Curious Cat Survives

The brands that are closest to our hearts are full of life. We associate them with emotions, feelings and experiences that are all too familiar to us. The most successful brands go out of their way to show us they understand us. We trust them because they seem human. The most effective marketing strategies, thus, are ones that don’t just give the products a human face, instead they give the brand a soul, a life.

Our ancient texts classified our emotions into four positive and six negative instincts. These instincts are what makes us human.  According to Renee Blodgett, Founder of Magic Sauce Media, Marketing refers to an ongoing communications exchange with customers in a way that educates, informs and builds a relationship over time. Thus in order to build a relationship with its customers a brand must behave like a human, emulating human emotions and instincts to create a connection.

In this article, I shall discuss the ways in which brands portray the ten basic human instincts.

Positive Instincts:

 Sathya: Sathya refers to Truth. Hindu philosophy believes that this instinct in inherent in human beings since the only way to communicate with god is through truth, anything that comes from the heart is truth. Thus truth is associated with divinity. Companies that are aware of the value of truth try to build a brand image based on the virtue of honesty. Xiaomi’ s “honest pricing” is meant to create a brand image that focuses on the value of truth.

 Dharma: Dharma refers to duty and righteousness. It is believed that doing one’s duty sincerely and with love is a path to holiness. As such brands which engage in corporate social responsibility essentially fulfil their duty towards society, which in turn helps build a positive brand image. For example, Cisro uses its resources and funds to aid undeserved communities with education, healthcare, economic empowerment and disaster relief, this they believe, is their duty towards humanity.

 Prema: Prema or Love is the foremost of human values since it is the basis of the other four values. It is from love that dharma, shanti and ahimsa arise. When love is associated with thought, it gives rise to truth or sathya. Love is an emotion dear to us all and Maslow showed how it was, in fact, one of our basic emotional needs. Advertisements which show love are perhaps the most touching of all. One such heart touching advertisement is Zomato’s “Language of Love” advertisement, which shows how food ordered on zomato helped a deaf man express his love for a woman.

 Shanthi- Shanthi refers to peace. Human beings are instinctively drawn towards peace and thus brands that portray a peaceful state of mind, attract us.  Pictures used for Holiday Village’s advertisements are made to instill a sense of peacefulness. The green grass, the swimming pool and the blue sky have a calming effect on the viewers which draws them to the product.

 Ahimsa- Ahimsa means nonviolence. According to hindu philosophy, Ahimsa is an intrinsic part of human nature. 1960’s lego ad  “There is, in this nervous world, one that does not shoot or go boom or bang or rat-tat-tat. Its name is Lego. It makes things.”

Negative instincts:

Kama- Kama refers to lust, craze and desire. In spite of all our efforts to deny it, lust desire and craze drive us to make decisions. Brands recognize that and use it to attract potential buyers. A classic example of this is AXE’s  “Angels will fall”.

Krodha- While Krodha, meaning Anger and hatred, is a negative emotion, it can inspire positive action. The best example of this is a social movement by Always called #likeagirl. The brand uses the age old insult to make people feel angry about social prejudices spreading a positive message about gender equality.

Lobha- Lobha refers to greed, miserliness and narrow mindedness. Advertisements either appeal to this instinct by offering discounts and freebies or look down on miserliness, asking the customers to invest more on quality. Products of daily use such as soaps, biscuits and deodorants go for the former tactic while consumer durables usually employ the later one. For example, while a Tide packet may say 20% off, Greenply’s advertisement makes fun of a man who chose to use cheap plywood.

Mada- Mada means Ego, Pride, and Stubbornness. Though pride and ego are considered negative instincts in the ancient scriptures, they may make a product appear attractive. This is because pride exudes confidence. As such brands often give their products a “cocky” brand image. One company that does this is Harley Davidson. Virgin mobile created a series of advertisements during the IPL showing how friends being arrogant to each other in a friendly manner, arguing about which team would win.

