ABSTRACT

Imagine a sort of marketing that is pragmatic, constructive, and capable of satisfying new human desires, a sort of marketing that is sustainable and creates value for corporations.

Let’s begin with the evolution of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The Needs Daisy is a new vision of the consumer, literally a revolution, that is, the transition from a vertical and linear logic to a cross-functional and inter-relational approach.

But the mere application of new tools of analysis will not suffice to impel the changeover from conventional to implicative marketing. To fulfil its new missions, marketing must insert itself into a new niche in the firm: that of mediator and “involver.” Consequently, it must link directly to the company’s various departments and – why not? – be fully incorporated within the firm. That is one outcome of the new concept of cross-functional organization.

The question is, how to build an implicative strategy to listen to the emancipated consumer, with new ways to think about products, prices, shopping and communication. The answer is in the three contracts of implicative marketing: respect people and their yearnings, be modest and, to challenge the status quo, make an ecological and economically sustainable transition. Some examples illustrate this approach.