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Is It Really Loyalty--Or Something Else?
One of our readers, Miro Slodki, posed an interesting question in his current Canadian Marketing Association blog. He asks whether customers are brand monogamists or brand polygamists. My answer: It depends.
From personal experience I can say that there are some brands I will stick by no matter what. Car makers could market to me with their last dime, and even with my dealer challenges, I’ll stick with my Mustang. PC manufacturers could offer me a free vacation with a new laptop and I’d still say, “No thanks, I’m a Mac user.” But tempt me with a new cleaning product that saves me time or a new flavor of some too-delicious snack and watch me drop my old brand like a hot potato.
I think most brands have the challenge of keeping customers’ interest over the long term. Most people like to try new things or may be tempted by a discount or trend or simple curiosity. To me, that’s why loyalty programs are a staple of most marketing strategies.
So perhaps it’s not monogamy or polygamy, after all. Perhaps it’s serial monogamy: I love this one thing right now most of all, until the next better thing comes along, and then I’ll love that one thing most of all.
What's your opinion? Visit Miro's CMA blog for his full post and my full response, then add your thoughts too.
Elliot,
I thoroughly enjoyed your full post (linked in your comment below)--especially the point you make about just having customer knowledge being ineffective unless companies actually use it to harness opportunities. And not just profit opportunities, but loyalty-building ones.
Thanks for your insight.
P.S. My toaster is a Toastmaster (not to be confused with the public speaking organization...).
A note from my own blog;
Twenty five to thirty years ago, there was some real brand loyalty.This loyalty was, if not written in stone, then was at least a fairly consistent and desired end. Brand loyalty, whether it was for large products such as automobiles, and down to small ones such as toasters or stereos, the product was often purchased because it was made by a particular manufacturer. Brands were almost as sticky as our voting habits on election day.
We all should know that those days are gone, I am just as “guilty” of that as anyone else. I have owned cars manufactured by at least 7 companies, My home entertainment system is a mix and match of another half dozen brands, and I haven’t even a clue what brand the toaster is wearing.
http://elliotross.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/opportunity-lost/