Brand loyalty is dead. Well, at least the way your grandparents practiced it. Before 1950 there were a lot of products on the market that were of varying degrees of quality, and when you found a product that actually worked as advertised that would be the brand you would buy. As the United States became more industrialized quality improved across the board, creating the need for marketing and advertising to distinguish one product from another. This type of brand loyalty was emotionally based – you would typically buy a brand that had advertising you felt an emotional connection with. But today brands are having a tough time holding on to that customer loyalty, and it’s starting to look like brandy loyalty may actually be dead, but with a twist.
Millennials are leading the charge toward a new kind of brand loyalty. They want to have the best product at the best price and in the most convenient way possible. Thanks to ecommerce this is easier than ever, which has some of the older established brands scared. You can literally buy dozens of different detergent brands online with the click of a button and have them delivered to your door. And Millennials don’t trust advertising as much as previous generations, making things considerably more difficult for brands. Word of mouth recommendations are more powerful these days.
So how do brands secure the new brand loyalty?
- Always practice excellent and fast customer service
- Use good business practices and avoid scandal
- Maintain information security – data breaches decrease consumer confidence
- Maintain excellent product quality and always try to innovate
This new type of brand loyalty can be a good thing for startups, ensuring that new products have an equal shot once they are up to par on quality. Customers are still loyal to brands, but just in different ways. Learn more about the new brand loyalty from this infographic!
Infographic Source: Rave Reviews