This pioneering research redefines the way we market chewing gum. Artificial segmentations based on personality differences offer weak foundations on which to build brand strategies. To deeply engage us, a brand must have a solid inner architecture deeply rooted in the fundamentals of humanity. Beneath all the phantasmagoria of global marketing communication, lies order and rhythm, the source code of our human behaviour.

1. (RE)DEFINING
CHEWING GUM
BRANDS
THROUGH
HUMAN
FUNDAMENTALS

2. Hi! My name is Constantinos
Pantidos and I believe that
companies could improve
people’s lives even more
effectively if they had
deeper human insight.

3. For consumer satisfaction
to be as complete as
possible, we must take
care not only of the needs
consumers understand
and are able to evaluate
but also and especially
the ones they are not
consciously aware of

4. While 95% of our purchase
decision making takes
place in our unconscious,
we tend to spend a
disproportionally high time
on product characteristics
and price and promotions
because they are easier to
grasp

5. Instead, this presentation delves
into the unconscious mind of the
consumer, the 95% that really
matters, and makes it possible
for marketers to build irresistible
brands

6. Biological Value Brain &
Body
Systems
Cognitive
Operations
Psychological
States
Human
Morality
Behaviour
Rewards
Engagement
The
pathways
of human
behaviour
While the models for shaping
brand strategy used by most
multinationals today ignore
the contribution of modern
sciences such as
neurobiology and cognitive
science, BRAND AVIATORS™
use a comprehensive model
having an evolutionary
foundation and a
multidisciplinary approach
enabling marketers to build
consumer propositions that
are impossible to resist

7. Our psyche consists of a code

8. We are an
ordered pattern
of fundamental
motives capable
of generating life

9. Having captured our
fundamental human
motives, the irreducible parts
of our nature, all the way
from their biological values,
to the inherent concepts they
imbue into our everyday life,
this model traces emotions
from their roots, and creates
concepts that bear the
freshness of the source.
CONNECT
CONTROL
The wheel of motives™
GROW
CARE
BALANCE
DESIRE
FEEL
SAFE
SEEK
PLAY
CREATE
DEFY
TRANSFORM
TM

10. Motive Main biological
advantages /
survival value
Possible
neurosystems
involved
Examples of
cognitive
operations
Main psychological
states
Main sociocultural
manifestations and
reinforcers
Feel safe Detection of threats,
Dissipation of fears,
Endurance via
rewards,
Creation of
optimism that
facilitates success
Reward systems
(opioid
neurosystems that
induce a sensation of
pleasure and
suppress pain), Fear
dampening systems,
Defensive system
Retrospection,
Reminiscence,
Comfort and
enjoyment,
Believing,
Increasing positive
emotions,
Constancy, Coping,
Resolution of
emotional conflict,
Incognisance,
Anthropomorphism
Stability,
Regression,
Renewal, Nostalgia,
Daydreaming,
Comfort, Hope,
Happiness, Satiety,
Plenitude, Joy, Bliss,
Instant gratification,
Reward,
Perfectionism
Postponement,
Shame, Guilt,
Humbleness, Self-
sacrifice, Narcissism
Belief systems such
as religion, Morality,
Ethics, Mores,
Folkway, Tradition,
Authenticity
Example: the pathways of our motive to feel
safe.

11. Beneath all the
phantasmagoria of
global marketing
communication, lies
order and rhythm,
the source code of
our human
behaviour

12. * A book will shortly be published, extensively
analysing the motives underpinning 20 categories
of everyday consumer goods and our fundamental
human motives. It puts forward the most integrated
platform for engaging people to date.
The motives for buying chewing
gum are presented in a
summarised form in order of
increasing relative importance
in line with their power to
influence our buying decisions

13. ESCAPE: On an initial level of
motivation, chewing on gum
stretches our break and
reduces boredom

14. And when we finally reach the
filling of the chewing gum, we
experience a small momentary
frisson of triumph. After all,
everyone loves discovering a
treasure.

15. HEDONISM: More significantly,
a real place of pleasure, all the
parts of the mouth, from the
palate to the walls, and the
tongue to the lips are full of
various types of receptors. The
infant derives pleasure from
oral stimulation through
gratifying activities such as
tasting and sucking.

16. Throughout our life, our
mouth continuous to be an
instrument of gastronomic
and erotic pleasure

17. One of the sexiest things
about a person, regardless of
age, is his/her smile. Chewing
gum makes the mouth even
lovelier, more kissable: When
jaws move in quiet ecstasy, a
lovely face becomes even
lovelier.

18. TRANSMUTATION: As the mouth
is the aperture through which
the world intrudes and through
which its representation comes
out, chewing astounds the mind,
and keeps it captured

19. Chewing conceals,
rather than reveals
self-consciousness, but
when we want it can
be an instant
messenger

20. Chewing gum whitens our teeth, freshens
our breath and renders our personality
more seductive

21. Gum itself captures the
aroma of essences which
dissolve slowly

22. At its core, gum, contains its seed
and its soul, which are always a
surprise to reveal. Gum does not
disintegrate - we can chew it into
infinity.

23. PLAYFULNESS: On a deeper layer, by
its nature, gum is exuberant,
buoyant, capricious and spontaneous.
Gum is highly inconsistent: it springs
and stretches, expands and retreats.
As there’s no life without breath, the
mouth itself symbolises life. The
mouth laughs, enjoys, invites
interaction. Logical conclusion in our
mind is that a clean mouth gives us
cheerfulness of mind.

24. Gum chewing improves
mood. Gum gives us a
pleasant little lift. Bubble
gum can be exorbitant,
wacky, absurd, crazy, silly,
mad, flamboyant, self-
sarcastic, mocking and
cheeky.

