Over the past decade, the UAE witnessed an unprecedented boom in spite of a worldwide recession. While 2008 recorded as the lowest point ever, advertising and PR agencies have played a vital role in rescuing struggling companies and liberating them from the yoke of the downturn.

At present, the UAE is witnessing another boom, with no red flags on the horizon. Will ad agencies rise to the challenges that will inevitably present themselves? What exciting new strategies do they have to capitalise on the upswing?

While the core motivating factor of any business is profit, this can only be achieved by equating supply and demand levels that are in play in the marketplace. “Need” is a word deeply etched in our being. In 1943, Maslow advocated that human motivations are driven by the need for ‘safety’, ‘belongingness and love’, ‘esteem’, ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘self-transcendence’, and any decisions made are effected by the desire to maximise certainty in these fundamental facets.

In affirmation to these findings, most organisations team up with their ad agency counterparts to find ways to gain mindshare by appealing to the conscious brain of their target audience. While this may have obvious implications on brand recall, there is a tendency to pay little or no attention to the subconscious — known to drive almost 90 per cent percent of purchase decisions — and sideline its significance.

Importance of senses

While concentrating forces to target the most obvious of human senses, most marketers overlook the importance of senses that operate under the radar, which are some of the most visceral in the way a consumer favours one brand over another. While the consumer may not be overtly aware of these subliminal senses, an efficacious strategy is one that will strive to fulfil these real — albeit intangible — wants.

Any attempts to undermine the part played by the subconscious brain in the purchase process may result in unfavourable outcomes.

Take the ‘Just Do it’ campaign by Nike, for example. While it cleverly appeals to its audiences senses via the innate need for self-actualisation, its obvious simplicity has stood the test of time and achieved what most brands can only fantasise about. And it did it without talking about the physical aspects of the actual product or current fashion trends.

It simply touched upon the subconscious needs of its consumers in a powerful way. Heralded as one of the most powerful positioning lines in the history of branding, it is an essential part of marketing curriculum taught at universities, and has achieved hall-of-fame status in the minds of marketing professionals worldwide.

If anything can be learned from successful brands, it is the resolute imperative to satiate customers at a subconscious level. A great brand is one that has a story to tell, a life of its own, and is continuously evolving to complement the current market trends. With the logo considered to be the heart of a brand, it can be a great starting point to help tune the brand to meet the needs of the customers on physical and emotional levels.

A distinctive aura

Breathe life into your brand by giving it a backstory, personality traits, a distinctive aura that separates it from your competition, all the while nurturing it and giving it the fertile ground it needs to thrive and flourish in.

Understanding your customers’ preferences can put you way ahead in the game and in a league of your own. Disneyland lined up all their major attractions on the right side to cater to the preference of their right-handed customers — a dominating trait of their target market — who would unwittingly find it easier to look right while taking in the sights and sounds.

It is their dedication to understanding their customers on that subconscious level that has enabled them to achieve their unrivalled status.

Within the confines of the regional market, the concept of subconscious marketing has not been fully subscribed to, due to the dominance of mass-marketing concept, which radically diminishes the need to treat each individual customer as a vital component; one that must be communicated to individually and not as a part of a collective whole.

As a function that can help steer your business in the right direction, marketing must take into consideration all the available tools and tactics, harmonise their individual influences, and incorporate a strategy that is tailor-made to meet organisational objectives. If done right, you can be assured of that smug walk all the way to the bank.

— The writer is the CEO of Venture Communications.