Matsarya- Matsarya refers to envy, jealousy and show of vanity. Brands feed into the emotion of envy, making the owners of a certain product the envy of others in order to sell the product. A classic example for this is Onida’s tagline, “neighbor’s envy, owner’s pride”.

Moha- Moha refers to delusion and emotional attachment. Essentially, the purpose of all advertisements is to create a delusion confusing needs and wants. The best ones are able to show that the product fulfils an emotional need. For example the Peers soap advertisement shows the product in such a way that the customer begins to associate the product itself with tenderness. This is of course a delusion.

Brands communicate with people by emulating them. A successful marketing campaign gives a brand a personality and a soul. It makes people connect to the brand.

If there’s one thing you need to understand in order to understand marketing, that is your customer. In order to market a product successfully

In order to successfully promote or sell products a marketer must also be a keen student of psychology, observing and understanding consumer behavior. You must understand what motivates your customer, what they need and what they want.

Abraham Maslow’s 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”explains this better than anyone. According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ones fundamental needs should be met before they are motivated to seek higher levels of fulfillment. Maslow classified these needs into “Physiological Needs”, “Safety Needs”, “Love and Belonging” needs, “Esteem” needs and “Self actualization” needs.

Understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, helps one position his product and reach out to the target audience with the correct message. In this article I will attempt to look at a few products we are all familiar with and attempt to analyse the needs they fulfill with reference to Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Physiological Needs:

These are the absolute basic needs which are necessary for survival. The demand for these products never go down. Brands such as Maggie which play on the concept of hunger targets its audience at the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maggie’s recent add which shows a child learning to cook his first bowl of Maggie before he leaves for hostel essentially shows how the instant noodles might help the child survive hostel life.

Safety Needs:

According to Maslow, once one’s basic needs are satisfied a need for security dominates one’s behavior. A product that is well positioned to meet this need is Avast, the antivirus software. Avast’s ad “Stranger things are happening without Avast” speaks of the dangers of phising scams contrasting the safety of a mans home to a shady, dark hacker’s den.

Love and Belonging:

The next stage of Maslow’s hierarchy is perhaps the one that is most capitalized upon. A classic example of this is how Listerine, a floor cleaner was marketed as an oral hygiene product by creating advertisements showing people repelled by bad breath. The strategy worked because man is a social creature and people were terrified of being ostracized because of bad breath.

Esteem:

According to Maslow, once all the lower levels of needs are fulfilled, a person begins to crave self-esteem and recognition. Premium products are aimed at people at this stage of the hierarchy. Premium products are defined as those that cost at least 20% more than the average category price. These products are a symbol of status and superiority. An example of a premium brand is Alexander Mcqueen.

Self Actualization:

Self actualization is the highest level on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Only those who have all their material needs taken care of can afford to devote time to what their soul needs. Some products aimed at people at this stage are meditation centers such as Vipassana Meditation. Classes for retired people to get back to a hobby they had to give up also have a similar target audience.

While Maslow’s hierarchy does help a marketing personal identify the needs of people, the model itself has come under criticism for overlooking the complexities of human psyche.  For example, the model would imply that only a completely healthy person could crave affection since security needs must be fulfilled before emotional needs. However, this is not true. 

Marketing professionals must keep these complexities in mind while using Maslow’s model.

With a motto that says “Making sports accessible to the many”, Decathlon is fast becoming the go-to sports brand for many in India, overtaking Adidas and Nike. The brand set up its first cash and carry flagship store just four years ago in Kerela. While a few years ago only a handful of people knew about the company, it has become a name known to all today. How is it that a French sports brand has almost completely taken over the market for sports goods in India in just 9 years? In this article, I attempt to look at some of the macro factors that affect the brands marketing strategy.

Understanding the Culture

For a French company, setting up its first store in India, it is important to understand the country’s culture. In India, sports companies mostly gain reputation through word of mouth. Foreign brands are often considered fancy and only the most serious sportsmen and women invest in quality sports goods from reputed brands.

