The contours and timelines of brand loyalty may have been something that marketers and brand managers felt they had mastered. Not so much anymore … The pandemic, social justice movement, and economic collapse of the past year have rewritten the rules of loyalty – in ways that neither consumers nor brands may fully understand.
The good news is that brands still have great pull with consumers; almost 9 in 10 Americans have at least a few favorite brands, and over 4 in 10 say they have “a lot of favorites.” But when GfK asked people to rank the characteristics that make them loyal to brands today, the top concern was “safe use of my data” – cited by 59% -- followed by “treating all races, genders, and ethnicities equally” (54%). Overall, four of the six highest-scoring brand benefits veered outside traditional considerations (product quality, customer service) and even reflected 2020-centric concerns.
The past year has also seen consumers try new products simply because they had to. People who could not have imagined buying any other brand of paper towel or laundry detergent suddenly grabbed whatever was available – and were grateful to have it. Similarly, shopping exclusively online made many realize that brand selections on ecommerce site are often different than those found in stores – forcing more adjustments. The implications for brand loyalty are profound.
"The key takeaway here is that the loyalty equation will continue to expand. There are some fundamentals we can't set aside, but we need to keep on the consumer’s pulse. As we all moved online – all of a sudden, we’re entrusting a brand with a lot of information: credit card numbers, multiple transactions. This does become part of the loyalty equation." – Eric Wagatha
