Calling bullshit on customer loyalty

interesting insight…

I think you must be correct, otherwise the number of people going to Woolies recently would have plummeted, as more and more brands are replaced by generic.

Spot on Dan.. refresh as many consumers minds as possible with the things that are distinctively associated with the brand

Awesome article – very well put.

I’m calling bull, loyalty does exist and can be cultivated.

First up, committing to a brand is not a marriage – Loyalty and Exclusivity are different things. Loyalty is a preference (often driven by experience and as you call it, our better selves). Exclusivity is to never try anything else – loyalty on the other hand exists because I have tried something else!

Loyalty starts with the experience.

Product attributes, having a good shelf position and being top-of-mind help capture an initial purchase but loyalty is more than a habitual choice, it’s an emotional one based on what the brand means and the experience (and emotion) you associate with owning/using/enjoying the brand/product or service.

You can market to be a commodity and compete on price or you can market the experience, the point of difference and cultivate loyalty – up to you.

The great unwashed suffer cognitive dissonance – SHOCKER!

And I’m not sure who is defining loyalty as a slavish monogamous brand relationship.

For most on the gaussian curve of loyalty, they sit in the “repertoire” middle bulge – SHOCKER!

And book-ending these repertoire types we also have brand sluts at one end who would change brands like their pants, and brand slaves at the other who really would only ever buy brand X.

So… “loyalty” has only ever been about creating a preference. Brand sluts cost too much; Brand slaves are already with you (or against you). So the rest is just giving a transactional or experiential reason to prefer and hopefully choose at the “ZMOT”

And aren’t there a lot of tools and techniques to achieve that.

So what was the point of the article?

Totally agree, i do not care for my brand of tomato sauce in the same way that i care about my partner… no advertising will EVER change that. we shouldn’t strive for un-attainable and unrealistic ideals of brand “relationships”. Its not about building deep relationships, our focus should be battling apathy.

Consider this: If a customer stays loyal to a brand, it’s because there are way too many choices out there, and people are tired. Also consider: a person staying loyal to a car brand because of its performance, (plus cars don’t speak back). People leave a brand, because of poor service, and that is due to human error. Unfortunately. Yet there are many brands that don’t advertise, that have waiting lines a mile long. Insight?

To quote Andrew ‘Northern Planner’ Hovells, “Consumers are a bit like single men after midnight in a bar. They’ll happily go with what’s available.” http://joymachine.typepad.com/.....ution.html

@stewart, tomato sauce is one of the few products that actually does make me stay loyal.

rosella is clearly the best, all other brands taste like pouring a cup of sugar on your chips

What stig said. Someone leaves a telco because the service is shite. My boss never saw a Tesla ad. He is on the waiting list. Do we need advertising if our offering us amazing? I know some amazing people and they are not on tinder…

My tomato sauce has never gained weight, told me I’m a loser, crashed the car or been abusive to my parents at Christmas dinner. It’s so easy to be loyal to her. Fortunately, my wife is lovely and squeezable too.

The Prof would say that loyalty exists (albeit polygamous as @Adgrunt correctly points out) and reflects the market share of a brand in its category. Bigger brands tend to get more, therefore focussing on attracting more customers and loyalty will take care of itself.

The key is distinguishing between loyalty and inertia.

As a research in this space I talk to people ‘customers’ about this issue a lot, I agree with what you are saying that is a brand ceased to exist tomorrow, it would not necessarily ruin anybody’s day, but it would ‘disrupt’ the consumers day. Ok I know that sounds lame, what I am saying is that from a consumer point of view they do see themselves as being loyal customers, and they like to think that are loyal. Mostly they attribute their loyalty to the belief that the products or services in question are superior to those of the competition. Not only that but they will also tell you that their relationships with said brand is not just transactional they express their belief that the relationship is more meaningful (dig deeper and we typically see that this is driven by the practical/functions benefits to them). I agree with you that presence on shelf (or street or search results) and presence of mind are key in driving sales, but presence of mind needs to be more than just about awareness, it needs to tap into those justifications that consumers use to justify/express their assumed loyalty to a brand.

Yeah but don’t over-generalise regarding loyalty. “Loyalty”, however you define it, varies strongly by product category: products/brands that are highly transformational/project your ideal self-image, are publicly consumed and/or high risk/high price, tend to have stronger relationships – I care more about/am more loyal to my car brand than I do/am about my brand of cotton buds!

There a quite a few women who would indeed “cry and grieve” if their long time cosmetic was no longer available. Yes people move on, but unless they are forced, many are loyal to a product because they are satisfied with the results.
People are often loyal to a product – not a brand.

@Pete, that is relative to your involvement in the category. A car purchase involves considerable more time, effort and money and plays a far bigger role in your life than a $2 purchase of cotton buds you can replace tomorrow. Other factors like lock-in contracts muddy the waters by forcing someone to remain loyal. But that isn’t the crux of his argument.

Often we, as an industry, overstate the importance of loyalty. If you’re familiar with Byron Sharp’s How Brands Grow and other articles, it is essential to focus more time on growing your number of buyers rather than driving loyalty. Big brands almost always have more consumers than smaller brands.

On everyday purchases, no. I couldn’t care less what ‘brand’ of milk, or bread I buy.

It’s a big difference for large emotive choices. When you see people lining up outside an Apple store for a new release, do you honestly think they are buying it because they have weighed up the options? No, they are fully paid up members to the Cult of Jobs and have decided they will buy any new product with a piece of fruit on it.

Likewise people who drive ‘interesting’ cars, as opposed to just automotive white goods to get around, anyone who rides motorcycles, more expensive designer clothing and or high end watches.

I’ve been riding Suzuki motorcycles ‘s on and off for over 10 years now, and while the first purchase was made by weighing up the options without any Brand preference, it would take Suzuki producing a real stinker now to get me to switch to a competitor.

Loyalty = Selfishness

That product (or person) supplies what i need.

My Adidas shoes are comfortable when i run (an aside, i mispelt Adidas.. hmmm)
My baked beans taste how i like baked beans
My partner…. well, needs met 🙂

If any pf the above fail to continue to do so, odds are i will find an alternative.