I had read somewhere that marketing is about creating 'Wants' out of the basic 'Needs' of human beings... on the lines of I need to stay clothed to be counted amongst civilisation, but I want Ralph Lauren to show off my status (Deeeep sigh... when oh when will I be able to afford Ralph Lauren?!?!)
Today, while commuting to work, I saw such a blatant use of this principle. The interiors of Mumbai's local trains are plastered with posters selling all kinds of products, dreams, hopes and public awareness campaigns. One of them caught my attention. It was selling some EP3 formulation for men. The tag line being some thing like "Is liye nehi kyunki aapko iski zaroorat hain... is liye kyonki aapko yeh chahiye" or "Not because you need it, but because you want it"
I wonder if they were actually trying to tell a potential customer that he should buy it irrespective of whether he has the symptoms of "weakness" etc that these ads typically talk about. I mean maybe, in these times of economic recession, the market growth for the product was not too great, and hence they are trying to target not only the "kamzor" (weak) people, but also the hale and hearty folk.
On the other hand, it also gives the (ahem) "kamzor" people a good excuse to buy it... Now they would no longer have to suffer condescending glances from the pharmacist / shop keeper when they asked for the product.. after all, they would be buying it not because they needed it, but because they wanted it!
My verdict - not bad at all!
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