All You Need is Love
Have you ever wondered why certain products command “loyalty beyond reason”? Why do some people obsess about a product and become so emotionally invested that all other solutions become a distant and unacceptable second best? And most important, what can you do to create this kind of passionate loyalty?
The real question is – “How can you get people to have a love affair with your community?”
My friend and muse Kevin Roberts provides some enlightenment in his book “Lovemarks”. Kevin shares his knowledge and observations on what motivates people to become emotionally committed to certain products, and provides pragmatic guidance on how to operationalize that knowledge so you can begin moving a product from a Trustbrand to a Lovemark. I’ve taken the liberty of translating Kevin’s principles into guidance on how to take your community on the journey from obscurity to Lovemark status. Hopefully this post will inspire you to step out to the edge and see your community as the Lovemark it deserves to be.
“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center” Kurt Vonnegut
IF THEY CAN DO, IT SO CAN YOU
Where do you start the journey? It begins with truly understanding the story of your community.
If you ask most people, they will tell you that telecommunications is essentially a commodity service. You simply find the carrier with the most reliable service area and best price. It isn’t any harder than that.
Telecom New Zealand could have easily seen itself that way. But, they knew if they treated their product as a commodity, so would everybody else. Instead, they hired Saatchi & Saatchi to help them explain that Telecom New Zealand wasn’t simply about communication, it was about creating a more connected nation. The story of Telecom New Zealand was told through a commercial spot titled “Father and Son”. The story struck an emotional chord among New Zealanders because it spoke to them personally. It made a deep heartfelt connection, and it started Telecom New Zealand on a journey toward becoming a Lovemark.
Your community also has a story to tell. A story that is capable of connecting with people on an emotional level the same way Telecom New Zealand did. You simply have to understand what it is, and how to effectively communicate it. And the first step in the journey begins with understanding emotion.
TIME TO GET EMOTIONAL
“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.” Lovemarks, page 42.
Kevin identifies six primary emotions to be aware of – joy, sorrow, anger, fear, surprise and disgust. These are emotions that enflame people’s hearts. If your story taps into one or more of these emotions, you get engagement. However, the problem with these emotions in telling your story is they are hard to control and you can trigger an unpredictable response. Kevin also defines six secondary emotions – guilt, shame, pride, envy, jealousy and the most powerful of all … Love. These emotions engage both the head and the heart making them ideal as elements in a story.
To assess where you are today, take a look at the promotional efforts supporting your community. Which of the 12 emotions are reflected in the stories you are telling? If your promotion is focused on facts and statistics, it is falling dramatically short of the story your community deserves. My guess is you will see room for improvement. In my experience, given a choice to inform or inspire … choose to inspire.
I’LL RESPECT YOU IN THE MORNING
As in any relationship, the first step along the way in the journey to becoming a Lovemark is respect. Kevin calls it a founding principle of a Lovemark. You must respect your community and you also want to earn the respect of the people who hear your story. There are eight things you can do to earn respect for your community.
- Perform. Perform, perform. Perform at each and every interaction. Peak performance is the ticket to entry.
- Pursue innovation. Your community must adopt a continuous improvement mentality that focuses on fixing what doesn’t work and strengthening what does.
- Commit to a total commitment. Go the distance. Your community will be judged at every encounter, every touchpoint, and will failure will be punished.
- Make it easy. Strip the complexity out of your processes. Make it easy to get to know and evaluate your community. If it is hard to get to know, your community will be doomed to obscurity.
- Don’t hide. People can respect your community only if they know what it stands for. In today’s internet world there is nowhere to hide anyway. Tell your story loud and tell it proud.
- Jealously guard your reputation. Built over a lifetime, destroyed in an instant.
- Get in the lead and stay there. Become the top selection choice by investing in asset creation, infrastructure improvement and public policy reform. Once your community is seen as the ideal location, don’t backslide.
- Tell the truth. Admit shortfalls. Believe in your community. When something goes wrong, your reputation may be your best defense.
TELL YOUR STORY WELL
It is important your community be respected. It’s the foundation for any emotional relationship, and a mandatory step on the journey to becoming a Lovemark. It is important, but not sufficient. You also have to tell your story in a mind and heart-opening way. There are three more elements that must be in place to succeed.
- Mystery – Mystery is created by telling great stories. Stories about your community’s past, present and future. Stories that tap into dreams, include myths and icons that can be remembered. Stories that inspire.
- Sensuality – Sensuality requires you to focus on including elements like sound, sight, smell, touch and taste. You need to find ways to engage people in learning about your community that involve their senses. That is why well design site visits are so effective. It is also why integrating your Travel & Tourism efforts with your capital attraction promotion can produce such powerful results.
- Intimacy – People need to feel the commitment of your community leaders and citizens. It is important people can empathize with the challenges and successes of your community’s journey. You want them to become fans who care. Passion helps establish intimacy. You need to be passionate, your citizens need to be passionate and that passion must be palpable to people. After all, if you don’t care why should anybody else care about your community’s future?
FIND AND MINE THE GOLD
As you move forward on the journey to Lovemark status, you will inevitably uncover people who are exceptionally passionate about your community. These inspirational citizens are like finding gold nuggets. These people will proactively promote your community and you will want to give them the tools to easily do so. These people will be passionate salesmen and sales women who are eager to tell your community’s story to anyone who will listen. Social media tactics can be very effective in harnessing the energy and passion so it is strategically directed to support your broader capital attraction, retention and expansion efforts. You need to have a plan that effectively finds these people and enrolls them in your program and enables them to deliver results.
NOW TAKE ACTION
Hopefully, I’ve nudged your curiosity sufficiently to check out Kevin’s book – Lovemark. You will enjoy the read. You might also enjoy checking out Kevin’s Lovemarks website. It is a great source of inspiration and guidance. Remember, guiding your community to Lovemark status is a journey. You won’t get there overnight and it will require persistence and patience. But along the way you will be dramatically strengthening your community image. You’ll also become an even better storyteller.
If you need additional inspiration, who would have thought anybody could tell the story about making a cup of coffee in a way that touches people’s hearts and creates an emotional connection? Folger’s has achieved Lovemark status in the minds of consumers. Watch one or both of these commercials and think about how you can begin leading your community on its journey to Lovemark status.
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