We set up Lovemarks.com as a place people could declare their passion for the brands they loved. The intensity of the response even surprised us. This was real Lovemarks behavior in real time. The site just keeps on growing. Last month we had 315 new members sign up. Recently, I was pumped to see our idea taken another step. I guess by now, all the gloom and doom merchants who said that the Internet would never be a place for an authentic emotional life have changed their tune. The odd one or two who are still holding out should visit brand-mates. The people who started this site wrote me to explain their idea. They started with a simple assumption that was simply genius, and took it all the way. They figured that chances are people who love the same brands have a lot in common. Makes perfect sense. It’s one of those simple ideas you could think about in relation to any business. Affinity by Lovemark! As the people at brand-mates say, “Yes opposites can attract, but brand-mates will help you find a date, a mate or maybe even just a friend who likes more of what you like, than less of what you like, which can make all of the difference in the world”. Sure, the idea that people who enjoy the same thing has been with us since model trains were invented (ok, even before then), but attaching this idea to the people who like brands, not just the brand community itself, strikes me as smart and very much of the moment. Its value of course doesn’t just have to be based on buying the same stuff. It can be believing in the same ideas expressed by a brand. Pursuing the same passions inspired by a brand. There is the opportunity for people who care about sustainable brands to get together. It’s early days for brand-mates, so let’s see how they go. Personally I wish everyone on the site the best of luck and all the fun and love in the world. It sounds like a marriage made in brand heaven.
