Lovemarks theory is based on a simple premise: human beings are powered by emotion, not by reason.

This is the essence of the Lovemarks argument. If you want people to take action—whether for something momentous, like voting for a president, or seemingly mundane, like buying one brand of facial tissues over another—you need to appeal to their emotions.

Neurologist Donald Calne perhaps said it best: “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.”

How can we create the kind of appeal that makes people feel inspired or laugh or cry? First, we must realize that brands don’t just get it by asking. They start by giving love, demonstrating that they love the people who buy them. The sea change comes when brands stop thinking about their customers as “them” and start thinking about “us.” When marketers make this change, they start rewarding their customers every day with brand experiences that have special resonance in three key areas: mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.

Of all the potential aspects of emotional resonance, perhaps none is more important than the sense of mystery that comes from great storytelling. Annette Simmons, an expert in storytelling, puts it precisely: “When you tell a story that touches me, you give me the gift of human attention—the kind that connects me to you, that touches my heart and makes me feel more alive.”

Stories have huge value in business as well. They look in the right direction: at people. You cannot tell a story without characters and emotion and sensory detail. Even the dumbest chicken-crossing-the-road jokes have it. And stories capture us faster than the most elaborately produced annual report.

Sensuality is another aspect of emotional engagement that too many brands ignore. Lovemarks ask, “What does our brand smell like, taste like, look like, sound like, and feel like?” These are not easy questions, but the best brands find answers. If they are not in the food or perfume business, most marketers don’t immediately think that taste or smell are relevant. But taste and smell are surefire ways to stretch your brain about your brand. Walk through any mall in America and you can smell Hollister from a mile away (you can hear it at a slightly shorter distance), it is also the only store that actually invades the corridor space with its red-tiled porch. Hollister gets sensuality.

“When you think about it, love is based on inspiration. We are inspired by brands for the same reason we’re inspired by the people we love, because they have principles and treat me like a human being who is intelligent and has feelings. They show empathy and bring joy to my life.” ~ Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Executive Creative Director, Badillo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi

The Love/Respect Axis

How do you know when you have gotten there?

Lovemarks are not created overnight. Marketers need to know where they stand in the beginning, and how well they are doing along the way to building a Lovemark. To help them, Kevin Roberts created the “Love/Respect Axis.”

This tool allows companies to measure how much consumers respect their brands versus how much they love them. Low respect and low love? You are a commodity. Low respect and high love? You are probably a fad. High respect and low love? You are a solid brand with a big opportunity. High respect and high love? You are a Lovemark.

Call it Lovemarks or call it something else, but the pressing question for 21st-century marketers in a digital world of social networking and brand advocacy is how to engage people so they embrace and proselytize your brand. The answer to that question: move from the top left hand quadrant to the top right.

Lovemarks theory makes intuitive sense, but how do we know it really works? Well, that’s what this book is all about. I will show how it works every day for some of the best marketers and brands that have a laser focus on building strong emotional connections with their consumers.

The Data

First, let’s look at some research statistics.

Knowing the need to prove the Lovemarks theory, Saatchi & Saatchi engaged pioneers in emotional research, London-based QiQ International. It was essential to have evidence showing that being a Lovemark delivered higher return on investment (ROI). QiQ’s work showed that growing love and respect can increase buying intention for a product by as much as seven times. Even if your brand has high respect already, you can double volume by increasing love and becoming a Lovemark. For example, in the cereal category, a respected brand can increase the probability of future purchase intention by 60% by increasing their love quotient. In the car category it is 133%!

Beyond purchase intention, people use their Lovemarks more often than they use other products. The average consumer uses their respected brands 26 days per year on average. For Lovemarks it is 119 days.

Further research has supported the overall thesis. The 2007 “Firms of Endearment” study by Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth of 35 public companies that had Lovemarks characteristics showed an ROI of 1025% (between 1996 and 2006)—compared to only 122% for the S&P 500, and 316% for the companies profiled in Jim Collins’ book Good to Great.

Love equates very strongly with loyalty. A survey of 60,000 shoppers across 50 markets found that if a brand can increase its loyal shopper base by just 5%, it can expect an increase in sales of 10%. And in this age of online social networking, loyal shoppers have a much higher propensity to recommend products to friends. In effect, people who love and talk about your brand online are now part of your sales force.

