A number of us have been having a discussion about branding, summarized here and here. Against that backdrop, I started reading Lovemarks, by Kevin Roberts. Roberts is the “Worldwide CEO” of Saatchi & Saatchi. He is the originator of the concept of “lovemarks,” described on the Saatchi web site as:
Lovemarks are brands that inspire loyalty beyond reason. People love them because of what they are, not because of what they do. Their appeal is emotional. Companies may own brands. But Lovemarks are owned by the people who love them.
An example of a brand that inspires loyalty beyond reason–Harley Davidson. Tom Peters uses a slide showing what percentage of owners of a product would tattoo the product brand onto their body. For Harley, its almost 19%. This is an example of a strong brand.
Since my friend Dan Hull began this discussion and continued it further, noting that “most of us already have a distinctive and valuable ‘look’,” I have to ask Dan how many people he thinks have the Hull McGuire logo tattooed on their bodies? No fair counting yourself.
“That’s H-U-L-L-M-C-G-U-I-R-E.” (Thankfully, Dan has shown himself to have a great sense of humor.)
Seriously, does anyone love their law firm and its brand enough to have the name of
the firm permanently inked onto their body? If we ever find that
person, or rather that law firm, then we can hear from somebody who knows about branding for law firms. Until then, I think I’m going to cast my lot with the people from the “real world” who are able to inspire others to ink their bodies with a brand.