WHAT MAKES COSMETICS SELL

We do not just consume cosmetics. By integrating intrinsic functionality with predefined meaning we create and express the master narratives of our lives.

We derive the maximum value from narratives that are automatically identifiable and viscerally classifiable as evolving parts of our human experience

What deeply engages us always fulfils some fundamental motive, the evolutionarily-preserved dispositions that have helped us survive and grow

Concepts are neural structures that allow us to order and categoriseall stimuli around us

Our psyche consists of a code. We are an ordered pattern of fundamental motives capable of generating life.

Successful brands coherently express the very patterns of our psyche

Using , for the first time, a

multidisciplinary approach, including

brand communication decoding,

motivational research, psychology,

affective neuroscience, cognitive

linguistics, cultural anthropology,

sociology, philosophy and their

proprietary tools, BRAND AVIATORS™

has studied the motives underpinning

buying behaviour in over 70 global

categories of goods including cosmetics

Beneath all the phantasmagoria of global

marketing communication, lies order and

rhythm, the source code of our human

behaviour

What follows is a brief analysis of the deep motives for buying cosmetics. The motives are presented in order of increasing relative importance in line with their power to influence our buying decisions. The further we read, the stronger the associations they build in our mind, the more powerful their influence on the sales and profit in the cosmetic category.*

* A book will shortly be published, extensively

analysing the motives underpinning 33 categories of

everyday consumer goods and our fundamental human motives. It puts forward the most integrated platform for engaging people to date.

PLAYFULNESS: On an initial

layer of motivation, cosmetics

offer a tonifying, uplifting,

vital experience. Cosmetics

constitute one of the means

which enable us to reshape

nature into a flamboyant life.

EXPERIMENTATION: More significantly,

cosmetics favour self-experimentation

accompanied by the possibility of a

mind-opening experience. We are

beautiful only if we are free to express

our inner beauty. At the heart of beauty

we find novelty. Beauty is intrinsically

rare. Since the dawn of history,

individuals have persistently searched

for ingredients that are unknown to

others. Cosmetics reinforce the feeling of

independence and even represent

freedom from the very dictates of

nature, the way nature shapes us.

SOCIABILITY: On a deeper

layer of motivation,

cosmetics are successful

because they build our

public self and make us

feel accepted. Cosmetics

become our intimate

allies.

In our collective fantasy, by connecting with something beyond our own individuality we become infinite

SUBVERSION: Beauty asks to be

destroyed. Its destruction makes others

feel alive. Humans make themselves

desirable in order to attract and be

sacrificed. Embodying the insolent, and

destabilizing essence of cosmetics into

their narratives, some of the most

successful brands help us fight fears,

outsource anxiety, express denial.

Cosmetics make us feel we do whatever

we can to reverse time, even through

pain and suffering. No cross, no crown.

SELF-DEFENCE: Cosmetics

protect us not only from

environmental aggression,

but everything that is lurking

around the corner. Humans

need to feel nourished

physically and emotionally,

day and night.

SENSE OF WHOLENESS: As in our mind,

outer beauty starts from inner beauty, we

feel that by helping us take care of our

beauty cosmetics support our personal

philosophy and internal balance when

everything else around us is chaotic. Expert

products, technology, know-how and

technical expertise provide us with a sense

of peaceful serenity. In using science to

acquire balance and harmony, we connect

with our body and revive our soul.

DESIRABILITY: On a deeper

level, cosmetics help us to

be desirable, to fulfil the

biological purpose of

beauty which is to attract

SELF-EXPRESSION: Cosmetics are

a mechanism for reinventing

oneself on a daily basis. Daily

re-creating beauty is just

another manifestation of our

eternal urge to fight destruction

through creation. This search to

capture transient perfection and

make it a part of oneself gives

us a sense of authorship.