25. SOPHISTICATION: It is not
accidental that the Latin world
sapere (to know) has a common
root with the word sapore (to
taste) and sapientia (wisdom).

26. In myths, original knowledge
(as original sin) comes
through the mouth. By
chewing gum when we have
to deal with complex
thoughts or problems we
offload some of the cognitive
load into movement, thus
freeing up resources to
devote to mental process.

27. Chewing gums’
communication often
taps into scientific,
health preventive
imagery

28. CONTROL. Chewing
gum marks time and
structures our day. It
helps us control bad
breath and puts our
mouth and self in
order.

29. EMPOWERMENT: To survive
we need action. Chewing
gum creates the illusion of
action. Chewing is an outlet
for aggression.

30. By releasing
this energy
what we
satisfy is our
thirst for life

31. There is evidence of energy
and power, competence
and self-confidence, and
the capacity to liberate
these in the ability “to get
our teeth into something”.
Chewing results in anti-
fatigue. Chewing gum goes
on and on and on
delivering its advantages.

32. SOCIABILITY: On an even
more profound level,
Providing our first means
of communication with the
world, the mouth continues,
throughout life, to be our
means par excellence of
connection to the world,
our primary “business
card”.

33. Our mouth invites interaction

34. Orality plays a founding role in
our relationship with others. Our
tongue, in cooperation with our
teeth, can articulate speech, and
transmit the concepts that are
fabricated by the mind. Our need
to talk and to be listened to is
very deep, starting early on
when we are infants and
continuing throughout our life.

35. Chewing gum is the
most shared thing in the
world. Even when we
only have one stick left,
we offer it to another
person first. Chewing
makes us ordinary. It is
a classless and harmless
practice.

36. SUBVERSION: Ancient people
gnashed their teeth to warn
the enemy that they meant to
tear him apart. Having the
capacity to destroy, teeth are
means of defensive or
aggressive behaviour,
necessary for survival. Even
laughter is a gesture of
aggressiveness, whereby we
display our teeth.

37. Chewing gum is a
great corruptor of
normal, boring
culture, a means of
showing opposition
and disrespect to
society and
authority

38. The trigger for this symbolism is
exaggerated by the mechanical,
bestial, even compulsive nature of the
habit of mastication which is mostly
driven by attention-seeking behaviour.
It is a cry for attention. All primitive
races lived upon a diet that required
vigorous chewing. The supply of food
was originally erratic, it was uncooked;
any cutlery that was used wasn’t all
that efficient.

39. Eating, for our ancestors, was
an issue of life or death.
Working the jaws all the time
has been an effort to deceive
the body into the belief that it is
being sufficiently well-fed
when it isn’t.

40. SAFETY: On the innermost
level of human
motivation, we encounter
the association of the
mouth with life from the
very first cry to the last
breath.

41. Chewing, without swallowing,
becomes an outlet for calming
worries

42. Chewing gum drives us to
a state of blessed calm;
chewing gums are “oral
pacifiers”. We chew,
munch and gnash our
way to happiness and
smile.

43. Leading brands
express the
fundamental
human motives
driving their
category *
* In some cases, the
same brand can be
manifested in
different ways in
different countries

44. Deep category understanding
is just the first step in creating
engaging narratives. To build
a proposition that is both
authentic and deeply
engaging, the brand must
germinate the bare motives
that drive the category in a
unique and profoundly
human way.

45. CONNECT
CONTROL
The wheel of motives™
GROW
CARE
BALANCE
DESIRE
FEEL
SAFE
SEEK
PLAY
CREATE
DEFY
TRANSFORM
TM
The Wheel Of Motives™ can
help us activate the unique
codes of a brand, those that
engage people at a
profound human level
based on a three-phase
methodology *
* For the complete theory about
how the fundamental human
motives work please contact the
author or wait until the
publishing of the book

46. Phase 1: Psychographic
landscaping
• Mapping the meaning people
derive from the category
• Deconstructing the meaning
systems of the brands in the
category
• Tracing meaning-saturated
areas and fundamental
motives which are catered
for less effectively

47. Phase 2: Brand
(re)definition
• Locating the core of the
brand (based on the
fundamental motive(s) it
activates)
• Mobilising the core to give
a unique answer to what
consumers have always
wanted from the category

48. Phase 3: The unique
language of the brand
• Imprinting brand strategy
into our fundamental human
motives, the roots of human
communication
• Translating brand strategy
into Intrinsically Engaging
Narratives™ - tangible and
ownable experiences based
on the profound code

49. To capture the deep
resonances that make
a brand successful,
and its consonances
with the category, a
profound knowledge
of the rich hierarchies
of inherent concepts
of our mind, and their
underground
connections, is
required.

50. In tracing the pathways our mind
uses to create reality and by
activating the very forces of life,
The Wheel Of Motives™ offers
considerable advantages over the
brand strategy models used by
multinational companies today.
Brands and concepts developed
through The Wheel Of Motives™
are heartfelt, and profound.

51. Above all, by founding brand
strategy on our fundamental
human motives the brand becomes
deeply humanistic in that it offers
holistic, universal experiences that
no longer simply satisfy some
individual needs but the needs of
the species

52. BRAND AVIATORS™ are trusted by some of the world’s
leading companies:

53. (Re)define your brand through the
human fundamentals if you seek
to:
• Deeply engage people locally
and across cultures
• Develop genuine concepts that
work year after year after year
• Align all brand communications
under one master idea
• Increase the ROI of all your
brand’s activities

54. My mission is to help clients
around the world build brands
that liberate the very forces of
life. Contact me now for a free
discovery audit at
c.pantidos@brandaviators.com
or by clicking on the icon:
BRAND AVIATORS™
Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
+44 (0) 203 693 3933