Aspirational Marketing
“Connect cigarettes with the idea of challenging male power, then women would smoke because then they would have their own penises.” — Edward Bernays.
The Century of the Self — Part 1 : Happiness Machine tells a story of how to get women to smoke because smoking was originally for men. Cigarette was the symbol of men’s penises so Edward Bernays introduced that women smoking would be the symbols of powerful and independent — Torches of Freedom. Bernays originated the idea that connecting the unconscious desires to the consuming goods would be the ways to sales. This is because it does not only make the consumers feel a certain way by consuming that particular product but also controls the perception of how the consumers are viewed by others. In this case of women smoking, the women not only did feel powerful and independent but were also perceived to be powerful and independent as well regardless of whether they are actually powerful and independent or not.
“What they want is the lifestyle that comes as a result of those products and services.” — Ryan Stewman
It turns out that what they want might not only be the lifestyle that comes as the result of those product and services but also the aspirations that brands have created. Whether it is power and independence that come with a cigarette or smart businessman lifestyle that comes with the high-end car or fun time with friends that comes with a few bottles of beer, they all are aspirational marketing. Aspirational marketing plays on our desires by portraying the advertised products or services as being able to fulfil our needs for status, love, lifestyle, etc. It is all about creating the aspirational vision that the consumers would be associated with the brand. In another word, aspirational marketing is basically showing the consumers what their future would look like with those brands in it which needs to begin with an understanding of how consumer sees the world. This is because this type of marketing strategy usually appeals to consumer’s psychological, social or economic aspirations — what they aspire to be — rather than their psychological, social or economic realities. The purchase or consumption of the advertised products or services are then offered by the marketers as a potential way for the consumers to access their aspired or desired goals. This would be — in my opinion — a shortcut for the them to reach their aspirations or at least a step or a few closer to the life they are hoping for.
Aspirational marketing may seem like an easy and effective marketing strategy but it is not as easy and effective as it may seem. This is because its success depends largely upon the gap between the audience’s self-image and the advertised idealised image. If there is a huge gap between the target audience and the idealised image, the audience will lose their self-esteem which sparks negative emotions towards the advertised brand. On the other hand, if the gap is not so different — say if the idealised image portrayed was a little closer to perfection than the audience’s is, aspirational advertising would certainly work in a much more effective way.
“Don’t just tell customers what you can do for them. Weave your story around who they aspire to be and the role you play in it.” — Dave Hochanadel
