Lovemarks
In advertising today, I have seen all of the four marketing strategies mentioned in "The Persuaders" video. The one that struck a chord most with me, however, was lovemarks.
From shoes to clothing to bicycles to cars and more, advertising lovemarks are ingrained in our society. All you have to do is look around the halls at school- look at the Converse, Vans, Birkenstocks and Doc Martins worn religiously since the 80s for most of them, the scrunchies on almost every girl's wrist, the American Eagle and Urban Outfitters logos, Apple vs Android debates, etc. All of these brands use a form of lovemarking to sell these products.
With these particular brands and the high school environment, I believe the appeal to fit in and look like everyone else does takes over for many people, and these companies play on those feelings, making their brand the one you haft to have or the one that is what you see most. The images put out by these brands are often showing beautiful, unrealistic people that us high schoolers can only hope to become. With all of these little tactics, brands build up their appeal to create the illusion of love and infatuation. They make their brand unique to all the others.
Of course, there is some discrepancy between what people wear and what appeals to whom, but the point is that these overly-popular companies market not just a product but a lifestyle, an aspiration, as the video discussed.
In my own life, in addition to many others, three products I adore are my converse, my Volkl Kenja skis, and my inherited 1997 Subaru Outback.
The way Converse became ingrained in my way of life started with the repetitive adds on TV shows, on Instagram, and continued with the stories of my parents wearing the same shoes to play basketball, the idea that I too could do what my parents have done. The aesthetic of the shoe has always appealed to me because it was marketed as a classic design- Chuck Taylors, since 1917. Me, categorizing myself as an angry baby boomer who should have grown up in the seventies, liked the idea that I could take something besides the music of the era out of it and relate to that time period a little more. It doesn't hurt that in almost every movie or show about teens, the black converse are worn by the moody, rebellious character that everyone wants to be. The sort of natural rivalry between Converse and Vans appeals to me too because it gives me something to defend, a side to fight for. This may be an over-analysis of my love for a shoe, but I feel like advertising wants you to think and feel this way about the brand. It wants us to love our shoes more than our girlfr
iends. Not that I do. I don't know what you're talking about.
Moving on, the second brand I'm unhealthily attached to is Volkl. I've had Volkl skis now for 4 or 5 seasons, and I feel as though I'm connected with everyone else who has the skis I do, the women's 2017 Kenjas. I've been told on the slope one time, after jokingly complimenting someone who also had the skis that "women who have these skis have a special bond". And I absolutely agreed with what this women said, though I had never met her and we were basing this bond off of pieces of Metal, plastic, and wood strategically put together. The reason I got so attached to this particular brand was because of their magazine adds, which featured their products on Olympians like Jonny Moseley and JT Holmes, people from the resort I learned to ski at. Or it would feature the skis on someone doing a crazy trick or line- it made me want to feel connected to those people, to be those people.
Lastly, my car. 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback. My dad and I used to play a game when I was littler- pointing out all the cars that were the same model and calling them "brother" or "sister"cars. That game, paired with the Superbowl add with the dogs, and the repeated messages of family in all the marketing from Subaru made me fall in love with the car. The ski trips and memories I've made along the way helped, but the values pushed in the ads for this car pushed me to love the car and never want another type, made me unattracted to the fancy sports cars or big trucks. It made me only focus on the Subaru, love it unconditionally.
All these brands are ingrained in my life to such an extent that even recognizing the fact that all this is an irrational result of advertising, of the world we're all growing up in, doesn't prompt me to change my ways. I'm still going to make fun of my best friend for wearing converse and vans, still religiously buy Volkl skis only, still buy Subarus as long as I can afford them.
And that's the thing, isn't it? We don't care if we're being brainwashed- we like the products the way they are being presented to us. Will you change your ways after analyzing the brands lovemarked for you? Why or why not? Do you think it's a god or bad thing either way?
If we get pleasure out of wearing certain things, owning certain things, doing certain things, is advertising really that evil?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
From shoes to clothing to bicycles to cars and more, advertising lovemarks are ingrained in our society. All you have to do is look around the halls at school- look at the Converse, Vans, Birkenstocks and Doc Martins worn religiously since the 80s for most of them, the scrunchies on almost every girl's wrist, the American Eagle and Urban Outfitters logos, Apple vs Android debates, etc. All of these brands use a form of lovemarking to sell these products.
With these particular brands and the high school environment, I believe the appeal to fit in and look like everyone else does takes over for many people, and these companies play on those feelings, making their brand the one you haft to have or the one that is what you see most. The images put out by these brands are often showing beautiful, unrealistic people that us high schoolers can only hope to become. With all of these little tactics, brands build up their appeal to create the illusion of love and infatuation. They make their brand unique to all the others.
Of course, there is some discrepancy between what people wear and what appeals to whom, but the point is that these overly-popular companies market not just a product but a lifestyle, an aspiration, as the video discussed.
In my own life, in addition to many others, three products I adore are my converse, my Volkl Kenja skis, and my inherited 1997 Subaru Outback.
The way Converse became ingrained in my way of life started with the repetitive adds on TV shows, on Instagram, and continued with the stories of my parents wearing the same shoes to play basketball, the idea that I too could do what my parents have done. The aesthetic of the shoe has always appealed to me because it was marketed as a classic design- Chuck Taylors, since 1917. Me, categorizing myself as an angry baby boomer who should have grown up in the seventies, liked the idea that I could take something besides the music of the era out of it and relate to that time period a little more. It doesn't hurt that in almost every movie or show about teens, the black converse are worn by the moody, rebellious character that everyone wants to be. The sort of natural rivalry between Converse and Vans appeals to me too because it gives me something to defend, a side to fight for. This may be an over-analysis of my love for a shoe, but I feel like advertising wants you to think and feel this way about the brand. It wants us to love our shoes more than our girlfriends. Not that I do. I don't know what you're talking about.
Moving on, the second brand I'm unhealthily attached to is Volkl. I've had Volkl skis now for 4 or 5 seasons, and I feel as though I'm connected with everyone else who has the skis I do, the women's 2017 Kenjas. I've been told on the slope one time, after jokingly complimenting someone who also had the skis that "women who have these skis have a special bond". And I absolutely agreed with what this women said, though I had never met her and we were basing this bond off of pieces of Metal, plastic, and wood strategically put together. The reason I got so attached to this particular brand was because of their magazine adds, which featured their products on Olympians like Jonny Moseley and JT Holmes, people from the resort I learned to ski at. Or it would feature the skis on someone doing a crazy trick or line- it made me want to feel connected to those people, to be those people.
Lastly, my car. 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback. My dad and I used to play a game when I was littler- pointing out all the cars that were the same model and calling them "brother" or "sister"cars. That game, paired with the Superbowl add with the dogs, and the repeated messages of family in all the marketing from Subaru made me fall in love with the car. The ski trips and memories I've made along the way helped, but the values pushed in the ads for this car pushed me to love the car and never want another type, made me unattracted to the fancy sports cars or big trucks. It made me only focus on the Subaru, love it unconditionally.
All these brands are ingrained in my life to such an extent that even recognizing the fact that all this is an irrational result of advertising, of the world we're all growing up in, doesn't prompt me to change my ways. I'm still going to make fun of my best friend for wearing converse and vans, still religiously buy Volkl skis only, still buy Subarus as long as I can afford them.
And that's the thing, isn't it? We don't care if we're being brainwashed- we like the products the way they are being presented to us. Will you change your ways after analyzing the brands lovemarked for you? Why or why not? Do you think it's a god or bad thing either way?
If we get pleasure out of wearing certain things, owning certain things, doing certain things, is advertising really that evil?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
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