(photo courtesy of HSM)

At the Expomanagement presentation that I attended in Buenos Aires last month, I was particularly inspired by Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, who spoke out against his fellow presenter, Michael Porter, when he claimed that the key to running a successful business is the amount of time dedicated to strategic planning.

Roberts believes that the key to success lies in action, risk-taking and, most of all, inspiration. And I have to say that I agree!

“During a recession, you must say goodbye to old ideas and start to generate new ones. Concentrating on protecting what we already have, rather than generating new business is when you start to loose.”

He went on to discuss his client, Toyota, a business which, he claims, is simple and complicated at the same time and wants to experiment and take large risks.

“They want me to make their business the most respected and the most loved because emotion is important in business. 80% of all decisions are emotionally driven. Emotion leads to action.”

In his presentation, Roberts also discussed the concept of “lovemarks”, a brand that inspires loyalty beyond reason. People love these brands because of what they are, not because of what they do. Their appeal is emotional. Companies may own brands but lovemarks are owned by the people who love them.

His three secrets for drawing consumer attention are:

1) Mystery – If we know too much about something, we loose interest

2) Sensuality – Like Apple products.

3) Intimacy – Enough of the strong sell.

“Marketing is about empathy. The internet allows us to release films, to upload a cheap commercial onto YouTube where it will be seen by millions.

A lot of NGOs could certainly benefit from an injection of emotion and inspiration, and like Roberts said, given how cheap, easy to access and effective new media technology is, there really is no excuse.

Below is one of Kevin Robert’s excellent examples of viral marketing on Youtube, for the Quicksilver brand. The stores in Stockholm, Sweden went from being virtually empty to absolutely full of new customers and the commercial was deemed a complete success. Enjoy…

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