Enciting brands

Allow me to shorten for you, an old but not outdated joke. A recent divorcee, fresh from a marriage to an adman, asks her new partner, a minute before getting into bed together, to be gentle with her because she is still a virgin. "But you were married." the man wonders. "Yes" the young woman sighs, "every night he would lie next to me in bed and tell me how wonderful it's going to be, until both of us would become tired and fall asleep". That is what Kevin Roberts, the worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising and the originator of "Lovemarks", reminds me of.

Roberts became CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1997, after holding a string of management positions, in companies such as Mary Quant, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi Cola and Lion Nathan (an Australian beer and wine manufacturer). Upon commencement of his position, he searched for a new vision that would excite both the employees of Saatchi & Saatchi, as well the clients. Two years later he began talking about love and created the concept of Lovemarks - the future beyond the "ordinary" brands. This approach has two advantages. The first being the big promise for advertisers: we will cause the consumer to love your brand. Not just to "desire" or "prefer", but to "love". Who doesn't want that? The second advantage: this concept has a memorable simplicity - "Saatchi & Saatchi is the advertising agency that talks about love". Following the principles of Al Ries, Roberts decided to "own" a word for his company. Love is good. Love is fashionable in these times of getting in touch with your emotions. At the same time, although there was a wave of "emotional brands", there was no other advertising agency that spoke of love as a leading motto. Bingo! Saatchi & Saatchi has a "differentiator".

Roberts contends that he knows how to create the kind of brands that people fall in love with and remain loyal to "beyond reason" - (as he puts it). So why does he remind me of a mean joke about advertising professionals?