Marketing and Branding

MCPE -1st year

From Brand to Lovemark

Come on, admit it: even and you have brands that you really love! Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide launched to the worldwide communication industry a challenge that is revolutionizing the whole thinking around marketing and branding, the concept of "Lovemark". The most effective way to make money is to encourage loyal users to use your products all the time. This loyalty can take time to build but once you have it, the committed consumer (Clifton, Rita - Brands and Branding 2009, pg 73) will be prepared to wait for that sought after Lovemark, the fast, sleek car. Think of the Aston Martin Vanquish for all those aspiring James Bonds the Hermes Birkin bag a symbol of style. Nike, Coca Cola or iPod are all brands that are deeply rooted in the consumer's psyche and inspire complete devotion. We can all name a handful of Lovemarks, the products that apparently sell themselves.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

Delivers the message clearly Confirms your credibility Connects your target prospects emotionally Motivates the buyer Concretes User Loyalty

Alexandra Ilie

Marketing and Branding

MCPE -1st year

Roberts points out that the more brands we invent, the less we notice them as individual entities. "If youre not number One or Two, you might as well forget it. In his publication the future beyond brands Lovemarks, Roberts assesses the need for companies to court the consumer and to create not just a brand but a Lovemark which is a step beyond trusting the brand, it is also about respecting the product. No Respect, No Love. As the name suggests, a Lovemark has the gift to inspire you butterflies in your stomach and steal the attention you give to your family or lover and the budget for all the loved ones.
"Lovemark" is a new concept that is currently applied in the Saatchi & Saatchi network. There are two main dimensions of the concept of "Lovemark": it is about respect and love. And when we talk about a brand, we cannot say if it is not very popular and respected if not loved - as for sale, lack of respect and love does not make sense to comment on. So, for starters we need to see where we are, to see if an existing brand is loved or respected. If you meet both conditions, we can already speak of a "Lovemark" (Florescu, Radu Interview on IQads, March 2005 - http://www.iqads.ro/a_497/ brand_sau_lovemark.html).

From brand to Lovemark is long path, because from the brands I use every day, I can only choose 2-3 that really got me to the heart and screwed there. In this first stage, we find that, for example brand "X" is much loved, but is not respected. What does this mean? It means that it's something fashionable: a skateboard, for example. At the same time, we can find brands that are highly respected but little loved - for example a detergent. Now, our goal at this stage, when it comes to Lovemark, is to establish a work plan so as to develop a brand into a Lovemark (for me the brand is dead, no longer sell the brand. To give a more concrete example, we can refer to Polaroid, which is a brand known throughout the world. Despite the reputation of the brand, Polaroid as a company is in bankruptcy. "Polaroid" is a known brand. Respected? Probably. Beloved? Not really. And the company's results are down, because that means you have a known brand but you do not sale). When we talk about a Lovemark, we refer to a brand that is loved and respected and also generates significant volume of sales. There are brands that do great things. There are brands that are less than great things, but know how to communicate very well and become a Lovemark. I have rarely seen an opening in the area of customer care brands. Everybody is concerned now how to sell, how to "educate" the market and how to shape the consumer's mind than how to listen to it and really give an answer to their real needs (Healey, Matthew What is Branding, 2008, pg 16).

Alexandra Ilie

Marketing and Branding

MCPE -1st year

Each person finds themselves a deep connection with certain brands which are attached and on which it is difficult to explain how it was created, in fact, that connection. This person may still realize that this link exists and it is a special one. I think this may be a strong argument in favor of the Lovemark concept, do not you? A brand is a label, it is a name (and I already gave that example with Polaroid). A Lovemark inspire something else: a reaction, an emotion, not just a name. Of course a Lovemark is a known name, for example, when I think Sony it inspires me something - the design is very beautiful, inspiring prestige. There are some emotions that I can identify clearly. Let us refer to another name in technology: Sanyo. Well, Sanyo is a brand which does not inspire me anything, does not tell me anything, it means nothing to me.

A Lovemark is when each object adds joy to you, not because it is bought out of need, but because it is bought from the human emotion that you live in that shop, the state that it manages to inspire you. The same emotion arises from any contact with the brand: advertising, catalog, product recognition in various situations (restaurants, TV, friends houses). You collect catalogs, you search the website with pleasure and you hunt for new products. Characteristics of a Lovemark, from my point of view: * it delivers: both performance and emotions * different from the common brands, had the courage to deviate from the route competition * popular, accessible, down "among people", not a luxury brand * hefty price, money itself as the medium of products - essentially 'queue you up " * is not focused on meeting the needs of arousing an emotion but on the evidence of benefits beyond product features * brand can gather around a community of followers in which each of them can be found * has cool commercials and, in general, a presence that stirs pride
Many of the top 100 brands - speaking in terms of market value - measured by international companies specialized in brand audit (such as Interbrand), got there just through emotional communication. When I say this, I think of Coca-Cola, who does not speak in its communication anywhere about ingredients, taste, calories, vitamins, but talks about a state of mind, about a way of life. The same goes for Marlboro, as well as Nike. (Roberts, Kevin - Lovemarks: the Future Beyond Brands, 2006, pg 57).

Alexandra Ilie

Marketing and Branding

MCPE -1st year

Roberts defines a Lovemark as an experience or a product that has the power to create a relationship, long-term and emotional, with the consumer. His realization is that it is the consumer and not the company who owns the Lovemark, they are owned by the people who love them. Lovemarks are the products and brands that arouse emotions.

Alexandra Ilie

Marketing and Branding

MCPE -1st year

Bibliography
Clifton, Rita - Brands and Branding 2009
Florescu, Radu Interview on IQads, March 2005 http://www.iqads.ro/a_497/

brand_sau_lovemark.html

Healey, Matthew What is Branding, 2008

Alexandra Ilie