Nobody needs another bottle of wine, beer, etc.
Nobody needs a craft soda, an artisan hot sauce, or a small-batch spirit. These aren't survival purchases. There's no urgency, no crisis averted by choosing your brand over the one sitting next to it on the shelf.
And yet — some brands get chosen, again and again, by people who actively look for them. Who feel something when they see them. Who bring them to dinner parties, give them as gifts, post photos of them without being asked.
That's not accident. That's emotional resonance. And it's the hardest thing to build and the most valuable thing a brand can own.
I think about this a lot when I work with beverage and CPG brands. The conversation so often starts with distribution, velocity, price points — all things that matter. But underneath all of it is a more important question: why would someone want this in their life?
Not need. Want.
Want is a different category entirely. Want is personal. It's tied to identity, to aspiration, to the way a person sees themselves and how they want their day to feel. A bottle of wine on a Tuesday evening isn't just a drink — it's a ritual. A reward. A small act of choosing something that feels like you.
The brands that understand this build differently. They don't just market features or price points — they market a feeling. A moment. A version of life that's a little more considered, a little more pleasurable, a little more intentional.
And they're consistent about it. Not in a rigid, corporate way — but in the way a good friend is consistent. You know what you're getting. You trust it. You come back.
If you're building a brand in a category where nobody needs what you make, that's not a disadvantage. It's actually a gift. It means you get to play in the space of desire, identity, and emotion — which is where the most enduring brands have always lived.
The question isn't how to make people need you.
It's how to make them want to come back.