What bottle openers have in common with consumer need statements

Gaining the attention is like a bottle opening: once open, it can be refilled, but not all opened bottles refill by default; even worse, an open bottle is under the risk of spilling.

Core role of  Brand Marketing is to establish connection of consumers with the brand, inspiring desire to acquire the products signed.

Touching upon a fresh consumer need

In case of low awareness or of inactivated brand equity, a new story is needed to be unfold to audiences. Especially when the brand is diagnosed to stay out of consumers’ radar for long, extra care is given in identifying and articulating a fresh consumer need in that story. A contemporary need, stated through a sharp untold truth is frequently considered as the vehicle to replenish the brand with new fuel.

Seed a need, to seize that need

Still, gaining the attention is like a bottle opener: an open bottle can be refilled if opened, but not all open bottles refill by default just because they are open. It sometimes happens to even end up with emptying.

To make a stated need truly fruitful in the brand story, the brand should resolve the puzzle that the need statement creates.

Seeding a need is not enough for a new story that the brand says. Seizing that need in a reliable, impactful and unique way is the most critical milestone to capitalize over the storytelling investment. The story statements should be formed in a way that they both seed the need and permit the brand to seize that need.

A Greek market case of refilling the competitor’s bottle 

The example of a retail brand’s ad, challenging the mainstream category by invoking the need for more premium products, led one of its competitors to seize the seeds. Bottle openers work for many bottles; hence consumers got the ad message, but preferred to refill another brand’s bottle. That specific need coverage was much more satisfying and fulfilling for them through the competitor’s brand, a brand readier to “resolve the puzzle”.

This is the story of my life, would scream many market researchers on both sides of the Atlantic, having seen the same at brands they studied: trying to stretch themselves into roles that are not naturally theirs.

Bridging with consumer or with the brand?

Experience shows that to build a charming story, the phase of seeding the need should be consumer-first: Language, tonality, cultural implementation that set the need context might prioritize on consumer’s life perceptions rather than on brand’s preparedness to adopt the required tone of voice. It should be taken into account that, as experts, we tend -more often than not- to underestimate the speed consumers adopt social evolvements.

On the other hand, to seize the benefits that the need creates, it is necessary that the need essence has a brand-first orientation. Even if more established needs are detected in the category, choice of need to address should be made on a perspective that consists clear advantage for the brand advertised and that it undoubtedly satisfies better than its competitors.

A fruitful brand story rarely comes up by chance, by stand alone creativity or just by intuition. Truberries has designed and has successfully implemented a big number of customized Brand Knowledge Journeys, that unlock opportunities to seed a seizable need, in a creative still strategically compliant way.