There are biological needs and social needs; practical needs and psychological needs. All the various needs are basic wants. The marketer does not create the wants, he merely satisfies them. The marketer generally has to convince people that his product or brand satisfies their wants.
People are not always conscious of their wants. Because they are not always aware of what they actually want, they cannot tell you. Special techniques and procedures have to be used to get people to reveal their wants without their realizing that they are expressing their desires. They may have guilt feelings about their wishes.
Basically, human wants are all about the same. We all want comfort, love and happiness. Individual wants are conditioned by environmental and social factors.
There are still many executives who assume that all human beings have exactly the same wants. There are many managers who operate on the assumption that if the products are good for them, they are good for others. “I like the product, I want it,” he says to himself, “therefore, most people will want it.” Such an executive is not aware that his social position, his financial status, his education, perhaps his background make his reactions to an object totally different from the reactions of an average person. Such an executive is, of course, not in the class of “scientific management.”
The executives who are in the class of “scientific management” make judgments on the basis of objective information only. I have already outlined the various types of research that are used for gathering specific types of information.
Some of the necessary information is of a purely quantitative nature. Research techniques for gathering such information are well established. Marketing problems in which people’s attitudes are involved and in which motivating factors have to be evaluated are not in the realm of quantitative research techniques.
Attitudes, multiple motivations, conflicting wishes and unconscious reactions are not in the sphere of mere head counting. Psychological needs, cultural influences, and social pressures cannot be verbalized by consumers.
Research that records what people say does not reveal their true wants. Only the type of research that discloses natural, uninhibited reactions, real feelings, true attitudes and preferences in which self-interest is involved can be considered valid. This type of research did not develop in the climate of the business world but in the area of the behavioral sciences.
The basic principles and research techniques were borrowed from the field of psychology, particularly from psychoanalysis and from Gestalt psychology. The techniques have been modified and adapted to marketing needs. These techniques are now highly developed. They have been used successfully for solving marketing problems for about fifteen years. They provide a basis for management decision.
THE STRUCTURE OF A MARKETING PROGRAM
IN A CASUAL conversation at an informal gathering, a man said he was having some trouble with his digestion and was going to see a doctor. One of the group suggested that he see a specialist in this particular ailment. “Oh no,” my friend said, “I don’t like specialists. They cure their specialty instead of your actual trouble.” This statement made me think that marketing, like medicine, is full of specialists, each seeing his specialty as the only or most important element in a marketing situation.
Advertising people generally operate on the premise that the advertising theme or plan, plus a big budget, is the key to any marketing success. The introduction of the Edsel is an excellent example of maximum concentration on advertising and promotion.
Obviously, the 1958 Edsel was launched on the assumption that the design of the car was not a vital factor in marketing an automobile and that the name of the car was of minor importance. The name could be chosen for sentimental reasons, those in charge must have reasoned, since, after all, the advertising and promotion will be the biggest and best ever.
The marketing failure of the 1958 Edsel is one demonstration of the falsity of the assumption that with a big advertising budget and great promotion campaign you can sell anything.
Another demonstration that a big advertising budget is not all that is needed to sell a product is the case of a manufacturer of a breakfast food. The agency for the breakfast food was interested in developing a new marketing theme. The agency men decided that in order to get a fresh sales approach, they needed a new package. They sold management on the idea and a new package design was created.
When the marketing effectiveness of the new package design was measured by means of tests conducted on an unconscious level, it failed to pass the tests. The brand managers and the agency executives did not like the test results which contradicted their opinions and were not in tune with the marketing theme they conceived.
The research findings were disregarded and the new packages were produced and delivered to the stores. However, they remained on the store shelves. Although a big advertising campaign backed the introduction of the new package, the old consumers did not recognize the brand in the new packages and the new packages did not attract new consumers.
The company was forced to discontinue the new packages and cut off the new campaign. The old familiar package reappeared on the market.
The launching of the 1958 Edsel car and the introduction of a new package for an old brand of breakfast food are both excellent examples demonstrating that an advertising campaign by itself, no matter how good or how big, does not assure having a successful marketing program.
Not only advertising specialists are often guilty of considering their special field the only major factor in marketing. Package designers frequently stress packaging above everything else.
Designers are creative individuals. They love to create new ideas and new forms. They naturally strive to change. They normally consider everything that is new superior to everything that is old.
The greatest contribution of designers is their originality and creativity, which can, under some conditions, be negative factors in marketing.
Consumers in general are tired of the old, but fear the new. They are stimulated by and are also made to feel insecure by the new. Many people are attracted by new objects and new forms, but they resist them because they are strange. Although the old forms and objects give people feelings of security, they are often boring or unstimulating.
Research has shown that people readily accept something new about the old. The old part makes them feel secure and confident; the new aspect is stimulating and interesting.
The question is how much of the old and how much new should there be in a product in order for it to have maximum consumer acceptance?
We get the answer to questions of this kind from research, the kind of research that reveals true consumer attitudes and shows actual behavior of consumers in relation to the product or article.
Such research has disclosed that a new package is not always more effective than the old one, that the package of good taste is not always the best marketing tool and that the most original design is not always the best for a particular product. Marketing experience has later confirmed the results of tests that were conducted on an unconscious level.
Sales people often have their eyes focused at one point. They are frequently guilty of considering aggressive selling techniques as the most important factors in marketing. Sales managers are apt to disregard everything else in a marketing program and stress only aggressive selling. They put all emphasis on the sales pitch and on beating the pavements.
Sales specialists often stress competitive pricing as the key to increasing the volume of sales. If the product does not move fast enough, lower the price, is the dictum of many a sales manager.