Why values, human needs and motivations matter in branding

Why values, human needs and
motivations matter in branding

Hobbes, Rousseau, Maslow & Advertising

NEXT WAVE EUROPE | BERLIN-BUDAPEST-PRAGUE-BUCHAREST | WWW.NEXTWAVEEUROPE.COM

In an ocean of commodity markets it is often advertisement - or rather branding -
that can set two identical products apart.


Branding is about the power of storytelling.
Before any story can be told, however, we
need to have an understanding about the
relevant human desires and needs we believe
to be true about the people we are going to
tell our story to (a.k.a. our “target group”).


What are our convictions about our target group -
or consumers in general?

Or even more general, what is our deep belief
about the “human race”, as a marketer?


Do we think, like Thomas Hobbes, holding that primitive human life is
ultimately "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"?

Humans just want to stuff themselves with material goods selﬁshly and with
greed, without self-awareness?


Or, do we think like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Enlightenment philosopher,
holding that mankind is ultimately “free” and “noble”?

Do humans want to be liberated by ideals, noble principles
and activated by good deeds? Are we naturally and innately good?


Our answer to that question can ultimately determine the way we tell our stories
as marketers and professional users of media.


American psychologist Abraham Maslow pioneered an approach to understanding
human motivations that he called “Humanistic Psychology”. He believed that every
person has a strong desire to reach his or her full potential, which he referred to as
“self-actualization”.

This would make Maslow a Rousseau-ite at ﬁrst glance, right?


Maslow’s insights into human nature allowed him to quickly realize that self-
actualization was not the most pressing need for human beings. This led him to
create his most famous contribution to psychology, now commonly referred to
as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs a.k.a. “The Maslow Pyramid”. After six decades
it is still widely used and applied:


Maslow represented the basic levels of human needs in a hierarchy, a pyramid
visualization. The needs ﬂow from the most basic survival requirements, such as
food, water, and shelter, to the pinnacle, which Maslow called self-actualization.


The lower two levels of the pyramid relate to
physical needs, the upper ones are “meta-
physical” catering to emotional, intellectual
and spiritual motivations.

Maslow said that people act out of feelings
caused by needs which have not been
satisﬁed. We are compelled to try and resolve
those needs in a certain set order.


As marketers we have a great responsibility because we are not just
shapers of society but we can inﬂuence individual behaviour based on
our underlying assumptions about human nature and motivations...


Will we “vulgarize and brutalize” (Bill Bernbach) our target group
thinking they are only interested in “shopping and fucking”?

Or will we elevate our target group believing that they have longings
for higher purposes?


On the following slides we present real life advertising examples for
each approach - corresponding to Maslow’s hierarchy.


Physiological (sex, food, excretion)


Safety (security of health, family, property )


Love/belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy)


Esteem (self-esteem, conﬁdence, achievement, respect)


Self-actualization (morality, creativity, problem solving, spontaneity)


Final words:

"All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of
society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can
help lift it onto a higher level."
- Bill Bernbach, founder of the agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB)


Headquartered in Budapest with business activities throughout the CEE region - including
Budapest, Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Bucharest - Next Wave Europe is a fast expanding boutique
brand and strategy agency focused on content creation and the social experience.


Next Wave Europe

www.nextwaveeurope.com

hello@nextwaveeurope.com

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Why values, human needs and motivations matter in branding

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