Research never sleeps. An associate company of Saatchi & Saatchi, AMR Research of London, has a reservoir of knowledge about what makes a Lovemark, after doing proprietary research on 4,000 brands in 50 countries and reviewing over 100 industries. It found that consumers are tough, awarding Lovemark status to less than 10% of brands surveyed.

Perhaps this is why Lovemarks don’t just create typical loyalty. They often create loyalty beyond reason. What that means is that people who love those products often buy them without cross shopping any other brands. For example, in research, when they are asked if they can imagine a world without that brand, they honestly answer “no.”

A  paper in the Journal of Marketing by researchers Batra, Ahuvia, and Bagozzi (2011) reported on a three-stage study of brand love. The results of the study summarize Lovemarks in a nutshell. They found that when consumers feel a sense of love for a brand they have a higher sense of brand loyalty, spread positive word-of mouth, and resist negative information about that brand.

As Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider By: Brian Sheehan, excerpted from his book Loveworks: How the world’s top marketers make emotional connections to win in the marketplace, published by powerHouse Books.

A recently published report by Wine Australia found, generally, “wine brand websites to be quite primitive and generally poorly maintained” , there were some expectations but many there was a lack of current contact information, current product information, ‘dead links’ and blog pages with little, old, or no content. Many sites did not offer on-line purchases of wine and, in some cases, did not provide the information a customer would need to find the wine from a distributor”

Part of the study concentrated on e-groups and the impact that being part of the group had on their engagement. The results demonstrated that, even after only one community event experience, this approach to consumer engagement has the power to significantly satisfy a range of consumer needs and engage them in a mutually satisfying, co-created wine experience, which in turn, leads to brand attachment with the subsequent benefits of enhanced word of mouth (WOM) recommendations and willingness-to-pay-a-premium-price (WPPP).

the full report can be found here

How much Generation Y will pay for a bottle of wine ?

Australian Vintage wants to sell more wine to 18-to-34 year olds, and in doing so has uncovered some fascinating data about what ‘generation Y’ wants from its alcohol, and the amount they’re prepared to pay for it.

The listed wine group employed two generational pyschologists for the 15-month process of developing YOU Wines, which general manager Cameron Ferguson claims is the first attempt by an Australian company to reach 18-34s with a “pure wine” product.

“You’ve had Rosemount try a few wines infused with elderflower and stuff, a few spritzers, but proper wine remains something they are not really getting into until their early 30s – with the exception of bubbles, which they associate with the odd celebration along the way,” Ferguson says.

Recent industry Shopper Tracker data shows the 18–34 year old demographic represents only 17 per cent of total wine shopper. This is in stark contrast to beer, where this demographic represents 22 per cent of the total beer shopper, spirits (29 per cent) and cider, where 45 per cent of total shoppers are from generation Y.

These numbers are a problem for Dan Murphy’s too. It makes a higher margin from wine sales than anything else, Ferguson points out, so the Woolworths-owned big-box retailer came on early as a distribution partner for YOU Wines, to help try and get consumers into the category younger.

The pyschologists confirmed Ferguson’s hunch that younger drinkers are intimidated by the jargon to be found on the back of many wine bottles.

“They get confused by all the regional references, and bamboozled by all the ‘fermentation, aged in barrels, squashed by virgins’ stuff,” he says.

“Turn a cider around and there’s none of that.”

Generation Y is interested in provenance and the story behind a brand, but only if it’s framed in a way that’s relevant to them, says John Foss of The Chia Co, another fast-moving consumer goods company with younger taste-makers emphasised in its marketing strategy.

“If the words on the packaging don’t directly address how this product will benefit them, and if they don’t feel this product is saying something about them that they want to project, they won’t buy it,” Foss says.

“Millennials seek brands that are authentic and talk to them on their terms,” says Andy Gaunt, brand director of Fever Tree, a premium natural mixer brand that’s also done its share of thinking about these elusive consumers.

The importance of such ‘conversation’ with 18-to-34s is reflected in the YOU Wines marketing strategy, which see each of the four initial stock-keeping units (SKUs) assigned its own personality, with appropriate slogans (ie “You’re epic in every way” for shiraz) taking over from jargon on the back of the bottle . An online or app-delivered test allows you to see which SKU represents you best.

“This is not a generation that wants to be talked down to, but they do want to learn. Matching personalities to grape varieties and bringing them out on the label is key to that,” AVL’s marketing manager Scott Burton told The Shout.

