“Lovemarks” is a marketing term coined a few years ago by Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Roberts intended for the term to replace the idea of brands as he claimed, “Brands are running out of juice.”

Personally I think Roberts it’s just trying to sell books by putting a new spin on the word brand. I completely disagree with him that brands are running out of juice; however, I do agree that the term “brand” has become watered down and misunderstood.

Really what Roberts is talking about is the emotional side of branding. Once a company has developed their brand strategy and they have put forth a vision, mission, and values that inspire, it’s time to activate the brand through the company’s people. In order for a company to become a brand they need customers to fall in love with them. Love isn’t marketing “fluff.” Love is what’s needed to elevate a company to a brand.

If you are interested in building loyalty among your customers beyond what is considered “reasonable,” the following are key emotional ingredients to elevating your company’s status to that of a brand:

Mystery: Tell great stories. Exercise your past, present and future. Tap into dreams, myths and icons. Inspire your staff and your customers.

Sensuality: Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste. Excite the senses. We are sensual beings making emotional decisions. Tantalize the 5 senses and you will win.

Intimacy: Commitment, empathy, and passion. Show your customers you are an intimate person/company, and they’ll show you love back.

The difference between a product, fad, and brand is simple.

The following schema of emotion is based on respect and love.

Mere products (commodities) command neither respect nor love. Think salt.

Fads attract love, but without respect this love is just a passing infatuation. Furby anyone?

Brands on the other hand command both respect and love. BMW. Grey Goose. Apple. These are brands and they’ve achieved brand status by binding the holy trinity of emotion: mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.