Unlike almost all relationships in the world, marketers should preferrably have a love hate relationship with their product / service.

If its all love, then it clouds marketer’s judgement. As marketers, we are obsessed with out product and as a bi-product of that obsession, we feel our consumers care about our product so much (just like us marketers do) that they literally sleep with our brand, dream about our brand and cant wait to think about our brand again when they wake up. But the truth is, consumers couldnt care less. To them, they are a solution to one of his problems ( and he has many many other problems which none solves for him) and he couldnt care less. As marketers we love our product so much, that at times we dont find any fault with it, even when its as clear as daylight (Ask Kodak, IBM!). We are more in love with the past glory of the product and our personal association with that glory attached with the product’s past. And our love sometimes for our product is so devoted and blind that we cannot let go, even when common sense tells us the demise of this particular product is probably makes more sense than anything.

Thats why blind love between marketers and product is a dangerous proposition.

But in the same way, marketers shouldnt dislike their product. If the marketer has no confidence in the product and if he personally doesnt feel that this is a game changing, fantastic product / service, no amount of creative advertising, media budget and cash discount can make that product a winner. If you are not convinced, none else will.

Thats why there should be a verty delicate and complex relationship between the product/service and marketer. He should have enough faith in the product to continue the loving and nurturing relationship of building that product. Also, that devotion should never turn into blind love that clouds judgement and makes him think about the product and product only, not about how its solving customers problems.