Blogger/influencers like @aisha_jade and @hollyholmess have been incentivised to take the quiz and reflect it on social media.

“We found image and identity were two of the top five values of Generation Y and social media is where that plays out,” Ferguson explains.

Read more

The recommended retail price of a bottle of YOU Wines is also the product of market research. Over two-thirds of Gen Y respondents said they’d be prepared to pay $14.99 or more for a bottle of wine that “reflected the impression they would like to make on their friends”, Ferguson reports.

So $14.99 will be the RRP when YOU is rolled out to Woolworths’ small-format outlets later this year, however in typical Dan Murphy’s fashion the big-box retailer has undercut that by $2 since it began stocking them in August.

The simplifying of wine to appeal to 18-34 year olds is a tactic that’s already been successful in the US, Ferguson says. Sweeter, blended red wines like “Apothic Red” have proven a hit among younger consumers, and AVL may look to mimic that success given its “McGuigan’s Black Label” red blend is “by far” the best-selling red wine in Australia by volume.

reported by  Michael Bailey Deputy editor of BRW

Published 21 August 2015 16:42, Updated 24 August 2015 10:36

How far or how close is your gap?

For many businesses, the perception gap can be very wide, not because they are not concentrating on their customers, but because they are not prioritising the items that their customers are.

The way customers rank what’s important to them can be completely different to what you think is important to them. You may think they are very interested to hear what new products/vintages you have however for them it may be way down their list.

Its important to align the perception gap, so what’s important to your customers has the same ranking as what’s important to you. Otherwise you may be concentrating on producing marketing material, e-newsletters, participation opportunities that are simply just not something they consider too important, which ends in frustration, wasted time and money.

iwine HQ can help you to find out what’s important to your customers and therefore what should be important to you. 

getting customers takes time and money.

Business Insider reports that for more than a year Australian Vintage Limited (AVL), Australia’s fourth largest wine producer, worked with psychologists to create a wine brand that would entice Gen Y, specifically based on their wants and needs.

The product of the collaboration? YOU Wines.

With 18-34 year olds representing 17% of total wine consumers, an industry that is worth $4.1 billion annually, AVL sought to seize a market that before now has “failed to take advantage of its natural fit with Gen Y consumers,” according to AVL General Manager, Cameron Ferguson.

Currently the same demographic represents 22% of the total beer shopper, and 29% spirits and cider.

The winemaker believes that by engaging with Gen Y consumers on a personal and emotional level, backed by solid consumer research and insights, it has discovered the secret to get Gen Y consumers to drink their wine.

“The generational shift in aspirational models and peer influences is something wine producers haven’t generally come to terms with,” says Scott Burton, marketing manager at AVL.

“Most are still relying solely on the old paradigm that young peoples’ tastes will automatically mature into wine, as their parents did. But to imagine so is to fundamentally misunderstand the motivational dynamic.”

Earlier this year Australian Vintage, which currently represent 8% of the total Australian annual production, announced its half year results to December 31 2014, which showed revenue for that period increasing by 16% due to sales in UK/Europe and Australasia/North America segments.

Brands under the winemaker include, McGuigan Wines, Tempus Two and Nepenthe.

SARAH KIMMORLEY, Business insider 5/8/15

Fifteen Steps to a Successful Winery Visit

Go Early, Ask Questions, Don’t Get Carried Away; The Empty Box Rule

There has never been a better time than now — right now, this week — to go visit a winery near you.

All over the U.S., more wineries than ever are open and eager for you to drop by.
Many of them plan special events during the summer and entire regions now are heavily promoting their wine trails.

Winemakers and winery owners are among the world’s most charming and interesting people, and they often give away samples of their art for free.

Why wouldn’t you go? I

If you do, here are some tips on how to visit wineries, with some suggestions for winery etiquette.
We’ve focused here on visiting wineries in newer wine regions, where tourism might not be as well advanced as places like Napa and Sonoma.

Our wine columnists offer tips on visiting a local vineyard.

• Get an empty box for wine.
  Grab one at your local wine store, or think about buying a Styrofoam wine carrier from the shipping store. Trust us on this. You are going to start buying bottles of wine that will rattle around in your car unless you’ve brought a box. You’ll thank us for this advice when your box is full (and this might have an added benefit; see below).

