ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

The Trademark Blog reports on the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s site devoted to lovemarks. According to the agency, brands are old hat. People automatically assume that they will get goods and services that perform to their expectations. Instead, the future belongs to lovemarks, entities that not only earn the respect of consumers, but also create “an intimate, emotional connection that you just can’t live without. Ever” and are “a relationship, not a mere transaction”. Such loyalty is earned through a mixture of love and respect (unlike brands which command respect only and fads, where only love is a factor). The respect arises from a combination of mystery (not knowing about something makes you want to find out more about it), sensuality (the design, flavour and other sensual elements of the product) and intimacy with the brand (so that it touches on the consumer’s personal aspirations and inspirations). The site offers you a chance to test if your favourite products are in fact lovemarks, asking questions such as “Have [product] been inspirational in your life?” and “Does [product] fit in perfectly to the way you dream about yourself?” Also available is a list of lovemarks that other people have nominated, from Absolut Vodka to Yorkshire Pudding via Marmite and McDonald’s.

The IPKat is not impressed by lovemarks. At present we live in a commercial environment in which the public is increasingly suspicious of superbrands and increasingly tired of their advertising. To reverse this, Saatchis are obviously trying to persuade their customers to get consumers to become more sentimental and soft-headed again, in the hope that this will start a new advertising trend, with Saatchis as the trendsetters. The idea of cultivating mystery in the face of consumer demands for more information about outsourcing and cheap labour seems particularly cynical. The IPKat’s conclusion is that Saatchis wouldn’t have come up with lovemarks if there wasn’t a smell of hatemarks in the air.

How to get rid of lovemarks here and here
More lovemarks here