The difference between needs and desires

If you want to become a rich and famous in the world of new products don't develop products that meet a need. Develop products that create desire.

Meeting needs are the table stakes, the ante you must throw into the pot just to get in the game. But meeting your customers' functional needs won't win you the hand. You have to go further.

Tap water meets the need to quench one's thirst. Evian satisfies the desire for the purity that comes from drinking water from the French alps.

A Toyota Yaris meets the need for reliable transportation. A Porsche 911 satisfies the desire to drive like Jacky Ickx at Le Mans.

 

A Sanyo 8400 meets the need to make phone calls from anywhere. The iPhone 4s satisfies the desire to be seen as technically advanced and creative.

If you spend all your time focusing on needs, you'll never discover what people really desire.