WHAT DOES LOVE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

We hear the word “love” in many different forms and contexts daily.  SouthWest Airlines speaks of “Luv” with airline vouchers, employees, and their NYSE stock symbol “Luv.”  For Subaru, “love” means being more than a car company.   “The Subaru Love Promise” is their vision to “show love and respect to all people at every interaction with Subaru.”  According to the NetBase Brand Passion Report: Global 2017, the top 10 Global Love List All-Star brands are: 1) Facebook; 2) Amazon; 3) eBay; 4) Apple; 5) Snap; 6) Disney; 7) Pokemon (Go); 8) Etsy; 9) Netflix; and 10) Sony.  

These companies appear to share a common trait with their consumers – a deep intensity of passion and feeling.  In a sense, our lives (or, for that matter, this very moment) would not be complete without experiencing one or more of these brands.  These brands make us feel safe, inspired, young, motivated, successful, fulfilled, and happy.  For millions around the globe, their lives would be incomplete if the brand’s products and services were made unavailable (even for a short time). 

From this perspective, we understand why we react strongly when our “love brands” disappoint us.  The SouthWest flight is being canceled. Facebook is selling our personal information.  Amazon missing a home delivery.  Apple not supporting older iPhones causing you to upgrade. Disney’s 1.5-hour line wait for Space Mountain.  And Netflix is not keeping reruns of “Friends” in their streaming content.  We get upset. We feel betrayed. We vow never to go back and cancel the subscription once and for all.  

But to no avail, we are “in love.”  And it will take more than a canceled flight, long line, or the loss of a favorite show for us to “cheat” on our brands and seek out another love of our lives.  For love is everlasting and the most potent force in the world.  Love is what makes life meaningful. Love is the most powerful marketing campaign ever imagined.  Right?

For the ancient Greeks, there were four types of love - Agape — Unconditional Love, and Eros — Romanic Love. Philia — Affectionate Love, and Philautia — Self-love. Today, love spans the spectrum from “I love pizza” to “I Love those who love me” to “I love those that are like me” to “I can’t imagine my life without “blank” (fill in the blank with God, a person, an institution, product, or service).  

We love many things and many people.  We often know why, and we frequently have no clue why we love and do not love someone or something.  Sometimes, our love is fickle.  Sometimes, our love is steadfast and true.  We know inherently that we are meant to love others and ourselves.

What does love have to do with it?   

Everything.