Ego Gratification as an Ad Motivator

I know I'm going to get some comments on this one so bring them on. Ego. Everyone has one about one thing or another. It's really about some sort of status, right? What exactly is it that touches our egos? Here are a few examples of how exclusivity drives ego gratification.

I had been back in the states for a few weeks from my LONG OVERDUE vacation, but on my way back i was annoyingly waiting for my luggage and a lovely Louis Vuitton suitcase rolled by on the conveyor. Nice bag. About $1200 for the tiny one. But the bag got slammed and trashed like the $200 Samsonite that most people have. The price for that ego? About $1000. But nice job putting Uma Thurman in a fancy dress, and JLo in the ads. Why? People WANT to be like them and want to carry bags they have.

And what about the "little blue box"? You know what I'm talking about. Everyone loves it, it's Tiffany fortheluvapete. Anything in that box has GOT to be cool. I mean they patented the color! The jewelry is top notch and the price is about 20 times the price of any "normal" piece of jewelry. (I hear Kanye crying right now). They've done a great job of appealing to the ego of their customers. Heck, they even have a lower cost silver line to graduate people "up" to who they think they are! Great job Tiffany!

We all succumb to some sort of ego when it comes to advertising. Heck i have this "friend" whose ego was crushed when someone looked at her Technomarine watch and asked where she got her Fossil. Ouch.

Oh and it's not just product, VR has plenty of customers and publishers with newsletters that profess "The Best" info about something, or "The Most Fabulous", etc.

Do you have a product or service that appeals to the ego in anyone? It's a trigger, so pull it. Ego driven products can charge premium pricing most of the time. Why? Because it's not that we "need" the product, it's that we "want" the product and can have the product.

Here are a few examples of how to appeal to the ego:

• Financial Consultants - Looking to attract new customers that want "wealth management" instead of simply "financial planning"?
• Wineries -  Do you have a low production wine you will only sell to people who are "on the list?"
• Gifts/Jewelry retailers - Do you have a one of a kind product that is strikingly similar to something worn by Jennifer Aniston (or any other celeb that has been in US Weekly or on the Red Carpet lately)?
• Spa/Salon - Do you have the latest "must have" treatment that takes 10 years off of us? (If so I'd like it)
• Restaurants - Do you cater to "high-end" or "gourmet"?

If I haven't mentioned your business, no problem, you may very well have something that grabs the ego.  If you do, call it out, you'll not only get your target audience, you'll also get the wannabes! Hey Amex graduated me up from the Green Card;-)

Comments

[Matthew Scott]

It seems your friend with the Technomarine watch was yanked out of elite status by an innocent mistake! At least if she had been a target she would have her money's worth. Now she runs with the street rabble even though she paid paid a first class fare. The shame...and what a double-whammy!

It always comes back to money doesn't it? Money is the best scorecard in the game of life, or is it just that it is the hardest to get and the easiest to post, the most visible "point" in the achievement game?

The Technomarine said to the world, "there's something to me, take notice." Was she crushed by the fact that she paid first class and got coach, or the innocent mis-classification as "little-people?"

How about the Lady who owns the fossil and had it mistaken for a technomarine? Now there is an ego-booster!

[kevin]

Doesn't ego also trigger loyalty? I mean, if a customer buys a product for an ego reason, won't they be a little more attached to it than something that's merely meets a customer's needs.

Then again, not every product works for an ego pitch right? What if you're selling something that's widely available? Perhaps you can get around that by offering some kind of customization so that the customer can express their own ego?