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Kevin Roberts

The energy level went up in the room here at the World Business Forum when Kevin Roberts, CEO of one of the worlds leading creative agencies, Saatchi & Saatchi, stepped onto the stage. From the videos he showed (see below), it is clear they really have down the formula for eliciting memorable emotion in advertising campaigns.

One of his first points was the progression of the whole marketing landscape. We have moved from an attention economy, where an ad’s role was just to get your attention, to the attraction economy where we are now. From here, he posited our future as the participation economy. More and more, people want to be active in the market, not just be fed what they should think and do. Pull, not push.

Kevin talked about the use of sites like YouTube as key to our marketing future. Judging from what he described as the response to the video shown below, I believe him! Using social media technologies, mass marketing is back but this time we don’t have to pay for it. Consumers want to be engaged. The goal is to give the consumer an idea and let them run with it. It is not about a market, it’s about a movement. Powerful.

The justification for this comes only when you measure marketing in a new way, using a new definition for ROI – return on involvement. His point is that when you approach a consumer with a rational message, it leads them to conclusions but when you hit them with an emotional message, they are led to action.

He also talked about how ‘brands’ as we know them are on the way out. Although they are built on respect, his term – lovemarks – are built on respect and love. A lovemark extends beyond traditional brand benefit – he asserts that it yields loyalty beyond reason. That level of loyalty should translate to real bottom line benefits if you’re delivering on your promise.

So do your customers view you as a brand or a lovemark? How do you know?