Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands

Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands
Kevin Roberts | 1900-01-01 00:00:00 | powerHouse Books | 224 | Advertising
Kevin Roberts passionately believes that love is the way forward for business. In his second book, Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, Roberts recounts the journey from Products to Trademarks to Brands - and the urgency of taking the next step up - to Lovemarks. Roberts offers a lively, critical assessment of brands and the problems that face them in an increasingly competitive world. His argument is straightforward. Numbed by the assult of commodification and customer indifference, brands have simply run out of juice. The solution? The creation of products and experiences that will create long-term emotional relationships with consumers. To get there, Roberts advocates infusing brands with three fundamental Lovemark elements: Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy. Mystery enters by drawing on the past, present, and future; the value of myths and icons; and the powers of inspiration; and by tapping into dreams. Sensuality and the five senses can be used to locate touch-points with consumers. Intimacy is created through commitment, empathy, and passion. The power of these dynamic forces is captivatingly presented with lively anecdotes, living examples, and graphic illustrations drawn from the world of advertising and beyond. The idea that consumers, not companies, own Lovemarks is fundamental. This book shows that not only business mavens, but the special people that Roberts calls "Inspirational Consumers," can shape the future of commerce. With a foreword by Procter & Gamble's Chairman and President, A.G. Lafley, the book also includes insights from business leaders, ideas people, and artists, including Cambridge University's Sandra Dawson, former rugby All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, Visionaire editor Cecilia Dean, author Malcolm Gladwell, Founding Editor of Fast Company magazine Alan Webber, Nike's Clare Hamill, and Toyota Motor Corporation's Yoshio Ishizaka. The book is an entertaining, elucidating, and ultimately inspiring vision of the rejuvenation of brands through the power of love and the responsibility of business to fulfill one of its key functions - to make the world a better place.
Sellout "Brand" or just plain "Bland"? In Lovemarks, advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts delves deep into what mysteries lie behind the long-term success and unwavering customer loyalty for a can of Coke or a pair of Levi's, ultimately concluding that Love is the answer, and without some emotional connection to a product, it will dry up like a generic raisin in the sun. Enter Lovemarks, the new marketing buzzword, which will likely be bandied about at board meetings as vigorously as The Tipping Point.

But before Roberts can get to what in fact a Lovemark means in the worlds of advertising and marketing, he takes us on a virtual tour of his CV. There was his first post at Mary Quant in London, then the gig as New Products Manager of Gillette International in the Middle East, on to CEO of Pepsi in Canada, and later the same role at Lion Nathan in New Zealand. The list goes on, and so does Roberts--on and on--about his achievements and experience building brand awareness and shaking things up (he famously machine-gunned a vending machine at a presentation for a spot on the evening news). More importantly, he succeeds at blasting away the smoke and mirrors that might prevent a creative genius (or an ordinary consumer) from seeing what makes Superman the most beloved super-hero of all time.

Despite the somewhat egocentric approach to taking us there (he is, after-all, a pretty smart guy), we arrive at Roberts's point beautifully, and see what he sees: "That human attention has become our principle currency." And that, in these times, forming long-term emotionally charged relationships with customers is the only way to make a product weather the long haul. And while Roberts speaks to us in a spirited, conversational manner (that makes Lovemarks a pleasure to read), the design of the book seems to work against him, as convoluted typography and a general lack of layout consistency give the book a visually amateurish look. --Christene Barberich
Reviews
The book is good but not great. It's not that I had any major disagreement with anything it says, it's just that there is really nothing new in this book, nothing that I have read or lived through a hundred times before. There weren't any "a-ha moments" or breakthrough insights. If you've never read any marketing or branding books before, then you'll probably benefit by reading this. If you're like me, and have read many, many marketing and branding books, you will learn nothing new. When you're the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, your book is going to get published; if I had written this book and taken it to a publisher, they would have laughed at me and my incoherent writing style. Some of the concepts in this book, by the way, are also found in the old book "Raving Fans", which I think is more useful. On the positive side, some of the stories are compelling, and the photography and imaging are really interesting (I own the book, not the Kindle edition). Just don't think for a second that this book will turn you into a marketing or branding guru. It won't.
Reviews
Perfect insight into the unordinairy customer service experience and phenomenon of word of mouth marketing. A must read for any business owner!
Reviews
Roberts is the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world's largest advertising agencies. Keep that in mind as you read the book because the author uses many of his agency's clients as his examples of brands that evoke emotion. Even with the self-promoting, there are some great messages within this book. The message throughout is that for brands to grow, people need to fall in love with the brands. Not like the brands, LOVE the brands and products. As I write this review, the Chicago White Sox are in the American League Division playoffs. Why do I tell you this? Because no matter what happens with the White Sox, the fact of the matter is that Chicago will always LOVE the Cubs, and they will really, really like the White Sox. And because of this, the Cubs will always draw more fans than the White Sox. Here is one of my favorite take aways from the book; "Human beings are powered by emotion, not by reason." Brands need to generate emotions, and the more the brand is loved, the longer life it will have. Let's face it, a lot of people love Starbucks, but there is no rational reason to spend $2.00 for a cup of black coffee. It is the emotion that sustains Starbucks.
Reviews
I would not recommend buying this book. As the other reviewers have already stated; the writing is over zealous and self promoting. If you can manage to get passed that you will find the ideas presented in this book insulting; the foundation for the promotion of lovemarks is, "human beings are powered by emotion, not by reason," which if you have ever seen a skyscraper, flushed a toilet, flipped a switch to turn on a light or used any other product of man's reason you would find this assertion wholly false.



Kevin Roberts does not succeed in this book because he treats consumers as mindless kids in a candy store who have no volitional control of their consciousness. If you believe that, then you will find this book entertaining and reassuring. If you value reason and sound advertising, then you will find this book daunting and outright irresponsible.
Reviews
This is a good book for the entrepreneur who is interested in setting thier business apart from the pack. To create more than just a brand, but a "LOVE MARK." Its got some good points and Ive applied some of it to my small photography business. I recommend it, but only gave it 3 stars.



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