Market leader – English Language No.

AIDA Model – Explanation, Examples, & Variants

Ever see an ad so good that it made you look for the product on the internet?
While comparing phones, what made you choose Google Pixel over Apple (or
vice-a-versa)?
Excited to avail fancy offers on a new app/service?
Little do we realize, but from the moment you get to know of a brand till the time
you actually buy it, companies strategically analyse your buying behaviour and
try to influence you at every stage.
This is done with the help of the AIDA model. It helps break down customer
journey/ behaviour into distinct parts. A brand is then able to plan marketing and
advertising strategies of influencing each part so that a consumer is compelled to
be engaged with the brand and ultimately buy its product.
What is AIDA?
AIDA model is a blueprint that marketing, advertising and sales functions use to
target all touchpoints during a customer’s purchase journey, that is, from getting
to know about the product to finally buying it.
Consumer journey is analysed by breaking it into four fundamental stages.
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
This is also referred to as a ‘Purchase funnel’. The number of people targeted at
Awareness stage trickles down and ultimately very few people are left who
actually turn into buyers.
Also, an inter-stage movement is possible. For example, people can directly jump
from Awareness to Action.
Let us now see all the stages in detail and how some brands have leveraged these
to their advantage.
STAGE 1 – Awareness
The first impression can be the last impression. In the first stage, a consumer
comes across the Brand. This can be through an advertisement or word-of-mouth
or a kiosk displaying products and more popularly these days, through sponsored
content.
Many times brands just assume that the existence of a brand will automatically be
known to people, which may not always be true. Traditional ways of advertising
may not create a differentiating factor for your offering, so it only makes sense to

Nguyễn Thị Hải Thúy (BA, MBA)

 Market leader – English Language No.5

make a creative disruption to make your presence felt. Also, characteristics

graphics, colour and size are highly essential in determining what will catch the
audience’s sight.
Thus a brand can gain the attention of consumers through:
Captivating ads
Personalized messaging
Intelligent targeting
Example: A food delivery app targeting the youth should invest in
being highly active online on social media than on print ads.
An example top of the mind- Mini Cooper!
Mini Cooper, to attract more eyes and attention, used a quirky guerilla marketing
strategy of placing giant cardboard cartons with torn gift wrapping on the streets
of Amsterdam.
STAGE 2 – Interest
Undoubtedly, the most crucial of the stages. If the consumer feels the product has
no meaning for him or if he does not find it captivating enough, he will never
reach the purchase stage. So it is important to deliver your product message in a
customized and crisp way that suits the profile of the intended audience.
The highlight of the product communication should point to the consumer’s
needs. This leads to the consumer going an extra step in looking up the product to
see how it benefits him.
For example, let’s consider this campaign by Adidas.

Nguyễn Thị Hải Thúy (BA, MBA)

 Market leader – English Language No.5

Notice the caption ‘Every team needs the spark’.

Lionel Messi’s picture initially attracts the consumer, the intended audience being
sports (especially football) enthusiasts. The contrasting colours of the shoe and
matching caption convey that it’s a shoe advertisement. The shoe appears to be
emitting sparks (representing fast performance), and the caption contains the same
imagery. So the consumer gets curious and looks up what exactly does the
campaign refer to and how can ‘that spark’ be added to the team. At this point,
considerable interest has been generated and the consumer has most likely read
up the features of the shoe.
Another good example of generating interest by a brand but in an online world is
this landing page by Buffer which not only showcases the service features but also
the quality validation that 80,000 businesses already use the service.
STAGE 3 – Desire
It is not enough to generate interest. A keen liking for how a brand presents itself
may be highly appreciated, but may not necessarily convert in sales.
Interest and Desire can be achieved simultaneously. So immediately after interest
is generated, it is important to convey to the audience why they need it. If a
customer might not actually NEED that product, the brand can try to create the
WANT for it.
Usually, the desire stage is achieved during the time a consumer is comparing the
product with other competitors’ offerings. In that case, the brand needs to
prominently highlight its outstanding features which the consumer won’t get in
other products.
For example, Wendy’s “Where’s the beef” campaign, which highlights the fact
that their hamburgers contain more beef than those of the competitors.
Another example is how L’Oreal does it.
It caters to consumers’ concerns regarding a product and offers advice for the
same. It curates a lot of content on skincare and beauty tips. Once a person reads
up a haircare routine, for example, she will be more comfortable following that
routine if she has L’Oreal products since she would know exactly how much to
use and how to use. L’oreal also utilizes that as an opportunity to create a L’Oreal
ecosystem by promoting its other brands within the same space, leading to cross-
selling opportunities.

Nguyễn Thị Hải Thúy (BA, MBA)

 Market leader – English Language No.5

STAGE 4 – Action
Finally, when the consumer has had a positive disposition towards the brand,
he/she will be willing to try it or buy it. At this stage, schemes like early-bird
discounts, free trials, one-on-one offers, referral systems, etc. can give that one
final push to the consumer to go ahead and buy it.
For example, Amazon encourages purchases through its ‘EMI options’. That
enables consumers to buy durables and gadgets even when they’re running on a
tight budget.

Nguyễn Thị Hải Thúy (BA, MBA)