Brand loyalty. It’s a phrase that is bounced around meeting rooms and brand plan presentations every day. We get our data analysts to measure it. Or rather we measure share of throat and we call it loyalty. But are we kidding ourselves? As marketers too often we convince ourselves that our brands are more important to consumers than they actually are. When it comes to bad business jargon, surely brand loyalty has to be up there as one of the greatest misuses of vocabulary. But worse than that, mistaken beliefs about brand loyalty are really dangerous to a business.
Brand loyalty is not the same as share of throat, or exclusive purchasing
A shopper who frequently buys your brand isn’t necessarily loyal. A shopper who always buys your brand isn’t necessarily loyal either. A loyal shopper is one who always buys your brand, no matter what. A loyal shopper is one who goes into a store to buy your brand, and on not being able to find your brand, leaves the store. Brand loyalty is where nothing else will do. And, I’m sad to say, brand loyalty exists a lot less than many marketers dare to believe. But the best marketers and managers recognize this and engineer their businesses on the basis that true brand loyalty is a rare thing.
The rise of discounters shows that this isn’t merely semantics
Our misconceptions about brand loyalty are being tested today more than ever. The global rise of discount stores should be really scaring brands, as it exposes them to the risk that brand loyalty isn’t as high as was thought.
Shoppers visiting discounters are choosing to visit an outlet which doesn’t stock many brands. This is the battleground upon which brand loyalty is truly tested. If the shopper leaves empty-handed (at least with regard to your category) – then great – we have loyalty. If brand loyalty is strong enough, then the shopper will go to another store to find their favorite brands (or the discounter will be forced to add your brand to the very limited list of brands that they stock). But if, when faced with an absence of your brand, the shopper picks an alternative, then perhaps that ‘loyal shopper’ wasn’t as brand loyal as was thought.
Why might marketers get a brand loyalty shock? Because brand loyalty as a term is often misused and behavior is described as ‘loyal’ when it might actually be something quite different. Here are the three of the biggest misconceptions I find.
Brand loyalty misconception 1: The convenience shopper and the loyal shopper
The convenience shopper may quite like your brand, but they buy it simply because it is more convenient than buying an alternative. It’s available in the right pack size, or the right stores, or maybe in the right part of the store. The loyal shopper would seek out your brand if it couldn’t be found – the convenience shopper would buy something else pretty quickly. This shopper is not loyal, even though they buy a brand exclusively. But just looking at the data that marketers often have to hand (for example loyalty card data, Homescan etc.), it would be hard to distinguish between the convenience shopper and the loyal shopper. They both buy your brand exclusively after all. Why is this important? A true brand loyalist is a valuable asset, and it would take a lot to lose them. A convenience shopper? Not so much. A listing from a competitor (or a delist for you), or a change in store shopping patterns could be all it takes for that shopper to switch. Knowing the difference is critical if our shopper marketing is to be truly effective.
Brand loyalty misconception 2: The habitual shopper and the loyal shopper
On the surface both the loyal shopper and the habitual shopper look similar. They buy the brand above others and they do so consistently. But while they look the same, they are very different. The brand loyal shopper buys the brand because nothing else will do. A habitual shopper? They are doing so without a second thought. They may be loyal, but we won’t know until their loyalty is tested. A habit shopper can be disrupted and switched so much more easily than a truly brand loyal shoppers.
Brand loyalty misconception 3: Consumer loyalty and shopper loyalty aren’t necessarily the same thing
One last thought – please make sure you distinguish between consumer and shopper loyalty. In every category I’ve ever worked in, at least some of the shoppers aren’t the consumer. In these situations, who is loyal? Is it the consumer, demanding a specific brand be served no matter what? Or is it the shopper who owns the decision, and always buys a certain brand for their own reasons? Understanding where the loyalty lies gives important clues as to the ‘weak link’ in brand loyalty which can guide our future marketing.
Cutting through this requires an understanding of both the consumer and the shopper. It requires marketers to understand motivations as well as simple consumption and purchase behavior. If we are to truly value and grow brand loyalty, we really need to be clear what we mean. The danger of mistaking habit or convenience for brand loyalty is a big one, as is the difference between a loyal consumer and a loyal shopper.
For those of you interested in knowing more about how to better understand shoppers, please feel free to download our free e-book on ‘Conducting Great Shopper Research’.
Image: pixabay