• Hire a car or have a designated driver.
  Chances are you will taste more wine than you expected to — those little tastes add up. Not only that, but if you’re not used to drinking wine early in the day (see below), it could catch up with you fast. In many of the newer wine regions, the wineries might be spread out, so you have some driving ahead of you. Various tour companies are popping up in wine regions all over the country that are happy to chart your visits to wineries and take you to them.

• Take the kids, but, if you do, find something for them to do.
  Wine regions are very pretty around now, so green and lush, and winery people are nice, so it’s a shame for children to miss the experience. But tasting rooms can be boring for children, so ask right away if there are cookies or crackers, animals to play with or anything else for kids to do. Some, though not nearly enough, have basketball nets, bocce courts, coloring books or Play-Doh. Take along a Rubik’s Cube, which did the trick for our kids for a while.

• Go early, especially on weekends.
  The thing that’s the most fun about a winery visit is chatting with the people behind the bar, who are often the owners or winemakers, especially at smaller wineries. They won’t have time to talk with you if it’s busy.

• Focus on the smaller places.
  There is something comforting and unintimidating about the larger places with big parking lots, T-shirts for sale and lots of hired help. But to feel the passion of wine and winemaking, it’s important to seek out the smaller places where you can really spend some quality time with the people behind the bar.

• Be polite.
  Yes, this seems obvious, but we’ve visited hundreds of tasting rooms over more than 30 years and we’re always amazed how rude people can be. In a smaller winery, you are likely to be in part of someone’s home and possibly talking to the owner. And you’re probably getting wine free, or for a small charge. Be nice, and show them the respect they deserve.

• Try new, unfamiliar things.
  In many parts of the country, the grapes that grow best are native American grapes or hybrids. Perhaps the winery makes a Chardonnay, but it’s not as good as its Vignoles. If you stick to grapes you know, you could miss out on the regional specialties.

• Have an answer to the question, “What kind of wine do you like?”
  Tasting-room personnel tend to ask this reflexively as an ice-breaker, but many people who aren’t totally comfortable with wine find it hard to answer on the spot. In any event, we’d be hesitant to answer it directly because we don’t want to try only the kinds of wines we already know we like. Even if you think you only like dry wines, you should try some that are sweet, and vice versa. Think about saying something like, “I enjoy all kinds of wines. Which would you start with?”

• Ask where the grapes were grown.
  Many wineries these days all over the country make wine from grapes grown in California or someplace else far away. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but when we visit a winery in, say, Connecticut, part of the fun of the visit is tasting wines made from grapes grown in Connecticut, near where we’re standing. If you don’t want to ask, just peek at the label. If it says “estate bottled,” that’s a sign that the grapes were probably grown right around the corner.

• Ask questions.
  Don’t be shy. If you ask simple questions like “Does this look like it will be a good year?” or “What food goes best with this wine?” the person behind the counter will appreciate your interest. Don’t try to show off with questions like, “Did this get any ML?” unless you really, really care about malolactic fermentation. There are no stupid questions — and, in any event, you can’t do worse than the visitor who once asked a tasting-room pourer whom we’ve known for years, “How long does the wine stay in caskets?”

• Remember that it’s a tasting room, not a bar.
  If you want to drink a big glass of wine, buy a bottle and have a picnic. And even if you are not driving, be very careful about how much you’re drinking. People who have had too much to drink ruin the tasting experience for everybody.

• Be careful how much you buy.
  It’s a nice gesture to buy a bottle or two, but you shouldn’t feel pressured to. Still, we tend to get carried away at wineries and buy more bottles than we intended. You’ll be amazed how quickly those bottles add up. Many wineries now can ship across state lines, so you can probably call and get those wines after you get home if you have non-buyer’s remorse later.

• Keep wines out of the hot car. A car that’s sitting in the sun will cook your wines in no time flat.
  Find a way to avoid that!

• Ask wineries how to ship your wine back.
  If you have bought a case or so at various wineries, you might find it easier to ship it back, so ask if there is a local shipping place that specialises in this.

Finally, keep this in mind:
The wines you bought at the winery will not taste as good at home as they did at the winery.
We’re sorry to end this list with a downer, but it’s true. When you’re there, surrounded by the wondrous sights and smells of a winery, with the winemaker across the bar, pouring wine in pristine condition that has never traveled, the wine tastes special. You simply can’t replicate those conditions at home.
But this is exactly why you should go taste wine at a winery this week

By DOROTHY J. GAITER and JOHN BRECHER

Updated July 2015