Creating New Ladders

Here, the idea is that expanding marketing opportunities may require the development of new ladders (or, in English, finding new relationships between needs and product attributes). To expand marketing opportunities, it can be useful to (1) introduce new ways to satisfy old needs, and (2) introduce new needs into a laddering structure. As an example of the first possibility, the need to spend less time cleaning the kitchen may be met by products with dirt-repelling benefits instead of traditional quick clean-up benefits. And, as an example of the second (introducing new needs), we can look to oil companies’ premium gas, which has the benefit of making cars start easily and last longer. Who knew we “needed” gas that helps to maintain our cars, even as it fuels them? Now we do!