UNIVERSAL VALUES THEORY
This theory was born from a simple reflection:
What have in common the most important advertisers of all time?: Nike, McDonald´s, P & G, Levis, Apple, Google, BMW, Nestle, Coca Cola, IBM, Ikea, Budweiser, etc.
They do not sell products.
All of them sell universal values:
Friendship
Success
Youth
Freedom
Independence
Prestige
Security
Progress
Family junction
Back to Basics
Vanguard
You name it.
The theoretical basis of the Universal Values Theory, can be summarized as follows: People do not buy products, people buy images.
And which are the images with the greatest selling power?
Universal values.
Positive, abstract concepts that are universally desired and accepted as valuable for all people and cultures.
They have a basic characteristic: they are all human values. They are not corporate or government securities. They are listed as priorities in the ideal life of any person on this planet.
They have always been there, from the first symptom of human life existence and have been getting stronger in every civilization in order to arrive powerful and solid at the second decade of the twenty-first century.
They have a definite advantage: they are free. The companies do not have to pay any royalties for them, nor any commission. And they can produce profits of billions to those that learn how to use them.
They are like magical spheres buried deep in the most mysterious and nearby temples: the consumers.
This theory can be visualized as follows:
The attributes of a product are at the base of the pyramid, in the middle we can find the benefits, and at the top are the universal values.
Two conditions are essential to approach the Universal Values without burning your hands:
1: To have a good product.
2. To have a real benefit.
Without these two premises it is useless to reach the top level of values because it is proven that it becomes a boomerang returning to cut the throat of your market.
There is a parallelism from bottom to top of the pyramid with the history of advertising.
That is, first was the era of selling attributes from the first half of the last century: “My product is wonderful, buy it.”
Then came the era of selling benefits: “Look what this product can do for you¨.
And today we are in the Universal Values Era.
Another interesting parallelism is with the most important advertising theories of all time.
First was the U.S.P. Unique Selling Proposition.
Then, the Positioning Theory.
And today is the Pyramid of Universal Values.
The crucial question is no longer: What is my Unique Selling Proposition or What is my Positioning?
Today’s question is: What is my Universal Value Strategy?
There are five factors that created this trend toward marketing values:
1. Homogenization of products and services.
Today all products are equal. With few exceptions, or minor differences.
And when a product launches innovation, 24 hours after, their competition makes a copy.
Today, companies are desperately seeking new ways to differentiate their products. Universal Values are the latest finding.
2. More demanding consumers.
As the number of messages increases exponentially with the invasive power of the digital ecosystem, today´s message consumers are becoming less reactive and more selective. Since it is impossible to respond to all messages, they only connect to those messages that include something they personally consider valuable.
As a survival mechanism, they learn to ignore, to disregard, to change channels, to close the application, to not click on the link, to turn the page, to close the window of the car in the middle of the traffic, to throw mail in the trash, to say no with studied reasons.
They create mechanisms to protect their privacy, they write negative reviews on your social media, they install secure systems in their cars, they go to the bar during theater movie commercials, they are now experts using remote controls for TV, and preset radio stations.
They have learned and mastered a new art. The art of advertising dodge. The art of recognizing messages that may interest them and those who do not, at a glance, in fractions of a second.
3. Emotional purchases.
Finally after millions of wasted messages, some marketing companies are beginning to understand that logical arguments do not sell products.
People do not take decisions based on facts. They make emotional decisions and then they find the justifying reasons.
Because one of the more characteristics behaviors of human beings is to act, buy, believe or vote, based on strictly instinctual, emotional impulses, and then, once consummated the act, they try to justify it to the mother, the neighbor, the boss or their consciousness by logical, rational and intellectual reasons.
If this was not so, the world would not be full of single mothers, punished children, programs to quit smoking, alcohol and drugs. There would be no return processing centers or business demands. If people would make rational purchases, products that are useless would not be sold, there would be no divorce, no religion, no advertising.
4. Crisis of values
We are experiencing a profound crisis of values. We no longer believe in anything. Neither in governments nor in religions, police, marriage, or any institution.
As social values crisis deepens, human beings seek desperate, consciously and unconsciously, to find values in everything around them. And curiously, in an overwhelming way, what surrounds them are products and services. From that crisis arises a golden opportunity to give an absolute value to those products and to those services.
Currently the consumer expects more from companies and products, than ever. They want to believe in companies that care about the environment, the health, the future, the commercial honesty, the justice. Companies that care about a better world and contribute to it.
They want to believe that companies have values, not just products, and they want to feel that behind those values there is a company with a philosophy and a mission that they can respect.
5. Brand Building
The last factor in this conceptual ecosystem is Brand Building. Sell your product today and build your brand for today and for tomorrow.
Just selling is no longer enough. You need to build powerful brands, immune to the onslaught of competition, rebates, devaluations, economic crisis and time erosion. The brands that are dedicated solely to sell fade away soon.
The only companies that have lasted for centuries are religions, and it has happened, of course, by selling Universal Values. Can you mention one that has lasted a fraction selling an item?
Powerful brands scoff homogenization, meet the new demands of consumers, and obtain from them a trusting relationship that goes beyond the rational.
Having said that, there is a logical question that you must have been formulating after all this journey through the paths taken by the world of marketing and communication:
How does the pyramid work in your specific case?
First we have to find an answer to another question.
Which Universal Value is deeply and honestly associated with your product?
