Love + Fear: Mastering the Primal Motives of Buyers

By Shantini Munthree

Love + Fear Mastering the Primal Motives of Buyers shares a simple marketing framework that anyone can use, from an entrepreneur with a disruptive idea to the chief marketing officer of a Fortune 500 company.

Shantini Munthree, who has built and transformed leading brands throughout the world, cuts to the chase on brand positioning, explaining gaps in buyer behavior that have long frustrated marketers.

By drawing on work at Vanguard, Procter & Gamble, SABMiller (now under Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV), Sara Lee, and Caterpillar, and by sharing case studies from others, the author:

· strips away layers of brand positioning strategy and races you to the heart of a brand;

· reveals how to woo new buyers by taking on a macroaffection or macroinfliction—two new concepts;

· unpacks and tackles buyer objections and unexplored emotional deal killers; and

· shares proven strategies to tap into the deepest human motivations to turn buyers into brand advocates.

By the end of this book, you’ll be ready to unveil the real why of your brand, link it to a what that your buyer cares about, and do so in a way that elevates your brand above competitors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781480865457

Shantini Munthree

Shantini Munthree describes herself as having an American heart, South African soul, and universal spirit. For more than twenty years, she has helped build and transform some of the world’s leading brands. Shantini is President of BRANDKIND, a socially conscious brand strategy consultancy.

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Copyright © 2019 Shantini Munthree.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7189-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7188-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-6545-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018914822

Archway Publishing rev. date: 2/20/2019

To the

child in us all, may you always remind us of our pure radiance.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.

—1 John 4:18 (NLT)

Special Thanks

This book has been a journey for me. Along the way, there were many people who kept me going and who helped create this book. I am grateful especially to the following people:

Developmental editing: Mary Lowe Kennedy

Copyediting: Cheri M., Greg Lloyd, Stacey Walker

Art direction: John Militello

Cover design: Elaine Ward

Page layout: Alysha Smagorinsky

Photography: Brandon Sullivan

Contributions: The Britax team—Kelly Thomas, Jackie Gyoerkoe, and Kate Clark; The Shane Company team—Tom Shane and Becky Zimmerman; Scott Cohen; Gilbertson Cuffy; Helen Firth; Dave Greenberg; Prof. Salah Hassan; John Hepler; Julie Herbster; Neil Hobkirk; Judge Renee Hughes; Sean Miller; John Militello; Abey Mokgwatsane; Kirti Naik; Amy Ostrom; Rajiv Satyal; Andrea Shuttleworth; Anthony Tornetta, Shirley Weis; Bill Wreaks; and scores of marketing superstars I’ve met on my journey.

Conceptual feedback: Julie Herbst, Jessica Garretson, Jonathan Georgopulos, Mike Ma, Ray Mendez, Julie Pirsch, and Alina Wheeler.

Publishing, marketing, and distribution counsel: Gwen Ash, Thomas Daniels, Kathryn Gervasio, and Jyl Steinback.

Chicken Soup for My Heart and Soul: Jackson, George, Aaleyha, Preshane, Swalaha, Vanessa, Mom, Kate, and the rest of my family; John Boggs; Earle Bradford Jr.; my team; my ex-teams; my mentors and supervisors; Bruce Croza; Bettina Otterbeck; Prelene Latimer; the Uvongo tribe; the Philly crew; sisters and a few people who I know will prefer to remain private … you know what you mean to me.

Contents

Foreword

Why This Book

Part 1: Brands and Buyers

1   The Ebb and Flow of Emotions

2   Ways Buyers Attach to Brands

3   Attracting Your Buyers

Part 2: The Personal Drivers of Action

4   Understanding Human Behavior and Needs

5   Fear—What Moves Us

6   Love—What Moves Us

Part 3: Love and Fear in Marketing

7   The Love and Fear Continuum

8   Applying the Love and Fear Continuum to Your Brand

Part 4: Addressing Buyer Objections

9   Objections to a Brand

10   Tackling Buyer Objections

Part 5: Executing with the Love and Fear Continuum

11   Strategies to Help Buyers Overcome Fear

12   Case Studies of Brands Alleviating Fear

13   Strategies to Help Buyers Grow Love

14   Case Studies of Brands Cultivating Love

15   The Paradox for Market Leaders

Part 6: The World We Live In

16   Macroaffections and Macroinflictions

17   Adopting a Macroaffection or Macroinfliction

18   Where to Play

Part 7: Catch the Wave

19   This Is a Movement

Part 8: Retrospective Thoughts

20   My Journey of Love and Fear

Image Captions and Credits

Foreword

—Alina Wheeler, branding expert, speaker, and author of Designing Brand Identity, published by John Wiley & Sons

In my work to demystify branding and spotlight global best practices, I have reached out across the globe to thought leaders. I am especially drawn to those experienced brand managers who can articulate a strong and clear philosophy and who have worked across industries and cultures to build enduring value for their brands. For my fifth edition, I contacted Shantini Munthree to articulate the guiding principles of brands and to clarify the tenets of brand strategy. For over two decades, she has honed her experience as a marketing strategist at some of the world’s branding powerhouses, such as Procter & Gamble, SABMiller (now under Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV), Sara Lee, and Vanguard.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow developed a theory in psychology to classify the hierarchy of human needs. For close to a century, this framework has been referenced by marketers and brand strategists who need to deliver strategies that add value and transcend the competition. At long last, Shantini Munthree’s new framework is launched with the publication of this book.

