Date: Wed 24th September, 2008
Venue:
At Insider’s first dedicated creative event at The Lowry Centre, Salford Quays, branding guru Kevin Roberts, worldwide chief executive of advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, discussed the concept of creating a brand for which the consumer has loyalty beyond reason.
Roberts told the 100-strong audience from some of the region’s leading media organisations that a brand needs three ingredients to become a fusion between love and respect or a “Lovemark”: mystery, sensuality and intimacy. “Even before I joined Saatchi & Saatchi, I knew something had to change with the traditional concept of branding,” he says. “We live in an age where ideas are everything. Everybody claims to be in the ideas business, but I think that only the true creative communities know what a true authentic idea is.”
Switching his attention to the MediaCity development at Salford Quays, Roberts said that he was excited by the prospect of the emerging creative centre, but criticised the execution of the scheme so far. “It would be fantastic if Manchester could become a global creative hub,” he said. “But to make it happen, we’ve got to change what’s going on here right now.
“I have never seen anything as boring as MediaCityUK. It’s everything a brand name shouldn’t be and it’s heading to oblivion fast. It needs to be rebranded, to have more storytelling around it and the external design needs to change. It’s not enough that it’s coming to Salford over London – we have to make this great and fabulous and ours. I really want it to succeed, but I just find it so bland at the moment.”
