“Creating Lovemarks is all about the ability to understand consumers’ dreams, to know what they want and when they want it and to create great experiences that make your brand a part of their lives.” – Kevin Roberts
Kevin Roberts, former worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, will be visiting South Africa this week. He is now based in New York as the Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, and forms an integral part of Publicis Group, the world’s third largest communications group. One of his key achievements to date is the notion of Lovemarks as the future beyond brands, which AdAge named as one of the Top Ten ideas in 2010. This Friday he will be presenting the next phase of Lovemarks to the team at Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa in Cape Town, Brand Loyalty Reloaded.
To mark the 10th year anniversary of Kevin Roberts’ book Lovemarks the future beyond brands, Saatchi & Saatchi released a Red Paper documenting the future of brand loyalty. Every year, half a trillion dollars is invested in advertising globally. While the original belief behind Lovemarks was that repeat buyers are more profitable than chasing new ones, the way marketing has changed over the years requires this thought to rather focus on achieving an appropriate equilibrium between retention and acquisition. There are so many questions that outline this debate on brand loyalty, ultimately leading to the claim that brands are allegedly dead.
There is one thing we know for sure, and that is the eternally vital role that emotion plays in advertising. According to the Red Paper, “The more embedded that quality, service, distribution and performance become, the more the degree of emotional experience is the difference.” It also states that a recent U.S. survey found that 88% of digital marketers would increase ad spend on digital branding campaigns if they could make emotional connections with users.
This is where Lovemarks come in, acknowledging the fact that the heart controls the head and thus, controls decision-making. We look forward to having Kevin Roberts here on Friday in order to find out more about his insights when it comes to cultivating emotional connections through Lovemarks.
Read more about him at www.saatchikevin.com and follow our social media pages for updates.
Written and compiled by: Marika Malliaris