Her simple notion that all motivation exists on a love-fear spectrum is the next big idea. This magnetic polarity is easy to understand and can guide a new generation of brand builders. If Maslow’s theory can be communicated with a pyramid, I would suggest that Munthree’s framework is a three-dimensional sphere that is constantly dynamic and in motion.

Much has been written about consumer behavior on how to nudge, push, and pull customers to a brand. This book breaks through the clutter to simplify brand positioning. While it is rooted in marketing fundamentals, it ambitiously distills even further the core principles of consumer needs and objections. Through fresh thinking, the book helps marketers get more efficient and effective in positioning their brands. This book is quite simply an extension of Munthree’s career quest to help brands find their highest, most enduring value.

Why This Book

This book is a why book. It explains a new positioning framework to help brands stand out in a noisy marketplace. It introduces a love and fear continuum that can be applied by marketers in brand strategy. While it highlights some of the practical strategies we coach and consult on, this book is not a how book. Instead, it shares the big idea around which our consulting curriculum is built.

Like many marketing books, this book is not based on a single research project. The book’s solution is based on the experience of the author as well as that of many marketers who have been in the trenches shaping brands and growing businesses across various categories. There is a component to the thinking that is based on commonly understood psychological, sociological, and scientific constructs. However, the book is not intended to be the expert in these fields.

To date, some work has been done in the area of brand love or emotional marketing. This work has centered on the idea that people can and do show attachment to brands in ways that are similar to loving another person. We transfer the thinking and emotions around human love to how we approach brands. Research and application have explored the varying depths of brand attachment, measuring it through scales such as brand engagement and brand loyalty. While we’ve embraced this over the past few decades, it is still early days in the way marketers think about the emotional aspects of brand strategy to drive buyer behavior.

Love and Fear as a book assumes the same underlying principle—that people can experience humanlike affinities for brands. Its key difference is in the idea that marketers should understand that it is not a two-way relationship. It is a three-way one. For brands to be successful, they should understand the buyer in the context of someone or something they care about. Brands should then focus their efforts to help the buyer move toward them—either by addressing a fear that gets in the way or by deepening the love that may already exist. By playing wingman to the buyer’s focus of attention, a brand is able to endear itself to the buyer and hopefully enjoy an enduring and valued partnership.

Success, it is hoped, is that this book sparks a new perspective on your brand. Ultimate success, it is hoped, is that you are able to use the book’s insights to pivot your brand to evoke deeper connections to move buyers and contribute in a more meaningful way to our world.

PART 1

Brands and Buyers

CHAPTER 1

The Ebb and Flow of Emotions

Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

—Kahlil Gibran,

The Prophet

Key Points

• Love and fear are in the ebb and flow of human emotions every day.

• A single person can attract and mobilize groups to do good or harm.

• When large enough, these mobilized groups create a cultural current through society.

• Brands can tap into these cultural currents to help them—or to negate them.

• A new positioning framework on love and fear can help brands find a legitimate place to contribute.

Love and Fear Are in the Ebb and Flow of Human Emotions Every Day

In Philadelphia, the eleven o’clock news bulletin starts with a mushy story of a pet being rescued or child getting honored. It turns quickly to a different report on a death by fire or gunfire, and then it circles back to something hopeful again. I am sure this format is followed by many media channels. There is irony in the order of emotions we get put through, but the format somehow works—and has worked for a long time. In many respects, this rhythm of warm fuzzies and cold alarm is what this book is about. At the very essence, human beings are driven by two primal emotions: love and fear.

Love and fear are the ebb and flow of personal emotions every day. They underlie every decision we make in our personal and professional lives. They also underlie every inaction of ours and every regret we have. From an individual space, love and fear are strong motives in how we choose to relate to our world.

A Single Person Can Attract and Mobilize Groups to Do Good or Harm

For some people, their expression of love and fear becomes so magnetic that they are able to pull other people along too. They attract people who identify with their emotions, their causes, or their missions. Most of the time, these affinity groups do good things, but there are some that don’t.

When Large Enough, These Mobilized Groups Create a Cultural Current through Society

The world is a giant ocean of emotion, with different currents flowing in different directions, causing waves, tides, and tsunamis over the course of our lives. Sometimes these cultural currents harness love and do good things, but others are rooted in fear and can be negative. This book taps into this for marketing purposes.

Brands Can Tap into These Cultural Currents to Help Them—or to Negate Them

Brands, in this ocean of emotion, contribute even more noise and motion to the marketplace as they tout their wares. Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! say a myriad of brands in all voices, colors, and forms. This book is about aligning a brand to a cultural current that’s relevant to it, where it has purpose and where it has permission to amplify the force of natural human currents. In some cases, where the current is a harmful one, a brand has the power to be a catalyst to change its direction—or stop it altogether.

A New Positioning Framework on Love and Fear Can Help Brands Find a Legitimate Place to Contribute

At the lowest and most fundamental level of human function are nurturing instincts of love and belonging, as well as survival instincts of fight and flight. Today we employ these same instincts to act or react to products and services touted by brands. This book, Love and Fear, introduces a new brand-positioning framework that advances our understanding of buyer behavior beyond the widely accepted customer-needs hierarchy.

It is not enough to understand what customer needs are. To get desired action, we also have to understand