While reading his top ten list below, think how you may be able to broaden your company’s appeal by satisfying these wants.
1. To feel safe and secure.
This is one of the strongest motivating forces in our lives. When Allstate tells us we’re in good hands with them, it appeals to this desire for safety and security. Who else? Volvo, OnStar, ADP, Geico, Johnson & Johnson.
2. To feel comfortable.
We all want to feel comfortable. We want to feel good, relaxed; we want it to be easy. Our brains are constantly asking, if I do this, how will I feel? We are attracted to what makes us feel good, and this is often what is most comfortable and easy. [Think] brands such as Cracker Barrel, Rockport, Godiva and Dole. (What’s easier than bagged lettuce?)
3. To be cared for and connected to others.
It is human nature to want to feel that someone cares for us, that we have friends, and that people enjoy our company. Humans are genetically predisposed to want to be together and to be connected. Think about recent campaigns from Olive Garden, Budweiser, Pizza Hut and Mitsubishi’s Eclipse. Further, this is one of the key wants social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace meet.
4. To be desired by others.
Some believe that all human motivation comes down to wanting to be desired by others. Axe can’t make their message to guys any clearer: use our products and you’ll be irresistible. And how about Michelob Ultra, Viagra, Cadillac, Old Spice and Victoria’s Secret?
5. To be free to do what we want.
The desire to be free has been a guiding principal of humankind for the past 200,000 years. [It's] such a dominant human want that, time after time, we have given our lives to satisfy it. Financial brands such as Fidelity, Citi and Mastercard were built by focusing on this want, as were brands such as Harley-Davidson, Southwest, Nutrisystem and even Norwegian Cruise Lines.
6. To grow and become more.
Humans, unlike animals, do not come programmed with the skills we need. We begin as blank slates, yet within the first five years of our lives, we learn to perform many of the skills we will use throughout our lifetime. But then what happens? Is there ever another five-year period where we grow as much? Most would say no, and yet our brains are conditioned from childhood to grow and learn. Because of this, our mind is constantly striving to satisfy the function it has been conditioned to perform: to grow and become more. When you think of Monster, Kindle, Bally and Kaplan, don’t they all brilliantly leverage this want to their advantage?
7. To serve others and give back.
As children we are fully dependent on our parents. Those early memories of our mothers and fathers serving our every need, unselfishly giving to protect, care and nurture, are deeply ingrained in our minds and condition us to want to serve others and give back. Therefore, we tend to feel good when we are making others feel good, unselfishly focusing on others. This want competes against many of our other more self-focused wants, causing an unsettling feeling when we too frequently focus on ourselves. What comes to mind when you think about Prius, Livestrong, Timberland, Newman’s Own, Make-a-Wish Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure?
8. To be surprised and excited.
The amount of stimuli that our senses can process throughout the course of a day is remarkable. While our perceptual register filters the vast majority of these stimuli, what almost always gets through is what surprises and excites us. Stimuli that could potentially cause ecstasy or anxiety are the first things to grab our attention — Red Bull, Las Vegas Tourism, Disney, De Beers.
9. To believe there is a higher purpose.
We deeply want to believe there is a higher purpose. There is not a single more important belief that has such universal acceptance yet completely lacks any form of scientific evidence. But because we so deeply want to believe, anything that can possibly support this belief is powerfully motivating. When the Marines show us a wall of soldiers standing guard over our country and ask us if we have what it takes to be among the few and the proud, they are offering us a higher purpose.
10. To feel that they matter.
This is humankind’s greatest want. Released in large amounts during labor, oxytocin, a neurotransmitter, bonds the mother to a child, making it nearly impossible not to want to care for the newborn. Infants who do not receive this attention can succumb to failure-to-thrive syndrome, causing premature death. So the fact that we matter is essential to our survival. We have been conditioned from birth to believe that we matter. But as we get older, the oxytocin wears off and we feel less and less that we matter. We then spend the rest of our lives trying to get back this feeling that we once felt in such abundance. Brands such as American Express, Lexus, Rolex and Starbucks help us remember that we matter.
Brian Martin says don’t focus on what your prospects and customers need. 
Think simply having a website is enough to qualify you as a web marketer in this day and age? His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI doesn’t.
Do your customers trust you to do right by them…even when they’re not looking?
The concept of transparency has been all the rage in the corporate world the last few years, but was the recent three-way war between Jay, Conan and NBC a little too transparent for any of the players’ own good?
