Lovemarks or passion brands may create barriers to private labels in the digital age

With the growing number of national brands differentiation and brand building was never harder than today. Moreover, the powerful appearence of private label competition opened up a new field within the competitive landscape. Companies realized that good quality and trust is not enough to win consumer’s loyalty. They need to be engaged on an emotional level to create loyalty beyond reasons. Lovemarks and Passion Brands concepts elaborate this idea. My article focuses on the introduction of these concepts, and their applicability to retailers. With the digital age, numerous consumers went online, and created an important online community, that is powerful enough even to change the branding strategy of strong brands. Therefore the measurement of emotions within the online community gave a new and additional perspective on brand equity. The article discusses the limits and the advantages of these concepts and methods, with special focus on retail branding