that seem closely linked to the brand. The synthesis at the bottom level is much broader; it gets down to deeper needs, and it is very much about the person.

Technically we should probably be more cautious about the use of the word ‘needs’. This word should be reserved for aspects of human life which are involuntary and inescapable, and many psychologists have worked to show that there are very few such things. However, there is an opposite drawback with using other words such as ‘motivations’ or ‘drives’. These tend to sound much more like questions of choice, and seem to be a little weak for the 12 aspects we have labelled as needs later in this section. So we will stick with ‘needs’, recognising that it is not perfect but we hope that it is well understood in this context.

The top level includes attributes which are very specific to the current concerns and ways of running a supermarket (e.g. different types of trolley), but themes on the second level are generally independent of market structure and the mechanisms through which brands deliver the service or the product. The need for speed in our dealings with service brands is a characteristic of modern life which would remain even if the mechanisms changed radically. For example, the introduction of the self-scanning

Figure 1.2 Perceptions and needs for a supermarket system has removed the checkout issues from the equation, but the need for speed remains.

So themes such as speed and ease, which sit on this second level, are arguably much more useful to focus on. They allow you to think outside the framework of the existing market structure, and explore ways in which new mechanisms for your product or service might benefit the consumer. They also enable you to compare very different sorts of brands, particularly in service industries. The mechanisms for meeting the need for ‘convenience’ of a banking service will be very different for Internet banking and for branch-based banking, but the convenience need will be highly relevant in both cases.

You might reasonably suggest stopping at level two, but you can go a step further to fundamental human needs. Here we are talking about things which relate to the human condition, potentially nothing to do with the world of brands. A sense of order or structure would be an example for this level, while ‘speed’ would not. To the best of my knowledge, no psychologist has ever suggested that the human organism has a fundamental need for speed, but they all include something to do with deep feelings like love and belonging.

A way of seeing these distinctions in action is to keep asking why, every time you say someone has a certain need. So, people need efficient staff in shops (top level), because they have a broader or deeper need for speed (middle level), in turn because they have a fundamental need for practicality (lowest level).

This cascading quality points to the idea of being able to do without some things at the higher levels, while you cannot do without the needs at the deepest level. You can do without the efficient staff if there is another way of making the total shopping experience fast. And speed is a less powerful concept in your life than the need for practicality. This implies that brands will be most successful if they tap directly into the most fundamental human needs. They will also be successful, though less so, if they aim for the second level, since these are slightly more a ‘means to an end’. And they certainly shouldn’t concentrate only on one or two firstlevel items, since the benefits those provide could be overtaken by competitors using other mechanisms.

Note that the importance of each need is not usually constant for each individual. Speed may be crucial on one shopping trip, while some other aspect such as menu suggestions for a dinner party may be more important on another trip. This increased variability is a general trend, as our lives become less governed by routine and as the availability of choices increases.

You might ask why a brand should try to touch a fundamental human need, when people do not look to brands to fulfil all their needs. Someone might, for example, get their sense of peace and harmony from long walks in a forest, nothing to do with brands. The answer is that a brand’s marketing is most successful if it manages to tap into our fundamental needs, and there is no barrier to brands doing this. It’s a somewhat frightening observation, but there seems to be no area of life untouched by brands. They may play a supporting role rather than a leading one, but it is evident that brands can aim at any human need. Some may argue that this enriches life, while others may be concerned that it risks replacing a different and better way of living. Either way, brands have the opportunity to aim for these primary human needs, whatever they are.

Major Themes of Needs in the Coffee Example
Figure 1.3 shows the coffee perceptions map, with suggestions of 12 fundamental needs arranged around the circle. These are my suggestions for a core list which can usefully be applied to the analysis of any category or brand. The reason for proposing a list of 12, and the distinction between the needs identified in capital letters and those in lower case, will be discussed in the next section. For now, let’s get familiar with each of these themes through a practical example.

Starting at the bottom of the map, we have the need for Structure. This corresponds with situations which require some sense of control or organisation. Moving to the left, it shades into the need for Practicality, so it covers situations such as being at work, the expression of intelligence, and feeling on top of things. This moves into the need for Challenge, connecting with product characteristics of strength and bitterness, and a sense of confidence or achievement. Moving further round, we come to Self-expression, encompassing the direct expression of energy and dynamism, a full-bodied product that gives you a feeling of get-up-andgo. Next we come to the need for Excitement, still expressing energy but with more of an upbeat lift and having fun, perhaps in a situation such as being out with friends. And this merges into Curiosity, the need to explore and discover, looking for new experiences.

At the top of the chart we have the need for Liberty, placed opposite the need for Structure. This is about freedom and openness, the unexpected rather than the routine. This then moves into the need for Ideals, including refinement, sophistication and discernment, and situations such as a dinner party with style as a high consideration. This shades into Harmony, feelings of being happy, and perhaps having a friend or two around, then the need for Love, feeling receptive and supportive. This continues into Closeness, meaning the desire to fit in, feel protected and secure. Then Stability, feeling quiet and relaxed in a familiar environment, at home by yourself. And finally we come back to Structure.

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