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,
evolutionarily-preserved
dispositions that have
helped us survive and
grow
Concepts are neural
structures that allow us
to order and categorise
all 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 more than 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.
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 in our
brain, to the cognitive operations
and psychological states they
activate, to the major social
reinforcers they 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 peoples 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 peoples
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 and
mobilising 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 dont 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
 To discover more about the deepest motives for buying
cosmetics and how to boost your brand feel free to contact us:
http://www.brandaviators.com/contact-us
research@brandaviators.com