Decathlon got past this major hurdle in India by hiring local brand ambassadors or “sports leaders” as they are called. These sports leaders are usually young sports enthusiasts who are a part of the sports circle in their area. Part of the job requirement of a Sports leader is creating a community of people who regularly practice a particular sports activity together.

Decathlon promotes these young sports enthusiasts, featuring them on billboards, advertisements, and social media to get through to people from their circles. This is a good marketing strategy especially for sports activities that are not yet part of the mainstream culture such as Kayaking and Skateboarding. When a skateboarder sees his or her peer promoting a brand, he or she is more likely to trust the product than when he or she sees a celebrity promoting it.

Demands and Demography

While India has few of the best sportsmen and sportswomen in the world, the number of people who peruse sports as a full-time vocation is pretty small. Most people who engage in sports activities do so as a hobby. Decathlon does a good job reaching out to hobbyists.

Their target audience consists of students and young people. They also target beginners and people who would like to pick up a new hobby through their free workshops and classes. Moreover, the store allows sports enthusiasts to try their hands at basketball, skating, skateboarding, and even trampoline gymnastics before they decide to invest in it.

One would expect a sports store to focus on young people. Decathlon, however, makes sure it does not leave out older generations from their marketing strategy completely. They ensure they include several low impact sports equipment such as walking shoes, yoga equipment, etc.

The Natural Environment

Decathlon’s marketing strategy is not just well adjusted to its social environment, it is also well adjusted to its natural environment. The company promotes its swimming equipment more in summer. Furthermore, the equipment it sells also depends on geographical factors. For example, while a store near the ocean would hold more events related to watersports, a store located in a mountainous region may promote mountain biking and longboarding and a store located in Chennai would promote kayaking in the mangroves.

Thus Decathlon, a French brand has been able to establish itself as a local name across India by understanding its target audience and reaching out to it.

References:

https://www.decathlon-united.com/en/about

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/decathlon-overtakes-adidas-nike-in-sports-gear-retailing/articleshow/68804024.cms

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/decathlon-india-opens-1st-retail-outlet-in-kerala/article23170367.ece

Who we are: Anuksha is an agency that helps your product stand out in a sea of products. At Anuksha, we believe every product is unique and deserves to be recognized. Our aim is to help you see what sets your product apart and make sure the world recognizes it. We help you identify a niche market for your product and help you create your brand image.

What Anuksha stands for: We believe we define ourselves. Our company’s name, “Anuksha”, does not have an inherent meaning, we get to define what it means. Over our 21 years, our brand name has come to be associated with innovativeness, perceptiveness and trustworthiness, just ask any of our clients. Anuksha, is a name that stands out in a crowd, and that is what we promise to help your company achieve.

Our Services:

1. Strategy and Planning: Our Market strategies are the product of meticulous research and years of expertise. When you come to Anuksha, you may rest assured that your market planning is in good hands.  Our core belief is every product is unique and thus each requires a different marketing strategy. We frame our strategies around the uniqueness of your product and make sure it is your product that stands out.

• Branding and rebranding: Your brand is just another company until it has an identity. We believe our first duty as a marketing agency is to help you find your brand identity. Your product is unique, and our experts make sure that the world realizes its value. Our team doesn’t just help you sell a product it helps you sell an idea. Our branding and rebranding services help you create memorable and interesting brands which bring your products to life.

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• Video, Photography and Graphic Designing: A picture speaks a thousand words, and at Anuksha, we believe it is of utmost importance that the photos and videos you share with the world reflect what your brand stands for. Our very own highly qualified Video, Photography and Graphic Designing team ensures that every photo and video you share communicates your brand image.

Our Journey: Anuksha was born as an idea in 1997, Kolkata. Since then it has expanded to other parts of India and countries around the world including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Today, Anuksha is a highly reputed B2B marketing firm that aspires to help companies around the world find their place in the market.

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