Sep 15

Hierarchy of Advertising Needs

By admin Marketing, Misc. Posts Add comments

I was reading an article by Cheryl Kellond titled “Shining A Light on Performance Display Advertising.” In it, she breaks down the components of what makes a successful advertising campaign – that it’s a two-part system, where it’s not all about creative size, better positioning, and smart campaigns, but that it’s also making each ad relevant to the customer. She asks the question, “What good is a perfectly branded, perfectly placed, creative ad if it’s for a product the consumer doesn’t need or want?”

I agree with her wholeheartedly, but my spin on successful advertising campaigns focuses not on the need and rather on the want. According to Maslow’s theory of basic needs, the two most basic needs that must be met are deficiency and physiological needs. These two needs must be met in order for any other higher need to come into focus.

So how does this hierarchy of need fit into a good advertising campaign you may ask? Well, I’d like to think a good marketer is a marketer that can turn any consumer want into a need. Now some of you might think that this is exactly why performance marketing has come under heavy fire, because of deceptive marketing tactics. However, there is a huge difference between using Oprah’s face to market a product when she has not endorsed it versus using a customer testimonial who praises a product.

Put together a campaign that focuses on your product as an aid, a facilitator (not as a panacea) to helping customers fulfill whatever need they are looking to fill and you’ve got yourself a happy customer as well as money coming in.

Blue Phoenix Media


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