Building a Lovemark brand is far from easy.
It takes guts.
Why?
Because it means you’re on your own.
A Lovemark puts itself out there. It’s different. Unique.
It marches to its own beat.
And that’s scary. It’s a vulnerable place to be.
You risk rejection. Ridicule. Even alienation.
When you stand for something, you risk pissing people off.
So naturally, you second-guess yourself. You constantly ask yourself whether you’re doing the right thing.
Nothing’s quite as comfortable and effortless as following the crowd. Of doing what everyone else does.
Find what seems to be working, and just copy it.
Simple.
Monkey see, monkey do.
The truth is though, taking the path of a “me-too” brand is the biggest risk of all.
You’re virtually guaranteed to go unnoticed. In this day and age where attention is currency, that’s a death sentence.
In a world of dull, uninspiring vanilla brands, a Lovemark is cherry ripple and buttered pecan in Cointreau with truffle swirls.
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s OK.
Those who do approve of the flavour will love it with a passion.
They’ll become part of your tribe. And they’ll be loyal beyond reason.
That’s the Lovemark way.
The message here is that to create a Lovemark that’s truly great, three things are essential.
The first is an authentic, unique, one-of-a-kind brand identity.
Second, that identity and its values need to be something that your audience can fall in love with.
From what I hear, Hitler was quite a unique individual in his day.
But I wouldn’t mind betting he didn’t get a lot of dates.
You feel me?
And third, you must have the conviction to stand by your brand’s identity and be prepared to shout its message to the world.
Like I said, that takes guts. But the rewards are worth it.
If you’re up for the challenge of your own Lovemark, check out how I can help you through my offerings below.
Yes and no. I only work with smaller brands (5 employees or less), and prefer online brands or conventional brands with a strong online presence. I also prefer working with new or very young brands – there’s nothing quite as gratifying as seeing a budding upstart brand starting to take off in the world. During our introductory call we will talk about your brand and your situation, and I’ll let you know whether or not I think I can be of benefit. The last thing I want to do is to waste your time and money, so I’ll only take you on as a client if I’m sure that I can help your brand.
The first step is just to get in touch. We will schedule a fifteen minute intro phone call, during which we will discuss your brand and what your requirements are. Depending on the situation, I’ll either let you know right away whether I can help, or I may need to do a bit more digging before making up my mind. Once we have both decided to go ahead I’ll advise you whether a Lovemark Blueprint or a Lovemark Blueprint+ is the better starting option for you.
The way it works is that you would start with either a Lovemark Blueprint or a Lovemark Blueprint+, depending on your situation. Naturally, we would discuss this during our introductory phone call. Once that work has been completed, you will have a top-level plan for how your brand can go forward. If at that point you would like to continue working with me you would then do a Lovemark Buildout. There we create all the essential foundational elements for your brand, such as its unique identity, USP, messaging, website copy, strategies, and so on.
I will only ask you to pay 25% of the total fee up front, just as a gesture that you’re a serious client. Before getting started we will sign a working contract so that we both know what’s expected of each other. This contract will clearly lay out the terms for payment of the 25% deposit and the balance of the total fee.
A Lovemark Blueprint and a Lovemark Blueprint+ both start with an in-depth discussion session, and in each case the final work will be completed in two to three business days after that. A Lovemark Buildout will take no longer than 5 business days from start to finish.
Freelance consulting isn’t what I do. The difficulty with general consulting is that brand owners can quite often be mistaken about what help their brand actually needs, so things can get complicated pretty quickly. So as far as my branding services go, I only offer the three service packages described above. Each one covers specific tasks and has specific deliverables, so my process for working with brands is very structured and everyone knows what to expect.