Chip Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in 1987, when he was 26.  By 2001, the boutique hotel chain had become the largest company in the Bay Area of California, according to Conley.  But then, he says, it hit a wall.  As CEO of a company that was on the brink of collapse during the dot-com bust, he turned to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and asked "if people can self-actualize, why can't a company?"  Joie de Vivre management then changed the way they thought and talked about their comapny, and reconsidered their core approach to marketing.  The result was to create an experience that felt like it was catered to particular customers.   Here is Conley's presentation at The Economist Marketing Forum, Stand Out from the Brand Crowd (the self-actualization theme comes in at about 12 min.):