Making the Shift from Being a Want to Being a Need

Think about your favourite brands. The ones you use everyday. The ones that have become a huge part of your life. The ones that you'd recognise easily if you saw them anywhere. The brands that...you couldn't live without?

Of course, you could live without them, but you'd rather not. From the clothes that you wear to the gadgets littered all around your house; they add value to your life in their own unique way and allow you to live the way you want to. Truthfully, you only really need food and water to survive. But we don't just want to survive, we want to live. So, somewhere along the lines, brands have been able to convince us that their products/services are beyond wants, but more so are part of our essential needs to be able to live a good life. That's why we keep on buying from them.

Here's how they're doing it:

👉🏾 Find a problem. There's nothing worse than starting a business or brand without having a problem that you're trying to fix. Every good brand always has problem that it's trying to zone in on, but some genius brands take it a step further by focusing in on a problem that the customer/audience don't even know that they have yet. Coca-Cola's tackling thirst and Patricia Bright is tackling financial illiteracy with her new platform, The Break. As a photographer, the problem you are tackling is the terror that is 'bad photos'. As an artist, the problem is music that people don't like. Your problem will keep you grounded as your build your brand. It will also serve as a yardstick as your brand evolves, to measure how you're doing in terms of solving your problem. Having a clear problem that you're solving will reinforce to people why they just can't live without you.

👉🏾 Tell the world about your solution. Apple (the brand) is a marketing genius. They know just how to get to us. We want every new product and every new upgrade. It's crazy because every time a new iPhone comes out, the cynics are quick to remind us that the features we're getting excited about, for the most part, have already been out for a while. But we simply don't care. The reason for this is that Apple knows how to speak to its people. Both Apple and Samsung solve the same problem (needing a smartphone), but Samsung does not market the way that Apple does. Samsung does not make its users feel like they're in the VIP area of a swanky new club. Apple does. Apple users feel better the 'lowly' people of Android-ville, because Apple has marketed itself that way. That feeling comes with a premium price that people are more than happy to pay.

👉🏾 Keep up your rep. You can't afford to be a one-trick pony, however. If you're going to retain your place as a need in the eyes of your customer or audience, you need to keep innovating. Every single day there are new competitors coming to the surface, so if you stand still you will be run over. People are so easily distracted nowadays, so you have to focus on ways in which you can cut above the noise, even though you're being constantly threatened. I don't mean to alarm you, but you're already in the war for attention. Make sure you win.

As soon as your customers/audience view your brand or service as a need and not a want, you will have finally struck gold. Just ask Jeff Bezos.