Does A Woman Need A Man?

A vast majority of what we desire are wants not needs

Obviously, the answer is no. Conversely, men do need women, but I digress. From the beginning of time however, we have been led to believe that a woman’s worth is in a man and given the countless clothed and unclothed come-gerrit instagram photos and stories, many a woman believe it. If indeed what we learnt in primary school is true, that our basic needs are food, shelter and clothing, does a woman need a man for sustenance? To have a house?? Clothes??? She may want him to provide the aforementioned but as the 20th century has proven, women can do all that for themselves and more.

Hear me out. Men are defined by the work of their hands and by extension, the results of the work of their hands. Results are manifested in status either by social hierarchy or by economic power. Either you have social capital i.e fame, or a lot of money in the bank — preferably both. According to the New York Times, in 2019 SUVs outsold sedans 2-1 in the USA. In many other countries, the trend is picking up quickly. You may be wondering how many SUVs are going off-road regularly. The answer is a fraction. But SUVs are a sign of affluence and as economies grow, so does the need to show prosperity. Do you need to be paying that mind-bending mortgage? Do your kids need to be going to that expensive and exclusive school? The answer is no. But you, like me, are not in pursuit of practicality; we’re in pursuit of status. Status defined as high rank or social standing is a desire that is as natural as the sky is blue.

Great marketers understand this reality of human nature. They understand that products bought have less to do with utility. Rather, products are purchased to assuage insecurities and aspire to or reassure social class. Everyone is a social climber, searching for emotional and monetary validation that will propel him up to the next level.

The key for us in online marketing is not to strive to change this primordiality but ride on it. By communicating how our products help our target audience achieve social standing we achieve this. A good example of a company that has executed this well is Uber. By standardising the quality of all Ubers and by ensuring all vehicles are relatively new, they zeroed in on a key human trait: everyone is interested in what is new. Why? Because newness proffers status. Kids as young as 4 understand this. Why else do they want to wear freshly bought clothes immediately? Or show their friends their newest toys?

That’s not all. According to Forbes, there are over 2,700 billionaires in the world. However, there is only one Elon. There is only one Jeff. There is one Bill. But even with what they have, as recent reports showed, they do not have it all in the relationship department. Clearly, want is an itch that never goes away. I’m reminded of a wealthy land owner who hilariously stated that he doesn’t want all the land in the world - just the land that touches his. In whatever industry, in whatever income bracket, in whichever community, there is social strata. There is a pecking order. And we are all are striving to get to the top meaning, we all are looking for and will engage in communication that assists us to achieve that end. To put it in another way, Nicolas Chamfort wrote, “Society is composed of two great classes: those who have more dinners than appetite and those who have more appetite than dinners”.

The most impactful adverts of the last 100 years from Volkswagen’s “Think Small”, to Malboro’s “Cool Cowboy”, to Pepsi’s “Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot” have all keyed in on the irresistible pull we all have towards meaningfulness, peer acclamation and aspiration. Nike for example does not advertise sneakers — they celebrate athletes who by sheer determination and self-will eclipse all odds. Some like Eliud Kipchoge are world famous. The majority are unknowns who within their social circles are venerated for losing 100 kilos or for running a marathon after a debilitating illness. Debeers does not sell diamonds: it sells “Happily ever after”. It sells forever. It sells love and commitment, both great and virtuous but evidently, not essential to life.

It is OK, even smart to get granular in the who, why, what, when, how of our buyer personas. However, it is imperative that we understand that the overarching sentiment linking John in the village to Bob in his multi-million dollar penthouse is status. The one thing differentiating a woman with 500 followers on Instagram with one with 500,000 is the alluring “You Want This” content. She knows this. Instagram knows this. Great marketing knows this.

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