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BOOK REVIEW: Loveworks


Almost a decade since Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide chief executive Kevin Roberts wrote Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, is the concept still relevant?

Victoria Young
Thu, 27 Jun 2013

Loveworks
by Brian Sheehan
powerHouse Books, USA
RRP: $54.99

Launched internationally at Cannes Lions last week, Loveworks is 20 case studies which demonstrate Kevin Roberts' Lovemarks concept.

It has been almost a decade since Saatchi & Saatchi's worldwide chief executive wrote Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, a reminder to marketers of the big intangible of marketing: emotion.

The Lovemarks strategy is based on the premise that marketers must always ask whether their campaigns will make a consumer fall in love with a brand.

Loveworks is the latest of several books on the topic, following The Lovemarks Effect and Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands

The original Lovemarks book was written back when Facebook was still a Harvard-based social network called “Thefacebook”, so in a market fragmented by online channels, and now driven heavily by price promotion, the question is if the concept is still relevant.

In Loveworks, author Brian Sheehan argues it does – through some pretty hefty case studies from around the world using big brands such as Nike, T Mobile, Guinness and Pampers.

The case studies remind readers of the place of market research and gaining the great insight which unlocks how people feel about a brand.

The best example of this in the book is how Saatchis found consumer reviews were the most important consideration for Toyota Camry buyers and leveraged on it. Mr Sheehan argues Saatchis' campaign kept Toyota Camry as the best-selling car in the United States.  

The book gives some guidance on how to get campaigns off the ground internationally, and has many examples of interesting out-of-the-box thinking.

However, its ultimate conclusion is that these Saatchi campaigns, which made people feel, have created Lovemarks. Of course. 

While divided into 10 parts, chapter titles such as More Than a Brand and Forging Relationships don’t really mean anything and the author may as well have just listed the campaigns.

This is a very pretty hardcover book with glossy pages, big pictures and cutesy lovehearts sprinkled about the copy. But is it more than a Saatchis credentials book? Not really.

vyoung@nbr.co.nz 

Victoria Young
Thu, 27 Jun 2013
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BOOK REVIEW: Loveworks
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