Cutting-edge marketers try to drive more emotion into the customer's experience of a product. But can the approach be extended to every brand?
Companies love us these days. Corporate and marketing slogans evoke the 'passion' and 'love' that companies allegedly put into their work. The Lovemarks concept, created by Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts, suggests that the most successful firms are those that can drive more emotion into their dealings with customers.
Having a great brand is not enough; it won't cut through the deluge of information that consumers face. You need to get people to love you; only love will ensure their loyalty.
For some brands, this clearly makes sense. Apple, for example, has played very successfully on its status as an 'alternative', cult brand. Products such as the iPod and the iMac inspire a fanatical devotion that Dell, to name one example, could never match. Apple is a genuine Lovemark, and if it brought out a slogan like 'You love us', no-one would be that surprised. In fact, McDonald's global 'I'm lovin' it' campaign has already made consumers' love an explicit part of its appeal.
Trying to be a Lovemark may not be a good idea
However, for other brands, trying to become a Lovemark may not be such a good idea. The key point is whether 'love' forms an important part of customers' reasons for buying. If it doesn't, it might be worth focusing on something else. Unfortunately, this hasn't stopped a huge range of companies attempting to adopt warmth, sincerity or individuality as a distinguishing feature, regardless of their customers' actual needs or wants.
For example, an estate agent in my area says they're 'passionate about property'. But do you really want your estate agent to be passionate? Will that actually help you to sell or buy a particular property? Wouldn't you rather they were diligent, courteous and ethical?
Similarly, Vicks recently adopted a slogan 'People, not symptoms' for its TV campaigns. That seems a strange stance to take if you're selling a range of symptomatic cold relief products. The phrase conveys no benefit; in fact, it's hard to tell what it really refers to other than a generalised warm-and-fuzziness. In my opinion, the firm's other slogan is far better: 'Help your family feel better with Vicks'. This goes straight to the concerns of a major constituency within the Vicks target market, rather than dwelling on the (alleged) values of the firm itself.
To sum up: if you know for sure that customers choose you because they love you, or because you love them, refer to it in your marketing. If not, choose a real benefit and use that instead.