About 'Lovemarks'...
Stadium Impact
Lovebranding
We want to clear out the most important misunderstanding on the Lovebranding concept: It doesn't just look good on paper, it's designed to let companies make more money on their products, by building loyalty beyond reason.
Definition
...when we discuss brands such as FC Groningen or sc Heerenveen we aren't discussing regular brands but lovemarks...
These lovemarks can't be copied, because they are connected to their targets on an emotional bases. They've got something special. They are irresistable..
'Builds loyalty that goes beyond reason' (Kevin Roberts, Saatschi & Saatchi)
In other words; Consumers make more effort to become “part of it' than can be rationally explained.
Examples of lovemarks are Apple (I-pod), Heineken, Nike, and almost every soccerclub
How else can we explain that Feyenoord has the largest (growing!) loyal supporterbase of the entire country while they haven't delivered any great acheevements in the last few years?
This is because, surrounding the brand of Feyenoord a community of lovers has arised. Feyenoord has, despite their lack of acheevements, succeeded in building a large and growing group of loyal supporters who stick with their team for good times and bad. A group emotionally tied to their club. A group spending more money on their club.
Feyenoord. A lovemark.
How does this work
This is of course a great story, but how do we make this work at the clubs that we are active in?
The three basic ingredients of a lovemark are: Mystery, Sensuality en Intimicy
Mystery
Brings great stories, metaphores, dreams, icons and symbols together. The glorious past mixed with the present as a great promise for the future.To us this means: Enlarging the past of the club and their icons. Portraying the players as heroes when they come to the field or score. Letting images of the past intwine with the present.
A good example of this is the entranceclip that was used by PSV for a while. It showed the clubs'heroes of the past preparing for the match in the dressing room. Music builds the tension when the moment has arrived and they enter the tunnels. From here the image smoothly changes in the real players entering the field.
Sensuality
Keeping the senses on a constant alert for intriging tastes or smells, multimedial experiences (movies, lights and sound) all around you. The more senses you stimulate, the more impact the experience holds. Our senses allow us to experience the world around us and cherish memories.
For us this means: creating an alround experience. A LED-boarding isn't only suitable for showing ads, the lighting can enrich the atmosphere in the stadium. (For example take Philips's Ambilights TV screens which enlarges the impact of the screen by allowing different colours of LED light behind the screen to let them shine on the wall.
This also means consiously choosing the musical build up of the night. With a clear choice of music.
Intimicy
Empathy, commitment and passion. Without intimicy people will never experience the brand as their brand, and without that convinction the brand will never become a lovemark.
To us this means: celebrating goals multimedial (passion), Using only close shots in our camarawork (intimicy), showing the personal side of the players (commitment), Showing and visualising loss or personal failure (empathy).
More info on the lovemark concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovemark
http://www.lovemarks.com