LoveMarks, more like Love Bite

Ok Johnnie, it's time to join the fray, having part read LoveMarks, I've read enough to form an opinion.
Kevin Roberts telling us about LoveMarks, is like Hitler telling us that the trains should run on time.  Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I have strong doubts about the messenger. And so does Chris Lawer.

Kevin Roberts is a guy who is proud of having machine gunned a Coke dispenser.
Each to their own.  He's sold Beer (gassy piss), Pepsi (black gassy sweet piss), and Tide detergent (welcome to Kev's world!!).
He loves Head and Shoulders.  He sucks up to ex-employers (who are probably his current paymasters), and he ropes in the very people who should know better (Tom Peters! and Fast Company)

Make the crap seem average, and the average look good. That's branding for you.
There's one thing Kev and I can agree on, and that's Scott Adam's view that "All People are Idiots".
They'd have to be, to be smothering themselves in Head and Shoulders, and Tide!

Seth Godin seems to best explain it all.  There are Brands, and there is Branding.  Branding is something that is done.  Branding seems to me a Smoke and Mirrors thing, to make average things seem better than they really are, by spending money on marketing instead of on improving the product or service.

I love brands.  I love great design and aesthetics.  I love great service, I love Tom Peters (and he loves Brands and Branding), I loved my VW Golf GTi, I loved First Direct, I love my cheap Nokia phone, I love some of the LoveMarks - Google (not for much longer), Lego, BBC, Amazon, The Simpsons, Dilbert.  But I hate other nominations.  So it means nothing. 6 Billion Opinions.

You know what the problem is.  I don't love or respect Kevin Roberts.  LoveMarks is a great idea, except the minute you try to define love, it ceases to be love, and I don't love the messenger.  I can't quite work out yet, what's missing from his voice, but I know I don't trust it.

I'd better finish reading the book and see if my Tide of cynicism can be held back!!