Love is not all you need (unfortunately)
How many times this year will we hear about the ‘sad demise of a well loved brand’? Personally, the fewer the better as far as I’m concerned, I’ve got no interest in doom mongering. But it is a phrase that was rolled out time and again just before Christmas last year, especially around the Woolworths story and I suspect that it unfortunately won’t be long before we hear it again.
When The Beatles, in a time of almost unprecedented optimism, sang about love, who would have dared to disagree? Performed live on television in 1967 to 26 countries and 400 million viewers it had a certain universal appeal.
Times are a little different now and any brand manager who finds themselves humming along to the undoubtedly catchy chorus in their head ought to stop and take stock pretty quickly.
Brands can be a wonderful thing, they can create emotional attachment that can be incredibly surprising at times. They can engender passionate views and they can produce loyalty of the kind that would make many a football supporter seem like a fair-weather fan.
Love is a big part of branding. The more your customers love you, the more loyal they’re likely to be, the more they’ll return and the more they’ll recommend you. Brands are all about relationships, that’s what they’re built on and it’s what sustains them.
But love for love’s sake is not enough. That love has to be backed up by value, by having something meaningful to offer. Sure, many of us are disappointed and saddened to see Woolworths vanish from the high street. Why? Because we don’t know where we’ll go to get our discount CDs, our lightbulbs and our pick and mix now? Nope. It’s because it is part of our memories, it’s been around for a long time and it represents a connection with the past. Do people feel the same about Xavvi? Hardly. Why not? Because it has not had time to embed itself in the popular, emotional landscape.
And that’s the point, love is great and when the times are good it may just be enough. But when the going gets tough, to stretch this music analogy maybe too far, what’s love go to do with it?
These ‘much loved’ brands will only survive if they continue to be relevant, if they offer enough value to enough people to create a sustainable model. I often wonder how many of those who publicly mourn the demise of the local shop do so sat at their computer doing their weekly shopping from the warmth of their kitchen.
A brand that relies on love alone risks becoming an anachronism, an outdated and irrelevant entity whose time is limited.
But the brand that can maintain the love while building a continual connection with its customers, reinventing itself if necessary, having a mid life crisis if it helps, will be the one to survive.
Look no further than Marks and Spencer. Not so long ago a prime example of a much loved, but rapidly outdated brand, like an aging favourite aunt. That it has turned its fortunes around has less to do with love and more to do with sound commercial decisions and exceptionally successful branding, all based on products and services that resonate with today’s shoppers.
Love is important, it makes the world go round and it helps build brands in every walk of life - charities, education, government and commercial.
But, so they tell us, love is something you have to work at every day. Otherwise you wake up one day and find the magic has gone.