The Psychology Behind Desire

Imagine with me that it's the Super Bowl party at your house and all of your close friends and family are over. The Patriots and Seahawks are playing and everyone has a beer in one hand and the other in a bowl of Doritos as they watch intently. With only a couple minutes left on the clock, Wilson throws an interception at the yard line and the house erupts as everyone's hands go up, flinging Doritos and beer into the air. The PATRIOTS WON!!!

Unless religious convictions dictate otherwise, football parties typically go hand in hand with beer and Doritos. Marketers for Budweiser and Doritos have dominated the infamous American sport and provided the best Superbowl commercials every year. How do they do it? How do they stay at the top? Let's view their e-marketing recipe for success…

Budweiser:

The Budweiser and it's adorable puppy have contracted 12.7 million likes on Facebook, 132,000 followers on Twitter, millions of views per video on YouTube, and 63,900 followers on Instagram. Budweiser is a marketing genius. Budweiser takes on a compelling strategy to reach their consumers unlike various other companies such as Doritos. Budweiser's tactic through the puppy commercials shown at every Super Bowl is to elicit an emotional response within their consumers. Consumers are notoriously emotional buyers. Therefore, by creating an positive emotion through the puppy and horse relationship, when consumers later see the beer on a shelf, they will feel that same positive emotion and be encouraged to make that specific purchase decision. Budweiser does not need to shove their product down their consumers throats - the beer doesn't even appear in the commercial until the end. They need only to create a feeling and form a common understanding between product and person. Once the connection is formed, the product sells itself. Genius.

Lost Puppy 

Doritos: 

Doritos takes on a similar but contrasting psychological technique through their commercials. Doritos uses humor to formulate a positive response. However, they take the commercial process a step further and include their fans from the very beginning. Doritos created a 1 million dollar contest for fans to participate in where fans would create a Doritos commercial and compete for the title "best commercial." 5,500 fans across the world entered the contest. Then, the videos were voted for via social media by people across the world. Therefore, not only did Doritos involve their fans and make them excited about their product, but they also ensured the revealing of a stellar commercial that was voted for and loved by fans everywhere. The contest alone reaped a lot of attention and gained even more at the Superbowl. With fan involvement and excellent marketing tactics, Doritos has contracted 15.2 million likes on Facebook, 520,000 followers on Twitter, 33,500 followers on Instagram, and millions of views on YouTube.

Compilation of Contest Videos

By encouraging an experience and creating a bond between sports, product, and individuality, Budweiser and Doritos have dominated the industry. The trick is not to sell the product, but to sell the lifestyle and emotion.