May 2, 2004
saatchi’s love marks
ROBERTS: What’s going to stand out now is those brands that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) into something we’re calling love marks, which is, instead of being built on information, you now have to be built on a relationship, because a relationship is much more important than information. You choose your partner on the basis of how you feel, not on an analytical benefit.
Harley Davidson, I think, is an unbelievable love mark. Or at Zippo lighter, it’s a fantastic love mark. Coca-Cola is a love mark, and McDonald’s is a love mark. I mean, you don’t go to McDonald’s for the food, you go to McDonald’s because the experience of socializing and so on is fantastic.
SCHUCH: Other great love marks? Think sensual, like the iMac computer, or the Volkswagen Beetle, and think of Kevin Roberts as less of a CEO and more of the guardian of the Saatchi and Saatchi love marks.
Interesting article on an interesting guy. He’s got a new book out called “Love Marks: The Future Beyond Brands”.
I pretty much agree with his ‘Love’ schtick, but there’s a disconnect:
It’s nice to pitch “Love” as the center of your corporate religion, but the reality is Saatchi’s is a publically traded company.
i.e. a publically traded company, governed by Wall Street, is trying to preach to the world on the subject of ‘Love’.
Too funny.
If the stock price goes down the “Love” thing goes out the window 5 minutes later. Watch this space.
ALSO: Conceptually it’s wonderful, but I really, really do not like the term “Love Marks”. Sounds like ‘Hickies’.
Note to myself: Come up with better term to describe same concept, to work into my agency pitch. Ker-chiiing!!
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Always loved Saatchi’s concept of LoveMarks, made me feel warm & fuzzy inside. But now, it will forever be associated with hickies. Thanks. Priceless.
People at my former employer used to call me “Love Package.” Not for the reasons I probably would have liked the most at the time, but because of a marketing tactic I had imported from American Express. The tactic was to identify customers at risk of not renewing and send them a gift right before renewal time. A “love package” that reminded them how much we appreciated their continued patronage.
It worked super well. Just goes to show you that all this marketing stuff is all about emotion anyway. We all — whether we’re selling or buying — just want to be loved…
I likes this book as it gives us all something to look forward to in the future. If hes right then it might just be a little nice to exist on this planet we call home. Passion is good for us as people, and I would rather give my money to a company full of passion than the cheapest bidder.
When we reach the brain first we fail to connect, design becomes to much about the function. However when we reach the heart first we have become emotionally attached. So many individuals don’t fully understand the role that passion and emotion play within our worlds, Saatchi has re-ignited the “love” of design again…