Global warming

Phenomenal success aside, Apple and Google share something in common. You could belittle it by calling it brand empathy, but it takes more than just brand empathy to turn the "I want an iPod this christmas" to "my iPod will keep me warm this winter". There are no lovable ad campaigns and their taglines don't need the word "human" - it's all about products which you and I see genuine value using.

Organic brand affection can be difficult to culture in an ad agency's studio, but that doesn't stop marketers from trying to graft in a branch or two. Recent campaigns range from Toyota's well-choreographed human touch to Cisco's unconvincing human network and Budweiser's pointlessly extravagant, login-driven Bud TV.

The latter two probably did their work as brand awareness and recall exercises, but that's where it ends. The problem is that most of Cisco's advertised value has nothing to do with Cisco as far as you're concerned, and we all know how good Bud and his buddies are for you.

The question isn't quite about how you plant organic brand affection. The dummies won't be rolling out a guide for that anytime soon. It's about whether your brand is worthy of affection in the first place.