Aug 25, 2010

“Darwinism” on Customers needs.

Homo-sapiens sapiens are the most developed creatures on the Earth, the evolution of human developed from their needs. Everything in this world has developed because of the primary need, and that was the need to live, there is nothing that gives a standard definition to the need of life, everybody decides for himself the purpose of his life.

But anyway, from the need of life evolved other primary needs like, food and sex. Humans always were striving to satisfy their needs, and when a person have a need but he doesn’t have the thing that satisfy this need he is looking for that particular thing that will satisfy it. This is when commerce kicks in. Before people invented money, to make the exchange and to get the satisfaction they needed, people were using barter (exchanging products/services instead of other products and services). But which one of them was the customer and who was the seller, well, back then, they didn’t have this terms so it didn’t matter, anyway in my opinion for a better understanding of the term “customer” I will be better to indentify him, and do that I will use the definition of the term: ”Customer - entity that receives or consumes products (goods or services) and has the ability to choose between different products and suppliers[source]. So person who was the first to ask for an exchange was the customer because he was the one that had the need to consume the product that the other person had.

Well, after money entered the field, the difference between customer and seller became clear. After that, people’s needs started to become bigger and bigger, because now people could offer a standard product that anyone would accept and that was money. Money made humans hungrier for a better life. At the beginning of the XXth century a new era in customer needs started. The producers and sellers got more control over the peoples needs, after the big market collapse in 1929 which was caused by the overproduction, producers felt that they depend to much from customers and they took the initiative in their hands. They developed Marketing which made people to want the products that they made. Since then, the power of producers became tremendous, now people need what they are told that they need. And this needs started to grow exponentially.

As regular person I hate marketing for creating this “need machine” but as a marketer I think that without it the desire for a better life that moved humans all along will be finished.

Let’s face it, we always want the best for ourselves and it is almost impossible to fight it.

Aug 5, 2010

Hurricane money

My parents have been living in Florida for more then 10 years already, and not that long ago I moved here too. Florida is popular for its beautiful beaches, hot weather, flamingos and of course Disney Land. But there is steal one thing that scares people out of Florida and it is: permanent hurricane danger.

A hurricane is like King Kong, it destroys everything that gets in its way and the consequences stay for some period. That is why when it comes you have to be prepared.

So what people buy to prepare for a hurricane? Well first of all canned food, dry food and water. Next is: camp gas-stove, extra fuel, batteries, candles, flashlights, medical kits, even rope and rubber boats, etc.

So now think how often do you buy camp stoves, flashlights or rope on a normal day? Well I am sure not often almost never. How about during a hurricane warning? Yeah. This companies makes their biggest revenues during hurricane season (of course I mean only in the hurricane zone).

So the point I am making is that when the “weather King Kong” is striking someone loses and someone gains, the bad thing is that small people are always those who are losing and the big corporate guys are the ones that are gaining.

Extra: How to prepare for a hurricane!