City&Gild: Customers have changed – are you ready to move from need to desire?


As I watched the tragic plight of the Ukrainian people this week, the arrival of an email entitled “Need state Identification project” made me question further the way that we think about brands and customers.
With struggling nations across the globe all battling for their voices to be heard, the contrast between such real and desperate need-states – or rather “states-in-need” – and the comfort and plenty of consumer lifestyle in the West was stark.

 

The concept of a need state was pioneered by Mars in the 1970s, but the idea today of brands having a start point focused on need is seriously at odds with how we live our lives. Appreciative as I am of the behavioural economic model that conveniently uses “what, who, when, where” as opposed to attitudinal “why’s” – I believe only a brand that starts with the why and builds out from the customer in a deferential and respectful way will reap true rewards.

 

Admittedly in areas like pharmaceuticals and healthcare a need might well be the primary inspiration point for the creation of a lifesaving, life enhancing product or service but in worlds like finance, motoring and tech it has been a long time since anyone in the developed world has expressed a real and compelling need.
Our new world order demands that brands embrace customer conversation and debate; a brief look into Google Analytics and the word “need” is largely absent from current vernacular; possibly swapped out for the language of like, love, desire, want, have.

 

As customers are largely masters of their own destiny, I propose we all embrace the language of “Desire States” – flattering customers, buttering their every want, understanding and appreciating their sociological and physiological desires.

 

Craig Wills is the executive strategy director of strategic branding consultancy The Gild, www.the-gild.com