Lovemarks: the future beyond brands

In a wonderfully supported book, the author elaborates on the concept of lovemarks: a brand or experience that people love and feel passionate towards. Accompanied with the concept of lovemarks is the bond that is established between the brand and the customer, a bond that is embodied by a sense of personality, respect, and loyalty. Personal testimonies are presented to the reader as excerpts of the success of lovemarks in modern business. Classifying lovemarks as High Respect, High Love mirrors that of Michael Ruckman’s belief that products should be jointly Rational and Emotional to have a substantial impact upon the customer. The inherent concepts behind the book are the focus on the customer as an individual of emotion and the realization that products serve the purpose of bridging the gap between the customer and the company.

The Lovemarks Effect stresses how much the consumer matters in business, sourcing real world examples to prove a point. There is a point where the examples become excessive, however, making the book drone as the pages drag on. Due to the very nature of basing much of the content on personal testimony, it becomes difficult to define where Roberts’ ideas shine through when compared to the accounts. Going from chapter to chapter is more and more convoluted as the lines between the chapter introductions, interviews, and “love bites” conclusions become blurred. Transitions are not clear, making things blend to the point where the entire book seems like a large interview. The book would benefit from additional input from Roberts in lieu of the extensive interviews.

A business revolution is changing all the rules of the marketplace. Power is shifting from manufacturers and retailers directly to consumers, freshly enabled with information, choice, and connectivity. Price, service, quality, and design advantages are no longer enough to win.

In 2000, Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi said that brands were running out of juice. In Lovemarks: the future beyond brands, Roberts showed how Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy can create powerful emotional connections with consumers. The response to the book was electric. Now in 16 languages, Lovemarks has generated a wave of consumer conversations stretching over 100-plus countries.

In this follow-up book, The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution, the people speak: consumers, owners, and marketers show the impact of Lovemarks on their lives, their businesses, and their aspirations. How consumers feel about your company—their emotional connection to you—is what now determines success. The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution offers instruction and inspiration about creating emotional connections and winning in a consumer-empowered future.

From the aisles of the in-store experience to the power of sustainable design, from Lovemarks research to consumer stories, The Lovemarks Effect is a joyride through the evolving business landscape.

The Lovemarks Effect is a great read for anyone interested in the consumer-business relationship. Concepts explained in the book are most applicable to those who work in customer-facing enterprises. Utilizing lovemarks requires the ability to be working with consumers on a regular basis, so this naturally is most applicable to companies with high customer traffic. However, there is benefit for those with smaller consumer bases to read the book and understand the value of connecting with the customer.