Lovemarks Campus

“No longer content in our traditional role as couch potatoes, we approach television shows, movies, even advertising as invitations to participate—as experiences to immerse ourselves in at will. Wired contributing editor Frank Rose introduces us to the people who are reshaping media for a two-way world.”

Brands that desire to move into the High Respect and High Love quadrant need to be empathetic to life stage. Though not a concept exclusive to this age group, brands need to construct ways to provide Millennials with joy and memorable moments.

Why is the art of the narrative the ultimate vehicle for reaching audiences in the Age of Now? Storytelling involves participation, language, images and action. It ignites the audience and encourages them to go on an emotional journey with the storyteller.

This Master’s thesis studies the affects of product involvement on brand loyalty for cars and batteries. The research tested “factors for regression correlations to identify links between pleasure, sign and risk probability and brand loyalty for cars and interest/pleasure, sign, risk probability and risk importance for batteries.”

Digital communication is now a table stakes. It’s not a question of will you have a digital component to your business or campaign, but rather how you will use this platform to move your brand towards being a Lovemark. Now that we’re all sitting comfortable on the digital boat, where do we go from here?

One way to ascertain if a brand is a Lovemark is to look at those who are largely responsible for awarding the brand with that status – consumers. Lovemarks have relationships with people that are based on more than transactions; they have what we call Inspirational Consumers – people who act as advocates, community members and brand owners.

New is old. We live in the Age of Now, a new Economy made up of a soft grid of electric moments, where creativity is the entry point and consumer is curator. How does this cultural shift impact the theory of Lovemarks, and is there a place in this always-on, instantly demanding, immediately-sharing world for a concept that is built on Respect and Love?

The participation band wagon rolls on in adland with agencies and clients seeming content to sacrifice effective communications in the name of ‘doing something on Facebook’. So how do you get it right?

2006 was a year when ones and zeros blowtorched the old production and distribution model into antiquity. The Consumer is Boss and if you’re not connecting with her you’re already her ex-lover. Women are now thought to control up to 80% of every consumer dollar spent. Branding is becoming about personalization, bonding with consumers, but only in the right way.

The dominant interface of the future is the screen. When in front of a screen, people have the choice to either lean back or lean forward. You have to engage people emotionally so they can lean in and get involved. “The promise shouldn’t change. What should change is the context and the way it is handled [for different mediums].”

“A brand has to move you.” The role of Lovemarks in the new Consumer Republic, where consumers are boss and companies would do well to listen. Roberts also discusses how supermarkets are not reaching their full customer relation capacity. (German with English translation)