Subscribe to our feed
trademark, trustmark, lovemark
Are you turned on to this above idea—this idea of Lovemarks? It’s the stunning insight of a guy named Kevin Roberts, who was the CEO Worldwide for Saatchi + Saatchi.
He wrote that brands, per se, were losing their hold upon the imagination and loyalty of consumers like all of us. And that it takes unique qualities – mystery, sensuality, intimacy—to make a person fall deeply, madly, truly in love with a brand, and stay in love.
The analogy which comes to my mind is UGGS vs. CROCs. Okay, yes, I do have a footwear-fetish. So here is a story of two ugly shoes. One is a Lovemark; the other is a lesson in how to lose the confidence of the American public.
Real UGGS are a Lovemark. People are willing to pay a lot for them. They’re willing to wait-list for the new colors which come out occasionally (this past spring, I knew several people who were delirious over the seasonal, short turquoise Ugg). Why? They do make your feet feel like hot buttered toast, and the quality sheepskin wicks moisture away from your bare feet. Fake UGGS with synthetic fleece linings get wet inside after a few hours—can somebody say “toe fungus?”
These are contributing factors, but the real reason that UGGS make people crazy with desire and happiness, and have done so for decades, is that UGGS are real. They are the real deal, and they are not sold everywhere (although their imitators are).
CROCS seemed real in the beginning. They made claims as a child-minded safety brand, making antibacterial claims about their foam fabrication. They were clunky yet lightweight, and came in funky colors. As with all shoes, the baby sizes were adorable.
But CROCs overexpanded. Suddenly, they were everywhere, in places we wouldn’t want to buy shoes, surrounded by brands we didn’t love. And, unlike UGGS, the cheap CROC imitators seemed able to replicate the shoe’s magic so well that no one could tell the original from the fake.
People who love their CROCs are in good shape—one pair lasts for decades. But people who love UGGS can’t wait to see what fleecy fun the next collection has in store. Because you see, with a Lovemark refuses to sell itself short, the consumer—that’s all of us—can never, ever get enough love.