The Hindu Business Line : `Brands need to give way to lovemarks'

`BRANDS' have become bland expressions, thanks to the excessive commercials and the multitude of television channels. Instead, companies and organisations need to focus on creating `lovemarks' that bring their products very close to consumers' hearts.

According to Mr S. Gosh, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Saatchi and Saatchi, brands were having a rough ride because of the over-use syndrome.

Telecasting a 30-second capsule across all the channels would cost a fortune for companies. In most cases, such spends might as well cross the annual budgets of many mid-sized companies.

Mr Gosh was delivering the keynote address at a day-long seminar on `Branding and Advertising' organised by the Bangalore-based Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship here on Saturday. Indian viewers were being bombarded with an average of 500 commercials a day. "We do not have the ability, let alone the time or patience, to absorb even a fraction," he said.

On the other hand, those brands that carried emotional attachment with them lasted for long. To build a relationship, one needed to invest. "It is like growing a sapling," he said. Citing examples like Amul, he said some brands evolved into `lovemarks.' They meant a lot to some people. "They simply can't do without them," he observed. He said there was a vast change in the texture of consumers.