Gebrauchte Liebe oder strategische Kapitulation? Nachhaltigkeit als neue Währung für Love Brands

18.03.2026

With the Thermomix TM6 ReNewed, Vorwerk officially enters the certified secondhand market. What superficially looks like a product range extension is in truth a strategic breach of the dam with signal effect for the entire premium segment: the secondary market mutates from the dreaded enemy of new sales into an indispensable part of modern brand leadership. Anyone who still believes that brand strength is defined solely by ever-new model generations misjudges the radical shift in global consumption logic.

For decades, sales followed a simple dogma: every used device is a lost new sale. But this logic is breaking down against consumers’ new value canon. In 2026, the decisive question of brand strategy is no longer how innovative the next gadget is, but whether a brand has the sovereignty to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of its products. Real innovation today no longer takes place in the housing but in the courage to adopt a circular business model.

In his talk “Together – From Zero to Love Brand” on customer understanding, emotional customer experience and the strategy of modern Love Brands, keynote speaker Thomas Daamen examines exactly these fault lines. He makes clear that the status of a Love Brand today is tied to a moral infrastructure that reaches far beyond the moment of sale. While classic marketing models often still remain stuck in linear cycles, Thomas Daamen shows why a brand survives in the long term only if it understands customer understanding for sustainable ways of life as the core of its identity.

For Generation Z and millennials in particular, sustainability is long since no lifestyle trend but an uncompromising condition for brand loyalty. Buying a certified secondhand device becomes the new status symbol – a “smart investment” that puts awareness of values above mere ownership. An emotional customer experience arises here from the assurance that quality has no expiration date. Those who ignore this development lose not only revenue but also emotional connection with tomorrow’s decision-makers.

According to Daamen, only one conclusion can be drawn from this: a healthy brand acts as a partner to a generation that wants to save the planet without giving up quality. True brand strength cannot be forced through artificial purchase incentives. Thomas Daamen emphasizes:

“True brand love is not a one-way ticket. Anyone who believes they can bind a generation through constant new goods, a generation that demands a circular economy as the standard, has lost the customer understanding of the 21st century. A Love Brand proves its value only when the lights in the factory go out – in daily, sustainable use.”

Vorwerk’s move exemplifies where innovation in the premium segment is heading. In the future, loyalty will be decided not by the newest model but by the feeling of standing on the right side of history. Brands that credibly embody this stance create an emotional customer experience that inseparably links trust and values. This is how the Love Brands of tomorrow emerge.

Photo credit: Pixabay (CC0)
This article also appeared on openPR .

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About Thomas Daamen

Thomas Daamen is a keynote speaker from Munich and a Marketing Director with more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales, including several years in a leading role for Aperol. He speaks at annual kickoffs, sales conferences, leadership events and customer events about how to understand customers, decide boldly and win teams over for a brand – told through Love Brands.

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