According to Kevin Roberts (CEO- Saatchi & Saatchi), lovemarks are enduring brands which have the power to acquire customer loyalty beyond reason. His books, Lovemarks and the Lovemarks effect define the term and gives personal stories of how individuals came in touch with something they loved and how a neat consumer experience with brands like Levis,, Chanel etc. established an enduring relationship with the brand.
The books deal in detail, with identifying your lovemarks and how brands can leverage this concept to benefit the consumer as well as the organization in a mutually satisfying exchange of emotions as well as products/services.
Just one question, Mr Roberts, how do you intend to work out this concept in a country like India, where loyalty is built through price discounts and emotional hankering( companies like Airtel, have so often toyed with the emotional appeal that people like us have lost faith in the credibility of the product or the service)? Well, people won’t complain as long as they get what they want, irrespective of the kind of bond they form with the brand. Then, why waste precious time in your Food Bazaar when you can visit the nearest Food world or Reliance fresh and get your stuff packed in less than 5 min. What, I mean is that with fierce competition, brands are becoming look-alike with more emphasis on standardization (following the best practices) and hardly any differentiation. Again, my argument is restricted to certain industries like Retail for one.
The blazing point which I’m trying to make is that consumer is no more rational but opportunistic and brand loyalty can be developed only through doing something unconventional. So, rather than showing advertisements which promote the difference between competiting brands (Pepsi- Coca Cola, Vodaphone-Airtel, Surf-Ariel-Tide, Scorpio-Safari), differentiation should be evident in every aspect of product development, communication, sales and post sales. To ensure, that the product lifecycle never reaches a decline stage, involve and engage the customer. Make convenience and affordability the table stakes. Let the customer decide what he/she wants. Bring about a radical change to the institutional marketing. One example could be that Laptop manufacturers, dress designers can follow the servicing style of McDonalds, where they provide a customized service to their customers. That is, these products can very well be ready to make(Principles of JIT might come in handy) .Websites, which give an interactive experience, where you can choose everything from your hard drive configuraion to the casing colour and in the end check you total spending, should be made accessible to their customers. This requires a well targetted marketing campaign. Simple thing, make customer the decision maker at strategic, tactical and operational level. I hope, Lenovo, Dell and all the other high end designers like Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger who are foraying into India are listening.
Enough from me; lets listen to Kevin Roberts on his view of developing lovemarks.
The books deal in detail, with identifying your lovemarks and how brands can leverage this concept to benefit the consumer as well as the organization in a mutually satisfying exchange of emotions as well as products/services.
Just one question, Mr Roberts, how do you intend to work out this concept in a country like India, where loyalty is built through price discounts and emotional hankering( companies like Airtel, have so often toyed with the emotional appeal that people like us have lost faith in the credibility of the product or the service)? Well, people won’t complain as long as they get what they want, irrespective of the kind of bond they form with the brand. Then, why waste precious time in your Food Bazaar when you can visit the nearest Food world or Reliance fresh and get your stuff packed in less than 5 min. What, I mean is that with fierce competition, brands are becoming look-alike with more emphasis on standardization (following the best practices) and hardly any differentiation. Again, my argument is restricted to certain industries like Retail for one.
The blazing point which I’m trying to make is that consumer is no more rational but opportunistic and brand loyalty can be developed only through doing something unconventional. So, rather than showing advertisements which promote the difference between competiting brands (Pepsi- Coca Cola, Vodaphone-Airtel, Surf-Ariel-Tide, Scorpio-Safari), differentiation should be evident in every aspect of product development, communication, sales and post sales. To ensure, that the product lifecycle never reaches a decline stage, involve and engage the customer. Make convenience and affordability the table stakes. Let the customer decide what he/she wants. Bring about a radical change to the institutional marketing. One example could be that Laptop manufacturers, dress designers can follow the servicing style of McDonalds, where they provide a customized service to their customers. That is, these products can very well be ready to make(Principles of JIT might come in handy) .Websites, which give an interactive experience, where you can choose everything from your hard drive configuraion to the casing colour and in the end check you total spending, should be made accessible to their customers. This requires a well targetted marketing campaign. Simple thing, make customer the decision maker at strategic, tactical and operational level. I hope, Lenovo, Dell and all the other high end designers like Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger who are foraying into India are listening.
Enough from me; lets listen to Kevin Roberts on his view of developing lovemarks.
1 comment:
Good post man...I m also a supporter of Kevin and I believe his idea of "Lovemarks" holds true in the modern age of marketing & advertising...
Still your point about Indian customer is right..
I appreciate that!!
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