The 5 TYPES OF VALUE that marketing delivers
How to grow business 📈 in these trying times?
The answer is the same as during regular times; by finding ways to delight the consumer, by delivering value that meets their needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs & need theory in general helps us understand user needs, but it’s not exactly actionable for marketers…. How is my brand supposed to help people achieve the high state of self-ctualization???
So I’ve summarised the 5 ways that marketers can add value to consumers. They’re sorted from those that make the shallowest to those that make the strongest type of connection:
FUNCTIONAL🧼: your product needs to do what it says on the tin. This is your biggest priority, it’s table stakes
EDUCATIONAL 📚: one with two levels.
The lower one is quite functional - educating consumers on your offering. This is particularly helpful for users in the evaluation phase (looking at product info, reading reviews, watching videos about your product, etc...).
The higher level is teaching the consumer to be the hero. Educating them, helping them on the category that the product is used in. The Michelin guide is the best example that comes to mind, having started as a way to inspire while educating French car owners to restaurants & hotels worth seeing.
ENTERTAINING 🤹: is all about giving consumers little getaway moments. This principle should be applied to not only your 2 min TV commercial directed by Guy Ritchie, it also needs to be applied to all the little moments such as your loading animations & error pages.
Only in the attention economy, with their ability to maintain a captive audience, can the Kardashians become millionaires
EMOTIONAL 🎭: people won’t remember what you said or did, just how you made them feel. The strongest bond is made when they’re inspired to take action & empowered to be the hero (Toms comes to mind here) 5) SOCIAL 👯♀️: is where you give the consumer the opportunity to signal that they have social clout, signal they’re part of a clan or even opinion leaders (Veja sneakers come to mind here)
SOCIAL 👯♀️: is where you give the consumer the opportunity to signal that they have social clout, signal they’re part of a clan or even opinion leaders. Giving them a sense of belonging is what has made Nike ("If you have a body you’re an athlete), Apple (1984 advert), and niche brands like Veja, a place in popular culture
Obviously needs don’t fall neatly in one of these buckets - humans are complex, and so our our needs. The key thing is for brands to look for opportunities to meet these needs in ways that make sense for their consumers, helps the brand deliver on its purpose.