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Highlights the two views of the customer that predominate in business - the Vulcan view that customers are Rational Economic Maximizers (typically held by Finance and Operations executives) and the Earthling view that customers are Utility Maximizers (typically held by HR and Marketing executives). The presentation discusses how brands enable a company to appeal to the product functionality requirements of the Vulcan customer as well as the a broader set of requirements from the Earthling customer. The presentation illustrates how the head and the heart are not at odds (Earthlings care about both dimensions) and that the role of Marketing is understand and deliver on all dimensions of customer need.
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P1 Does Marketing Matter? January 2009
Marketing Finance: Vulcans & Earthlings
Marketing Finance Thought Series Type 2 Consulting
New York March 2014
P2
Vulcans & Earthlings
Vulcans & Earthlings is my metaphor for characterizing the contrasting views of the customer held by business executives
In the red corner are the Vulcans who believe that customers are Rational Economic Maximizers and that the
explanation of the functional benefits of a product are all that is required
In the green corner are the Earthlings who believe that customers are Utility Maximizers who are seeking to satisfy a range of functional, emotional and psychological needs
P3
Performance
Customer Value (Vulcan Version)
: Price
P4
Customer Value (Earthling Version)
: Price
Performance Convenience
Security Belonging
Status Meaning
… and a lot more
P5
Vulcans & Earthlings
Each view tends to predominate in different business disciplines:
This is the viewpoint of the majority of executives in Finance and Operations
This is the viewpoint of the majority of executives in
HR and Marketing
P6
Peter Drucker was an Earthling
What the customer buys and considers value is never just a product. It is always a utility, that is,
what a product or service does for him.
Peter Drucker Author and business theorist
1909 to 2005
P7
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
Meeting the Vulcan and Earthling requirements for value is what brands do, and why they are valuable business assets:
P8
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
• To create a brand, you need to augment a Vulcan focus on product functionality (“what the product does”) with an Earthling sensibility about the additional sources of customer utility (‘what the product does for me and means to me”)
• This involves debunking the “head vs. heart” myth that underlies the suspicion that Vulcans have of Marketing
• A brand must appeal to the head and the heart: – The head is satisfied because functional requirements are met by a
product of fundamentally good quality (measured in terms of performance, reliability and other relevant specifications)
– The heart is satisfied because because emotional and psychological needs are met (measured in terms of security, belonging, status and other relevant expectations)
• The key point is that Earthling sensibilities are not at odds with Vulcan requirements – they represent an additional axis
P9
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
<<< Vulcans only care about this axis >>>
P10
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
Earthlings care about both axes
P11
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
P12
Brands, Vulcans, and Earthlings
Delivering on Earthling needs for both performance & meaning
Building great products and trusting that customers are Vulcans
High pressure selling of
bad products
Making bad products appear more appealing
P13
Complementary Perspectives
P14 Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008
P15
What I Believe
• There are three major hurdles that Marketing must overcome in order to be viewed as a strategic business discipline: – First, it must convince those with a Vulcan mindset that customers
care about more than product functionality – Second, it must define its mandate as the creation of customer value,
not just the creation of marketing communications – Third, it must establish a robust measurement framework for
demonstrating how it contributes to business value
• The “Vulcans & Earthlings” metaphor can be used in connection with the first challenge [if you choose to make use of it, please credit it to Type 2 Consulting]
• The juxtaposition of the Vulcan’s focus on functionality with the Earthling’s focus on utility highlights that customer value creation is about more than creating a high quality product or service – it is about satisfying a broader set of customer needs
P16
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