Pyramid of brands, from Maslow to Soluble

In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow published 'A Theory of Human Motivation'. The work was born with the goal of presenting his main ideas about the humanist approach in mental health and psychology. But its impact came to deeply influence the field of marketing and advertising.

The key to its rapid spread lies in the figure that represents the hierarchy of human needs, recognized ever since as Maslow's Pyramid. In it, the author graphically and simply represents the scale of human priorities and how each of its phases must be satisfied before moving to the next: self-realization cannot be achieved if we have not met what our physiology, security, relationships, and recognition require.

And why are we bringing this 80-year-old theory to this Solublabla? Because our CEO, Ismael Barros, keeps it in mind in each of the strategic decisions he has made for our organization. And, truthfully, what our dear Maslow said does have direct application in everything that is and everything we do at Soluble, with our own team and with our more-than-partners.

Maslow's pyramid for organizations

If we consider organizations and brands as something alive and in constant evolution, we can drive them with this approach, starting by understanding which needs they must cover before moving to the next. And in this way branding can help us turn brands into business assets that help achieve and consolidate each of those phases.

The Pyramid of brands that Ismael Barros has defined for Soluble has the following phases:

• Profitability. Being profitable is the same as having a person's physiological needs met, and it is our short-term objective. We work from branding so that the benefit of our projects is to spend less and better and earn more from day one. And working from the brand allows us to radically improve the optimization of a business's resources.
• Stability. Over time, our branding approach allows us to turn profitability into a stable and sustained reality. This requires significantly less effort from organizations to meet their short and medium-term objectives. At this stage, we become an indispensable part of optimizing the opportunities that emerge.
• Loyalty. With a healthy and stable reality in place, we're ready to tackle the phase where we build solid bonds. Not just with customers—though of course with them too—but also within the organization itself, and even across the ecosystem formed by other brands and/or institutions. Here branding becomes capable of strengthening and capitalizing on those relationships.
• Visibility. At this point, branding starts to achieve greater global impact. We partner with our clients to ensure their brand is seen, recognized, and above all, chosen by the right people to fulfill their mission. It's especially healthy to focus on being seen once everything else is resolved. It will be the most effective way to grow and endure.
• Transcendence. Having our purpose achieved and sustained is a constant aspiration and one of the elements that keeps pushing us and giving us the energy to fulfill each of the previous phases. But it's only once we've covered our needs for profitability, stability, loyalty, and visibility that we can effectively address this objective within the organization, at the same level as the human self-actualization Maslow spoke of.

The most important thing about this Pyramid isn't in its theory, but in how we put it into practice, and to make that possible we can't settle for doing just one thing well.

At Soluble we understand that the approach to helping organizations through branding must be holistic, agile, and eminently practical. That's why our team is made up of specialists in the disciplines of strategy, visual design and product design, technology, and activation—professionals capable of combining the literal expertise of their specialty with the big-picture vision of what the organization and business need their brand to do for them at each moment.

And all this while meeting each of our own needs in pursuit of that purpose which will help us transcend. Because with organizations that accomplish all of this, from the honesty and authenticity of their brand, we're convinced we can keep adding happiness to work systems. 'Making people happier at work', our purpose we never stop pursuing.

Dear Maslow, will you give us your ok?