Lovemark
Encyclopedia
Lovemarks is a marketing
concept that is intended to replace the idea of brand
s. The idea was first widely publicized in a book of the same name written by Kevin Roberts
, CEO
of the advertising agency
Saatchi & Saatchi
. In the book Roberts claims, "Brands are running out of juice". He considers that love
is what is needed to rescue brands. Roberts asks, "What builds Loyalty that goes Beyond Reason? What makes a truly great love stand out?" Roberts suggests the following are the key ingredients to create lovemarks:
Mystery: Great stories: past, present and future; taps into dreams, myths and icon
s; and inspiration
Sensuality: Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste
Intimacy: Commitment
, empathy
, and passion
Roberts explains the relationship between lovemarks and other selling concepts through a simple schema based on respect and love. The full schema is as follows: mere products (commodities) command neither love nor respect. Fad
s attract love, but without respect this love is just a passing infatuation. Brands attract respect, even lasting respect, but without love. Lovemarks, explains Roberts, command both respect and love. This is achieved through the trinity of mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.
Kevin Duncan describes the concept in more traditional marketing terms, noting that there are "two axes," one of which runs from low to high respect, and the other which runs from low to high love. For a brand to transcend into "lovemark" category, it has to be high on both axes at once. Duncan sums up the concept in one sentence thusly: "Creating loyalty beyond reason requires emotional connections that generate the highest levels of love and respect for your brand."
Some marketers question the usefulness of the Lovemarks concept. A recent study tested whether one of Robert's Lovemarks - Nike - actually enjoyed higher than expected brand loyalty. The study, based on analysis of TNS consumer panel data, found Nike did not exhibit higher than usual loyalty.
In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks.
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
concept that is intended to replace the idea of brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
s. The idea was first widely publicized in a book of the same name written by Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts
Kevin John Roberts has been the Chief Executive Officer Worldwide of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi since 1997. In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks, which was invented and promoted by Roberts.-Early life and career...
, CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
. In the book Roberts claims, "Brands are running out of juice". He considers that love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
is what is needed to rescue brands. Roberts asks, "What builds Loyalty that goes Beyond Reason? What makes a truly great love stand out?" Roberts suggests the following are the key ingredients to create lovemarks:
Mystery: Great stories: past, present and future; taps into dreams, myths and icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s; and inspiration
Sensuality: Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste
Intimacy: Commitment
Commitment
Commitment may refer to:*Promise, or personal commitment*Contract, a legally binding exchange of promises*Brand commitment*Involuntary commitment, the use of legal means or forms to commit a person to a mental hospital, insane asylum or psychiatric ward...
, empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
, and passion
Passion (emotion)
Passion is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something....
Roberts explains the relationship between lovemarks and other selling concepts through a simple schema based on respect and love. The full schema is as follows: mere products (commodities) command neither love nor respect. Fad
FAD
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. FAD can exist in two different redox states, which it converts between by accepting or donating electrons. The molecule consists of a riboflavin moiety bound to the phosphate...
s attract love, but without respect this love is just a passing infatuation. Brands attract respect, even lasting respect, but without love. Lovemarks, explains Roberts, command both respect and love. This is achieved through the trinity of mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.
Kevin Duncan describes the concept in more traditional marketing terms, noting that there are "two axes," one of which runs from low to high respect, and the other which runs from low to high love. For a brand to transcend into "lovemark" category, it has to be high on both axes at once. Duncan sums up the concept in one sentence thusly: "Creating loyalty beyond reason requires emotional connections that generate the highest levels of love and respect for your brand."
Some marketers question the usefulness of the Lovemarks concept. A recent study tested whether one of Robert's Lovemarks - Nike - actually enjoyed higher than expected brand loyalty. The study, based on analysis of TNS consumer panel data, found Nike did not exhibit higher than usual loyalty.
In September 2006, Saatchi & Saatchi won a US$430 million JC Penney contract because of the idea of lovemarks.