TL;DR: Your customers make decisions with a deep, instinctive part of their brain that they aren’t even aware of. To build a powerful brand, you must stop asking what people want and start looking for the hidden symbolic meaning your product has in their lives. Find that deep feeling, and you’ll create a connection that surface-level marketing can never touch.
You did everything right. You ran focus groups. You sent out surveys and got great feedback. You asked people, “Would you buy this?” and they said “Yes!”
So you launched. And it fell flat.
If this sounds familiar, you’ve run into one of the biggest truths in marketing: people can’t tell you what they really want.
It’s not because they’re lying. It’s because most of our decisions aren’t made with the logical, thinking part of our brain. They are made in a much deeper, older, more instinctive place. The part of the brain that runs on feeling, symbols, and gut reactions. To build a brand that truly connects, you have to learn to speak its language.
The Coffee Story: Why “Good Feedback” Can Be a Trap
In the 1960s, Nestlé wanted to introduce coffee to Japan. At the time, Japan was a nation of tea drinkers. Nestlé did their homework, held focus groups, and the feedback was positive. People liked the taste and said they would buy it.
So they launched their instant coffee. And it failed completely.
Why? Because while people logically liked the product, there was no deep, emotional connection to it. Coffee had no meaning in their culture, no place in their childhood memories, no role in their daily lives. The “idea” of coffee was nice, but the feeling wasn’t there.
Nestlé eventually succeeded, but only by playing the long game. They introduced coffee-flavored candies to children. They spent a decade slowly building a positive childhood memory around the taste of coffee. Those children grew up to be Japan’s first real generation of coffee drinkers.
The lesson is simple: you can’t just sell a product; you have to connect to a feeling.
The Headlight Story: What Are You Really Selling?
So, how do you find that feeling? You have to look for the hidden symbol.
A fascinating example comes from the car brand Jeep. For decades, their vehicles were known for their rugged, round headlights. To many Americans, a Jeep wasn’t just a car; it was a symbol of freedom, the wilderness, and the American frontier. It was the modern-day horse.
In an attempt to modernize the design, the company switched the round headlights to square ones. Sales immediately dropped.
They had made a critical mistake. They thought they were selling a car. But they were really selling a “horse.” The round headlights were the “eyes” of that horse—familiar, alive, and dependable. The square headlights felt cold, robotic, and wrong. They broke the symbol.
By listening to the market’s reaction and switching back to the round headlights, they restored that emotional connection and sales recovered.
How to Hear What Isn’t Being Said
You don’t need a multi-million dollar research budget to start uncovering these deeper truths. You just need to change the way you listen. Instead of asking direct questions about your product, get curious about your customer’s life.
Ask questions like:
- What is your earliest memory of a product like this?
- If this product were an animal, what would it be? Why?
- How do you want to feel when you solve this problem?
Notice that these questions aren’t about features or benefits. They’re about memories, feelings, and stories. The answers will give you clues to the hidden symbols and deep desires your customers have. They will show you what “horse” you are really selling.
Your job isn’t to create a product and convince people to want it. It’s to understand the deep, human story your customers are already living, and then show them how your product helps them become the hero of that story.
Feeling stuck in surface-level marketing? Let’s have a real conversation about the story your brand is really telling. Book a free discovery call with UNQA.