SELF-ESTEEM: More substantially, we

buy narratives that promise self-

improvement, favour our self-

sufficiency and enable us to live up

to our potential. As our self-

sufficiency is reflected in how we

interact with others, when we feel

attractive we feel powerful. The ego

becomes embodied. Throughout

time beauty has aroused

admiration and has been connected

with the effort for self-actualisation.

In everyday reality, we become the

efficiency of the products we use.

CONTROL: Throughout history humans

have tried to control the environment

and impose their own conditions upon

nature, starting with their own body.

In taking control of our look and our

emotions, we feel that we are gaining

control of our destiny. Beauty itself is

a capital asset and we need to

maximize its market value.

Ultimately, cosmetics promise to make

us look like gods and goddesses. We

are constantly obsessed with the fear

of missing out on any potential.

REASSURANCE: Helping us

restart every day,

regenerate and invigorate

ourselves, the use of

cosmetics represents a

profound denial of death

on a daily basis. To feel

attractive is to be alive.

TRANSFORMATION: On the

innermost layer of human

motivation, beauty is seductive

and hypnotizing. Seduction is life

itself, an effort to deceive,

outmanoeuvre, manipulate, to

incorporate our environment.

Cosmetics help us change while

remaining the same.

Miraculously, we do feel

changed, we do become

different people. Our ordinary

life is transcended.

Beauty, the alchemic union of opposites (according to Surrealists), includes the moments and acts of unveiling itself. When using cosmetics, it is as if a magic spell is cast over us, imperfect creatures. Our self-worth suddenly becomes buoyant and our ability to step forward into the world with a smile and a confident stride is radically enhanced.

This map illustrates

the way some

major cosmetic

brands are

positioned in the

consumers’ mind

Deep category understanding is just the first step in creating engaging Narratives. To build a proposition that is both authentic and deeply engaging, the brand must germinate the bare motives that drive the category in a unique and profoundly human way.

Having captured, for the first time, our fundamental human motives at the deepest levels of their deployment, all the way from: • their biological value • to the neurosystems they

engage• to the cognitive operations and

psychological states they activate

• to the major social reinforcersthey cause and

• to the rich hierarchy of inherent concepts they infuse into our everyday life, BRAND AVIATORS™ helps marketers develop Intrinsically Engaging Narratives™

Based on in-depth research and practical implementation, BRAND AVIATORS™ helps marketers develop brands with a solid inner architecture deeply rooted in the fundamental human motives, using a three-phase methodology

Phase 1: Map the territory

The first phase of the methodology deconstructs the fundamental human motives driving the sales and profit of the category, establishes the relevant psychographic territories and reveals the way that the brands are mapped in people’s mind

Phase 2: Give soul to

your brand

To be authentic and engaging, narratives must always be sourced from the core of the brand. The second phase captures the core of the brand, and mobilises its genuine codes in order to satisfy our common motivations relative to the category.

Phase 3: Enrich people’s

lives

Powerful strategies require effective articulation. In this third phase, the consumer proposition is translated into ownable experiences written in the language that uses our primary emotions as structural elements.

There is a direct

correlation between our

fundamental human

motives and the level of

sales and profit

Nothing fuels creativity more than understanding andmobilising our fundamental motives and the rich hierarchy of inherent concepts they infuse into our everyday life

The efficiency of communication budgets is maximised when the authentic codes of the brand match the deepest motives which drive sales and profit in the category. Nowadays, we have no excuse for saying that “we waste half of our advertising budget but we don’t know which half”.

Above all, by founding brand strategy on our fundamental human motives, and by embedding Intrinsically Engaging Narratives™

the brand becomes deeply humanistic in that it offers holistic, universal experiences that no longer simply satisfy some individual needs but the needs of the species

We are trusted by some of the world’s leading companies:

Ask here for your FREE eBOOK “The Intrinsically Engaging

Narratives™ Of Cosmetics” to boost the sales and profit of your brand:

http://www.brandaviators.com/ask-for-your-free-ebook