Eighteen months or so ago I received a call from Brian Sheehan, a 25 year Saatchi & Saatchi veteran and former CEO at Team One in Los Angeles, and at our agencies in Australia and Japan. At that time, Brian had largely left the agency side of the business and was pursuing his real passion of teaching. He has been appointed a professor of advertising at the Newhouse School at Syracuse, arguably the top communications school in the USA. Brian wanted to talk to me about Lovemarks.
Brian’s perspective on Lovemarks is unique. He has applied the concept in both academia and business, and presented the concept to major clients and seriously tough critics in the form of 18 year old college students. He has been an insider as a leader in our Network, and an external observer. What all this experience had shown Brian was that even though Lovemarks was being recognized as a key idea of leadership in the marketing industry, people were still wondering how to get there! Brian said he wanted to write a book to show how it was done. “Brilliant” I thought, I had already written two books on the subject and was waiting for someone to step up to write the next chapter in this light fandango.
I sent a note to the top CEOs in our Network and asked them to share the best stories of clients who had been brave enough to take the Lovemarks concept and make it into a winning reality. For several months, Brian worked through the stories with people from across our global Network, learning their truths and validating results. The outcome is 20 case stories from clients in eight countries featuring many famous brands – Pampers, Cheerios, Camry, Visa, Swiffer, T-Mobile, Lenovo, Safeguard, Nike – and three beers from three continents – Miller High Life, Guinness and Skol.
The Saatchi & Saatchi global design team in New Zealand led by Derek Lockwood, Kane McPherson and Blake Enting transformed the manuscript into a publication that surprises and delights (the cover is a “surprise with the obvious” moment – let your fingers do the walking! We’re delighted to be joined again by powerHouse Books of Brooklyn, world-renowned independent art book publishers. This is their sixth Saatchi & Saatchi title.
After a period of anticipation, today we celebrate this labor of love with the launch of Loveworks: How the world’s top marketers make emotional connections to win in the marketplace. An official launch event is taking place at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity where we will present the book to our clients and creative community, and Saatchi & Saatchi will be introducing the book in your country through our local agencies. Loveworks has accomplished what Brian set out to do, which was to provide guideposts that will lead brands on their journey to Lovemarks. It is evidence that love works for us. Get your copy today.
